Andromeda is a lovely, petite first-freshener bred to Blackberry’s RBI Hocus Pocus. Her ultrasound showed a single kid, but her largish (and promising!) udder suggested otherwise. Late on the night of her 146th day, her ligaments and udder made a dramatic change. While I didn’t expect her to deliver through the night, I moved her to our indoor kidding pen because of a brutal cold snap. Luckily, she’s a pretty chill little goat and settled down easily with the help of her de-facto midwives (mid-does?) Velcro and Hissy. For those who don’t know, they are our barn cats who are living in the milking room/kidding room for the winter. I woke throughout the night and checked on her via camera a few times. She seemed uncomfortable, but not labor-y. Early Sunday morning, her ligaments were most definitely gone and she was pawing at the ground frequently and nipping at her side. Labor had begun. I puttered around outside and got the chores done, along with making sure we had all that was needed for kidding. I notified my vet and support system, and at 10:30, settled in with Andi for her labor. By this time, she was pretty agitated and wanted to leave the kidding area. She was associating it with all the discomfort she was feeling and wanted out. She was happy for my company and seemed most content when I was scratching her head and neck. By 11:45, she was pushing. I gloved up and went in to feel a largish hoof – this was a bigger kid, and he took some maneuvering and pulling to make it out. Andi was roomy, though, so it wasn’t too difficult. He turned out to be a lovely boy, covered with moonspots, and likely blue-eyed. At 6lbs, 12oz, he might just break our record for first-fresheners. He has long ears and a beautiful, wide nose and head. In no time, he was up and eating. So far, Andi’s udder looks looks nicely attached with a completely smooth foreudder, and long, well-placed teats. We will be evaluating him for the next few days before deciding to retain or rehome.
