I LOVE RED RASPBERRY!!! By, Emily

(FYI- Most of our posts get published about a week late) :)

We were anxiously waiting for Milly to have her babies. She was getting huge, and I was checking on her regularly. On Tuesday, which is the day we have piano lessons, I was worried she was going to have them while we were gone. On the way home, when we were about three miles away, Dad told me, "When we get home you better get on your overalls." Quickly I asked, "Why?" "Because you might have to go deliver some goats," he replied calmly. To make a long story short, that two or three mile drive took FOREVER, and Dad was wishing he hadn't told me so soon, I was so anxious! :)

When we got home I had my overalls on and was out at the barn in record time. Milly was definitely looking ready, but not having any contractions. We continued to watch her, but she did not have any kids that day.

The next day, Wednesday, I continued to check on her, but didn't really think she was in labor or anything. Around 11:00am, (it had been an hour since I'd checked on Milly last) I figured I might as well go check on her, even though I was sure there was nothing to see... so Jonny and I zoomed out. Walking around the corner, there stood Milly LICKING A KID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another kid lay behind her still completely in its water bag, whereas the other one was all cleaned off. I yelled and went running into the pen. I commanded :) Jonny to bring me a towel, and quickly broke the water bag on the kid, then wiped off its nose, while Jonny rode back up to the house to get Mom.

The kid that had been born first and was white with a black stripe going down it's back, black around it's eyes, and legs that were half black. Holding my breath, I nervously "checked" it. A boy...... :( (Anyone want to save an adorable baby from the butcher shop.... pleeeeeeeease?)

Then I looked at the next one, who was doing well and was a tan/brown color with black legs. I gulped. Another boy. After I took care of it, I told Milly, "Well, I'm ready for #3!" Milly's bottom was literally open as she stood there and I told Jonny "I think I see another water bag! Probably two minutes or less after we got there, she began to scrunch up as she stood there, and the water bag came pushing forward and out. I held the fast approaching kid, so that it wouldn't fall while Milly pushed, regardless of the fact I was wearing my good house clothes. ( I was not thinking about keeping my clothes clean at the moment! :)) When it was almost out, I heard the door bang, "You better hurry if you wanna see the third one!" I hollered, but he just missed it!

The baby came out in two or three quick pushes, and I gently set it down, breaking the water bag and wiping off it's nose. "Well, Milly, I'm ready for number four!" I said, jokingly.

Then Ben arrived and as I was taking care of number three, who most happily was a girl (yaaay!!!), MILLY STARTED PUSHING AGAIN!!! (I didn't think she seriously had a number four!) Out came ONE black leg of a kid, and I realized it was a BACK leg. I was a little worried, as Milly took it to her head not to push, when she needed to do it right then! "I have a feeling it's not gonna be alive," Ben said, while I begged Milly to start pushing. "NO, this kid is JUST FINE!" I told him. I wouldn't let myself think that it would be dead. "The power of positive thinking!" I told myself! :) "OK, Ben, go get Mom QUICK!" I told him, trying to remember what I read in the goat book about what to do if one leg comes out. Right when I was getting desperate, Milly pushed and out came the breach baby! I held it and setting it down in the straw, I anxiously wiped off it's nose. For five seconds, it didn't move, but then it shook it's head. "IT'S ALIVE!" I hollered! I was SO thrilled! This one was white with a black stripe going down her back, with tan around her back half too! I anxiously looked at her. A GIRL! YES! The other girl was half black, half white, with a black stripe running down her. I couldn't believe it! FOUR!!!!!!! Thrilled, I gave Milly a big hug and kiss as a reward. :)

Y0u may be wondering how in the world she had FOUR babies. Before Milly was bred, we were consistently feeding her RED RASPBERRY leaves. I had read in a magazine that it helps goats have lots of milk, easy births, and three, or even four babies! As I held the fourth kid, I thought "Wow, I am SOLD on this red raspberry stuff!" (Now I'm feeding it to the sheep and all the rest of the goats too. )

We are bottle feeding the kids again this year. We feed them Milly's milk, of course. We just milk her and give it straight to the kids, no heating up or anything. That way they are EXTREMELY friendly (like little puppies!), and the girls will be easy to handle as milk goats, because they're so tame. We named the white boy Scottie, the tan boy, who is super fluffy and absolutely ADORABLE, Dickie, the black and white girl is Rosie, and we are still trying to decide on the last one..... any suggestions? We'd like to stick with the "ee" on the end. :) ALSO, as I said before, the baby boys, in about ten days, will leave to go be raised on a farm... and to eventually be butchered. They will make WONDERFUL pets, or Daddy goats! Leave a comment or call us if your interested!!!

The kids are all doing great. As for me, I'm SOOOOOOO enjoying my SEVEN bottle babies! (Three lambs, four kids!) Every morning I milk the two goats and bottle them all. I even enjoy getting up at two o'clock in the morning to bottle them! :) ahhh..... this is the life! :)

P.S. Another one of my short posts! :) LOL