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2004
March 2004 I received
the catalog from the hatchery today…it is time to
think about what stock we are going to order. I know that
we will get some more laying hens but I also think that
some more rare chickens to go into the rare chicken house
would be a good thing. There is quite a variety to pick
from; I will try to pick some of the more interesting
birds to have living here on the farm.
April 2004 We have
had quite a busy month. Every day we are wondering whether
this will be the day that the girls have their kids.
Before entering the barn, I stand at the door and listen
to see if there are any unfamiliar noises coming from
the girls' stalls. We separated them because we were
not sure how they would react to each other's kids and
if they were to deliver them during the night, there
would be a risk of the other mother hurting the newborn
kid. So, to be safe, especially where it is their first
time kidding, we put them in separate neighboring stalls.
I have to say, though, it was quite stressful because
neither one of them was too keen on the idea of being
away from each other. Thankfully though, it didn't take
long for them to realize that they were right next to
each other and they were back to normal.
April 15, 2004 When
I came home this afternoon, Grampy told me to get up
to the barn. Immediately, I knew that someone had kidded.
When I went up, Kat was in her stall with two adorable
kids. One was newly born as it was still wet and the
other was beginning to dry off. The older one, who we
named Satuit, was a dark brown and had a little speck
of white on his chest. He resembled Pembrook. The other
kid, Caleb, was black and white. He had the markings
of a cow. Kat was very nervous and was not sure how
to handle the kids nursing so we had to help everyone
along. We would hold her against the wall and place
the kids on her to nurse. After a couple of times, they
were all fine. There is nothing like a newborn kid;
the sounds that they make and the softness of their
coats is just amazing.
April 16, 2004 Today
was Kit's big day. Things, however, were not so easy
for her. After spending a lot of time in the barn with
Kat and her kids, it was very obvious that Kit was going
into labor. She started showing signs around 2:30 p.m.
Several times it looked as though she was ready to deliver
but nothing would progress after a certain point.
Worrying that something
was wrong, we called the vet. She was on a call, about
an hour away. She told us to monitor things and she
would check in when she was back in the area. Now it
is 6:30 p.m. and poor Kit still has not been able to
deliver anything. Luckily around 7:00ish the vet called
and we all agreed that it was necessary for her to come
help out. When she arrived around 7:45p.m., Kit was
clearly not going to deliver on her own so the vet,
Dr. K., had to assist her.
She said that Kit was carrying
twins and both of them were trying to enter the birth
canal simultaneously. As a result, neither could be
delivered. So, to assist the delivery, she had to push
one back so that there was room for one of the kids
to enter the canal. Unfortunately, the first one was
stillborn. Quickly she went to take the second one,
because time was of the essence. When the second one
was born, he came out bleating.
Thankfully, he was okay.
Kit had been through a lot with that delivery and was
not overly anxious to perform all the duties of a new
mother. Joel, Dr. K and I stayed up in that barn til
midnight watching them and making sure that everyone
would be okay.
Unfortunately though, every
time the kid would attempt to nurse, Kit would prevent
it by walking away. It was a cold rainy night and we
could not risk her not taking care of him. After a while
longer, we decided that Dr. K could leave and that we
would go up every two hours and hold Kit against the
stall wall and let this poor little kid eat. At first,
both Joel and I would go up together to assist with
the feeding.
Initially, Kit would try
to run away and did not want anything to do with her
baby. Joel would hold her and then place the kid on
her and wait until the kid had enough. Eventually Joel,
the true trooper that he is, went up by himself every
two hours to make sure that that kid was getting fed.
He was such a good guy to do it by himself. He knew
that I was totally exhausted so he told me to go to
bed and that he would do the 'night duty'. I think that
Joel was so excited about our new additions that he
couldn't wait to do mealtime with them even though he
too, was exhausted.
Although I did do some of
the feedings, Joel deserves credit for most of it. Dr.
K was awesome also. She kept checking in all weekend.
Sunday night, after going up every two hours all weekend,
Joel called me on the cell phone from up in the barn.
He was so excited because when he walked into the barn
to help feed, Kit had been nursing the kid all by herself.
All of our effort payed off! When we called Dr. K to
tell her, she was so happy and rather surprised as well.
She said that normally, when a doe rejects her kid,
very seldom does she ever take it back.
Kit ended up being the best mother ever. I believe that
she was even better than Kat. Joel spent so much time
up in the barn with that kid that he decided to name
him 'Barnaby'.
Oct 2004 I spoke with Dick from Virginia today
concerning the Ossabaw Island Hogs. Evidently, the female
that he suspected was pregnant, ended up not ever delivering.
He was going to have the vet check her out but he thinks
that she may be sterile. He thought that the pig that
delivered last year should be bred in the near future;
he assured me that the next time that piglets are born,
we would be his first call. I don't mind waiting. These
pigs are definitely the breed that we need here on the
farm. I look forward to hearing from him when the big
day comes!
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