After Christmas

What a great Christmas! We had snow, the first accumulation in 100 years. It was wonderful! The only not so good thing was everyone left much earlier than usual because as the sun went down the roads froze. But, other than Ben and his family are currently celebrating and visiting family in Australia, it was the usual amazing eventful Thompson family gathering.

On top of that, I was uncertain whether we were going to get Christmas "kids" and I mean Nigerian goat kids. I have not delivered goats before. I have delivered, been present whatever for many dog births, but not goats. I was, and am still a little unsure of just what I was supposed to be looking for. I think I am going to write my own account for newbies, about what is the exact line of events that you look for. I think I have seen every goat birth and description on UTube, but every sight just goes from somewhere very near the end and does not explain the confusion of things that happen before that. And, your vet really doesn't want to answer your very stupid and naive questions on the answering machine on Christmas Eve.

So, in the midst of cooking for 25??? or so I had a baby monitor on the vacant horse stall and area at the back of our barn, which Rog and I prepared on Christmas Eve with lots of bedding, food and water and even an air conditioner for the arrival of suspect "kids". We planted the monitor in our room on Christmas Eve and I ran and checked ( between cooking) every hour or so on our nanny to make sure she was not about to give birth.

I must say here that I had thought she was due either in early February or March but because she was and is really big, I thought, OK, I could have been fooled. She had triplets earlier last year, and because of her size was capable of fooling a newbie. I won't go into all the gory details, but I now know that she is probably due in early February and is maybe going to kid four. All the symptoms which made me think she was about to birth, I have now found are what to expect in the month or so before that. But it really made for an exciting Christmas amongst the snow and has given the family a great expectation for our new "kids" who will begin to arrive over the next few months. We actually have five nannies that are freshened and who will kid between February and April. And, the kidding pen is ready!!