Babies

Spring is a magical time of year when lots of babies are born. The miracle of birth never ceases to amaze me. Each spring we enjoy lots of kids and calves, but they are not without their trials and tribulations. I enjoy have both cows and goats until birthing season and then I would prefer to only have cows. I have a lifetime of experience of calving cows and have had to provide very little intervention. It is not to say that I have never assisted with a birth or get a calf started nursing but less than 1 in 50 need intervention. Goats on the other had I have had to provide a lot of assistance to almost every doe. We have had babies too weak to stand fully to nurse, moms that claim one baby and not both, and new mom's that don't even know what happened. Kids are very sensitive and must eat every couple hours, especially when it is cold. If they do not get food in their bellies regularly, they become hypothermic and die. So that means late night check, middle of the night checks, and early morning checks. Get them up, get them nursing and repeat every couple hours for the first week. Once they are a week old, they normally do well and start running and bucking in the field.