Kidding season started with a bang

We are a little behind this year - as some herds are almost finished kidding our does are just getting started. Well, we are well on our way with Danish giving birth to quads early yesterday morning, a day before her due date.

The first two kids could not decide who was coming first and I was getting sick looking at two bubbles presenting at the same time but they finally got that sorted out and we got two healthy bucklings - with spots to boot. Hubby was getting meds for his allergies and missed these two, even though he stayed home from work to help. Nadja and Sebastien helped drying the kids off and took them home to warm up as it was still quite chilly outside, considering the kids came from 102 internal temp to 65 outside.

With the next bubble, I could see the hooves but they were facing down and I could see the hocks too, great, kid coming out backwards. He came out ok with a gentle pull - another buckling ! We ran out of spots at this point, as this one was brown with black trim and solid brown ears. Took the kid home and ran back to the barn to find placenta AND another kid coming - breech ! Yep, there it was - a butt with a little tail, no way to turn the around or get the feet first, so she came out as she was - with little help from me and a lot of help from the Lord and strengh from my doe - a tiny brown doeling.

I just remember crying at this point and not much else, I was tired, scared, worn out, emotional ... but we had 4 healthy live babies and all the "what ifs" of that labor have now faded away and I just let it all out and bawled like a baby. Gave thanks where they were due, to our gracious Father in heaven, who answered my prayers, directed my hands and showered us with these 4 little blessings.

My relationship with my doe also transformed during the process, as it has slowly been evolving during the last 5 months. She now has a permanent place in our herd, something hard to explain to folks who never had dairy goats or have not been around them - their social relationships that often show with open outpour of affection and other times with just a quiet understanding of the bond that's there - they definitely earn more of my respect every day.