31/21 - Farm C-Section

WARNING: Graphic photos below.

Last night it was a typical evening milking. I milked the does, and about half way through milking my brother came back and said that one of the Boer does was missing. So him and Mom went out to look for her. No big deal. We had gotten this doe along with 2 other Boer does, a couple months ago or so. She wasn't the nicest out of all of them, but seemed okay. We figured they were all pregnant; they had been running with a buck; and sure enough, the one had triplets a few days ago. So, back to the story. We found the doe, she wasn't too far out in the 40 acres. There was a problem though. She had placenta hanging out of her, but no kid anywhere near - we searched and searched incase she had dropped a kid. Nope.

So, we brought her back. I felt up in there and there was a kid there, nose and feet, about 3 inches up or so. Okay, not bad. I ran back into the house for something, and figured if she hadn't had it by the time I came back out, then maybe we should help out. I came back out, nothing. Waited a few more minutes, nothing more. We decided to go in a see what was going on. The kid's head was twisted upside down and to the side. The doe was very tight in there, her pelvic bones not very wide at all. It was very hard to get a hand in there. After a long time of trying, and a few of us trying, there was no way this kid was going to come out. I have never felt anything like it. His head and shoulders were MUCH bigger than her pelvic bones. There was just no possible way. The kid was obviously alive, moving and such in there. We even saw him kick with his back legs from the outside. At one point while we were trying to pull him out, we heard him cry inside. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard.

Here we had a decision to make. The doe was pretty tore up, even though we were being extremely careful, and was obviously in shock. If we bred her again, with her hips being so so narrow, this would be likely to happen again. Plus, she may have died from shock and blood loss anyway. So, since we knew the kid was obviously alive, we decided instead of loosing the kid and most likely the doe also, we would save the kid. Time was ticking, and it was getting pretty dark by this time.

As hard as it was, thankfully this was not one of our milkers or a goat that we've had for awhile and grown to know, as it would have been a much much harder decision than it already was. So, it was decided we would put the doe down (with the .22) and do a c-section to get the kid out. The time of night it was there would have been no vet open, plus this doe just really was not worth it (as harsh as that may sound, sometimes that is the case).

So she was put to sleep, we immediately had a sharp knife and made an incision.

It took just over a minute before we found the uterus with the kid in it. Since he was already in the birth canal (somewhat), his head was out of his sac, so it looked like he was in a little bag.

We got him cut out of it and started rubbing him. He started breathing and crying very quickly.

A few minutes later, I had him in and he was already wanting to nurse. I rubbed and rubbed him, dried him off, and he nursed a bunch. Thankfully, I had just milked out colostrum from the other Boer doe that kidded since she had too much. Perfect. I felt sorry for the poor kid because his legs and head must have been sore from us pulling on him for so long and so hard!

He is a huge kid, at least probably 12 pounds. (and this doe was tiny, probably one of the most narrow Boer does ever). He is also very healthy, and I think he is polled (naturally hornless).

So, it was a sad evening and a happy evening. Life on the ranch can be hard at times, and hard decisions have to be made. I was very excited that we were at least able to save the kid.

The Boer doe that had triplets the other day is doing ok. The babies are doing great. I do not know this doe's history, but she seems to be very old. She's a sweet old gal, but she came down with hypocalcemia. She has only been with us a for about a month or so, so I have no idea how she was fed before - obviously not very well. I left the 2 does on her, and pulled the buckling to be a bottle kid. This way he'll be a friend to the new orphan and the doe won't have to produce as much milk, just feeding 2 small girls. I am treating her every 2 hours, I really do hope she pulls through.

Suriyah