And now I think we are done.

Yesterday Sage was clearly getting ready, I was up all night checking on her and she was obviously well on her way. She decided to wait until immediately after she ate breakfast to get down to business.

She had this one at around 9:15am. She just passed the placenta about 20 minutes ago. No more signs of labor so i guess this is it. I didn't get my girl. :-( But I did get three healthy boys and everyone made it through labor and delivery ok, which is the important thing.

I think I may keep Parsley a buck for another year and use him on Sage because I really really do want a doe from Parsley and Sage to keep. I guess we will see.

Sage did this 90% on her own, I just gave one little tug when she seemed to be having trouble getting his head past her pelvis. She took right to motherhood, and aside from me needing to clear her teats before the baby could get some milk she bonded and got to nursing him without any trouble.

Lady in waiting... Gratuitous pony pics.

My last doe due to kid out is poor dear Sage. She is my 50% Boer/Alpine, the most dairy type of my does, the one I expect to be my best milker. I really want a doeling out of her to keep back.

She is big as a house and clearly uncomfortable as all-get-out. She can barely get up and down and groans every time she moves. This is the doe i thought for sure was going to be the first to have her kids.



Gratuitous pony pics!!



Sparrow was pestering Mary and she was chewing on him, hehe.



NOMNOMNOM



Back to goats, cuuute babies.

Baby goat number 2, Thyme has Massive Gigantorkid McHuge

OK, normally I go out around 9pm to check on the goats. Since the first kid was born I've been checking to see if he needed a sweater. Then unless something seems off at 9pm I don't check until 5am. Well tonight I checked them around 6 then fell asleep on the couch watching Dexter, lol. I woke up at around midnight and realized I hadn't checked the goats. I rolled over and told myself he'd been fine all day and not to worry about it. But I just felt guilty and like I neeeeded to go check on him to make sure he wasn't shivering. I get bundled up, open the front door and hear a goat crying.

So, I run to the barn, open the stall door and Thyme is down pushing with a bubble present with a foot and a nose visible. Just one foot. I gave her some time to work on it and it was obvious she was making no progress so I popped the bubble, let her try again, and nothing moved from where it was. So i stripped off my coat and took off my rubber "prevent teen suicide" and "Just Ten" bracelets and went in. This baby was HUGE and only had the one leg and his head forward. I spent a good 10 minutes up to my elbow fishing around for the other leg between contractions and getting doused in amniotic fluid (I reek. I will be going in to take a shower asap). I was finally able to get Hulk Baby back in and turned enough to get both feet and nose where they needed to be. I let her push but this kid's massive head was still wedged in her pelvis so I grabbed a towel to give myself some grip and when she pushed i pulled and she screamed and I pulled and PLOP! Soaking wet massive baby with huge huge ears in my lap! He got daddy's colour but not daddy's ears, that is for sure, haha!!

So once I toweled him off and discovered he was a he I set him in front of her and she was all about the mommy business. Unlike Rosemary there was not a seconds hesitation, this was her baby and she knew what she needed to do. She was already pushing him toward her udder while she was still laying down. He nursed the first time while she was still laying on her side catching her breath. he was on his feet within 10 minutes. I tried to take Rosemary and Sage out but Thyme started to holler and scream and it was clearly freaking out baby so I decided to go ahead and leave them together since she didn't seem to be having any trouble bonding with her kid.

Once I got all the important stuff done (baby dry, umbilical treated, mom given a drench and a lot of warm water, etc) I ran to get the camera and got out and after one picture my batteries died so I came in to recharge them, get myself some coffee, warm up, and spread the news. She had not passed the placenta yet, though, so I was kinda getting nervous. But of course as soon as i got out there with charged batteries to get pictures of baby she started to pass it. So I had to crop that out of a bunch of the pictures, ewww. So here he is, massive gigantorkid.

Tsu got laid off today.

*deep breath*

We have activated our plan of action that we discussed "in case". We will be ok for quite a while. Our credit will be in a rough state but we should be able to keep the house paid for and such for quite a while. But we have a plan, and we will be ok.

However, I feel it is only responsible to find new homes for the two mini horses. This way I can be sure and take proper care of Brego even with a lower income.

Obviously I will be casting my job hunt net a bit wider than i was before, and Tsu will be hunting right along side me now, lol.

I am convinced that this is a blessing in disguise. That job was killing him one day at a time. This is scary but I firmly believe in the long run it will be for the best.

Baby Goat Sweater Pattern Part Three: In The Round.

Baby goat sweater knit in the round

Size 8 circular needle
Bulky yarn or 2 strands worsted held together (I like to use two strands of worsted together and use up scraps from my stash since no one really cares what colours are in a baby goat sweater as long as it keeps baby warm)


This pattern has two choices for the back end:
1.Tapered back end:
CO 36
K1, P1 rib 1 ½ inches
*K1fb, work in pattern to last stitch, k1fb
Work in pattern 1 row* repeat until 46 stitches
Go to +++ and proceed

2. Straight back end (pictured):
Cast on 46 stitches
Work in k1,p1 rib
Go to +++ and proceed

+++
Work in pattern until 6 (or 8) inches long
Inc 1 at each end of every row until 58 stitches
Join to work in the round, place marker to mark center front, work in pattern until long side of garnment is 10 (or 12) inches long.
Starting at marker work 6 stitches in pattern, bind off four, work 38 stitches, bind off 4, work 6 stitches to center marker. Now work the 12 stitch section between the bound off sections (the front) back and forth in pattern until 3 inches long. Place stitches on holder and cut or break yarn. Now work the back 38 stitches back and forth until 2 ½ inches long. End on a right side row, cast on 4 stitches, pick up 12 front stitches, cast on 4 stitches and join to work in the round again. Work two full rows from the center front marker.
*Decrease in pattern first stitch after marker and last stitch before marker. Work two rows in pattern.* Repeat until 48 stitches.
K one row (turning row).
Knit in k2, p2 rib for 2 inches and bind off in a stretchy bind off.

