…Or, “The watched pot never boils”. Most of my minis deliver around day 148, and very rarely go to 150. May sure kept my anxiety high this year, waiting until day 153 to deliver. I had missed her delivery last year which resulted in a single, stillborn buckling in the middle of the night. I was determined to be there this year and subsequently read into every every little sign. If you’ve read my post about Terra‘s kidding, then you know I had to be out of town from Feb 28-29th. I didn’t think this would be a problem since Terra’s 150th day fell on Feb 24th. However, as she surpassed her due date, I became increasingly more anxious. The previous year, my only sign of impending labor had been a slightly larger udder, so when her udder got a bit bigger on the 24th, I began keeping her in the kidding stall overnight. Her ligaments came and went and did not seem terribly reliable. Unlike my barrel-shaped does, May is very deep, but not terribly wide – it can be hard to tell when she “drops”. She kept eating constantly. I partnered her up with Terra during Terra’s induction. On the day Terra delivered, May’s udder became large and tight – finally a clear sign! However, this created a bit of a pickle. Until now, I’ve always been able to get away with a single, indoor kidding stall and getting mom/babies moved out to the barn before the next delivery. That would not be able to happen this time. After Terra’s delivery, my husband helped me set up a portable pen next to Terra in my tiny kidding room. This gave May her own space and let me have peace of mind that Terra’s kid would not get squished.
May still appeared very comfortable at 1am after Terra’s delivery so I went in for some shuteye. The following morning, I checked on May by camera as I got my son off to school. She was standing and eating. Around 8:30am, I went into our kidding area to get the lay of the land. I tempted May with some animal crackers, and while she was interested, she did not take them. This highly unusual behavior alerted me that delivery would be soon. May did not seem very uncomfortable, but she is an experienced doe and might have still felt ok. I checked Terra and her kid over, and emptied Terra’s udder. After getting everyone settled, I returned my attention to May. Within about 5 minutes, she laid down and began pushing. She easily delivered a large, black buckling ( 7.25lbs). He was very vigorous and was up looking for food before his brown-and-white pinto sister (5.5lbs). was born. Both kids are strong and healthy! They have great breed character and a very “Carpenter Ranch” build. The boy inherited his sire‘s blue eyes and moonspots, but the spots are difficult to see. He is black and the spots are very dark brown. They will likely become lighter with age. I will be retaining the girl for evaluation. 