Buck Kid Rejected by Mom

Aren't they adorable? The goslings I mean. The adults on the other hand are not on my good graces. Your probably wondering why I'd titled the post about kids and there aren't any kid pictures. Well, 3 children, 1 being a rather cranky 1 year old, and 2 more to wrangle along with the camera and the changing of lenses and well..., my kid pictures turned out black. OOOPS!!! I guess I should have checked to see that I had the shots before coming home but alas it's too late because this eye that swelled almost shut last night but was pretty good today, has given up and is giving me fits again and I'm doing the one eyed Willy thing again. Who's one eyed Willy. In the USA or maybe it's just in Wyoming, any car that has only one headlight is a one eyed Willy. That's what I've been calling myself to the kid's amusement.

So I'm sorry, you'll have to use your imagination for today but I hope you enjoy the view of the other little babies we went to see. There are nine goslings total and I observed several more - pardon me, what are the girl geese called? Oh yeah it's goose and a gander. - gooses (now that sounds silly) sitting on eggs over at the neighbor's pen. Geese are great to watch in the distance but I'd just as soon keep them that way for they climb into my watering pans to swim leaving loose feathers, and water so muddy brown the stock won't drink it. And if that isn't bad enough, they poop all over the path around the fence line so that's what you get to step in when your doing chores. Another good reason to have chore boots for the girls. Grrr... No, I've not had any trouble with the geese being aggressive. I just get big, spread my wings, um... arms, and act like an angry goose by hissing and running in their direction. On second thought maybe I'm not acting. I am usually ticked off at them. I just figure the best way to get the message across is to speak their language. Call me Doctor Doolittle if you want but I don't expect them to understand English.
Down the lane is also four little calves

and up the way is 1 lone lamb, though he's expecting company and soon should have some playmates.

The grand daughters loved watching the babies but what I really wanted to check out was the kids I got a call on late last night. I'd just gotten the youngest grand daughter in to bed and had taken care of the chicks, plants in the basement etc. and was heading to bed when the phone rang. Not many call after 10 o'clock since we once upon a time were know to go to bed early. Sure enough it was a minor emergency. Not unusual this time of year.

But just so you know if you call me late, and I'm headed to bed, I might just show up in my pajamas. Yup, flannel ones with antique trucks on them is what I had on. They're cast offs from our son. I made them for him and he told me Ford vehicles stunk. Well, pardon may wee. I couldn't find anything in a Chevy or a Dodge so I took them as my own since he couldn't be sen wearing such Ford apparel.

When I arrived at some friends to see if I couldn't convince their doe to except both kids not just the one. I was just too tired to change and I figured I wasn't headed to no party. The doe was a sweet little Nubian I've know for a couple years now. She had already kidded before the owner had arrived. Last year, she had a single kid and we don't know if she was confused by having two or if the labor was tough but she didn't want anything to do with the second kid. A difficult labor will often turn a doe off to mutiple kids. What ever the reason the kid was still covered in afterbirth.

Our friend had it wrapped up in a towel and it looked so small and helpless. She was ready to take it home and just bottle feed it but I asked if I couldn't try a few things first to see if the Nubian doe couldn't be convinced to except it.

Work lambing camp with 1200 to 1600 ewes and you learn a few tricks. First of all, I placed the unwanted buck on top of the buck she liked and watched to see if the doe would lick the one on top thinking she was licking the bottom one. Nope, it didn't work. Sometimes that's just too easy.

Next, I took the buck she liked away from her and gave her only one choice, the buck she didn't want. She gently pawed at it in confusion and made it beller which worked to my advantage. Bellering gets attention.

Still she only it, she wouldn't lick it.

So I moved on to rubbing the buck she liked against the one she didn't. Covering the little discarded kid all over with the desirable kid's scent.

Then I only gave the doe the choice of the undesirable buck. She sniffed it in confusion but still didn't move to lick it. I then stroked her neck and along her side just in front of the udder. A trick you use on mares to see if their likely to kick your head off when you reach under to milk them. Oh yes, I've milked my share of mares too. Never my own. The doe stood still so I squirted a little milk into a baby bottle, a human one. Then fed the nourishing colostrum to the weak buck. He suckled softly and the noise aroused the interest of the doe. Then I helped the kid stand while it's ma ma watched curious. I then stepped back and just watched.

As the little guy began walking around her front leg, she took some interest in him. Soon he fell and stayed there. She sniffed him over good and finally began to lick him tentatively. After suggesting to our friend that she give the doeer just a little more time with the buck before entroducing the other one, I left craving some sleep I wasn't going to get. Soon after shucking my dirty pajamas for clean bottoms, I was soon joined by the youngest grand daughter that made sure I didn't get to sleep long enough to have more than a snatched conversation with the Sand Man. Kirk left sometime in the night to sleep with the middle grand daughter since our double bed was already crowded and we met up again sometime near morning. If life were not quite so rough for the tikes right now, I'd be more strict but they need all the lovins they can get. Sweet dreams isn't whats on their menu many a night. Their mom's been leaving before 3 to just before 4 in the morning to go to work.