Pick up stitches around leg hole (approx. 22, legs are optional!) and work in the round in k1, p1 rib for 10 rows, bind off in stretchy BO. Weave in ends.



If you have any questions at all just ask and I will try to answer in the comments. If you have any suggestions or improvements in how this pattern is written please let me know!

Baby Goat Sweater Patterns Part Two: The flat knit pattern.

Baby goat sweater knit flat

Size 8 needles, straight and DP or circular (for legs)
Bulky yarn or 2 strands worsted held together (I like to use two strands worsted and work through my stash of scraps since no one really cares what colour baby goat sweaters are as long as they work)

This pattern has two choices for the back end, chose one:

1.Tapered back end:
CO 36
K1, P1 rib 1 ½ inches
*K1fb, work in pattern to last stitch, k1fb
Work in pattern 1 row* repeat until 46 stitches
Go to +++ and proceed

2. Straight back end (pictured):
Cast on 46 stitches
Work in k1,p1 rib
Go to +++ and proceed

+++
Work in pattern until 6 (or 8) inches long
Inc 1 at each end of every row until 58 stitches
Knit until 10 (or 12) inches long
Work across 6 stitches, bind off 4, work until last 10, bind off 4 then knit last 6
Work back and forth on the 6 stitches before the bound off 4 until section is 3 inches long. Place stitches on holder or scrap yarn, cut or break yarn and move onto center section of 38 stitches. Work until 2 ½ inches. Work last 6 same as first.
Work next row in pattern, after first 6 stitches cast on 4 then pick up center section, cast on 4 and pick up last 6.
Work 2 rows in pattern, then decrease at both ends of every 3rd row until 48 stitches.
Knit next row*.
k2,p2 rib for 2 inches, bind off.
Pick up even number of stitches around leg holes (I picked up 22, legs are optional) and knit in k1,p1 rib to desired length, bind off.
Stitch center front from last increase to end of collar. Weave in ends.

*this is a turning row, up until this point your sweater doesn't really have to have an inside or outside but once you put in the turning row it makes the collar fold one direction. If you put legs on make sure check the fold of the collar before picking up stitches. Don't be like me and just put the legs on the inside of your sweater the first time you try to make the pattern, lol.





If you have any questions at all just ask and I will try to answer in the comments. If you have any suggestions or improvements in how this pattern is written please let me know!

Baby Goat Sweater Patterns, part one, explanations and such.

I made these patterns myself, I am NOT a pattern maker so be warned! I tested both patterns myself and they turned out just fine and one of them is keeping my new buckling toasty at night.

Now my goats are sort of small, bigger than pygmy goats but smaller than your average full sized meat or dairy goat. These sweaters will fit a wide range of kid sizes simply because they are entirely out of ribbing so they are self-adjustable and stretchy. As long as they are long enough to cover the baby goat's little bum but not so long that the tummy gets in the way of boys going potty you should be good for just about any size kid.

Also, after trying this on an actual kid I can say that the legs are purely optional. In actuality I don't think I am even going to put legs on future sweaters because they seem to kind of get in his way when he is trying to get up and down. the main thing is to keep the core of the body warm without getting in the way of the baby's ability to move around and do what baby goats do (eat, go potty and bounce).

I've posted the instructions to knit flat first, and the instructions for knitting in the round second at the end of this post.


Obviously these sweaters work well for dogs as well, but I find that the neck is really wide and my dog ends up walking right out through the neck hole, haha!! This does not seem to be an issue with the goat kid, though.



Baby Goat Sweater, Flat Knit Pattern

Baby Goat Sweater pattern, Knit in the Round

OK, baby goat number 1...

I went out at 5am after tsu left for work and checked on the girls. Sage looks ready to burst so I've been checking them when he leaves for work, at breakfast, lunch, dinner and usually before bed. Well at 5am no one looked like anything but sleepy and bored. Their ligaments in their hind quarters weren't soft, no discharge, no standing posty legged in back.

Well, then at 6:30 or 7am after Tiff got on the bus I just decided to check them one more time and there stood Rosemary with a bloody bum.

My first reaction was "crap. She aborted." She just started getting an udder and wasn't big at all so I expected her to be the last of the three to have her babies. I go in, see the mess in the bedding and no sign of a fetus and then I hear this tiny little "bleeeee". So I got Parsley out into the outdoor pen, got Sage and Thyme into his pen and lowered the heat lamp down, ran into the house to grab my baby goat birth kit with towels and iodine and what have you and trucked back out there. I flipped the baby over to check his umbilical and discovered he is most assuredly a he.

So, without further adieu...

Baby goat number 1:

OMGBABY!!!!

single buckling born to Rosemary between 5am and 6:30 am this morning.

details to follow, along with pictures....