Gnawing Guilt

Awhile back I posted a teaser of all of the things that I intended to blog about in the near future. I did post a couple of them but have had this terrible guilt about not being true to my word and blogging about the other things on that list.

Here is that post:

Coming soon to this blog! Don't miss even one of these exciting posts.

* Updated Pictures of Calico and Paris (how many do you think they will have?)

* Husband brings home an Orange Harley Davidson (complete with photos)

* Bantam Hen Prolapses (and what I am doing about it)

* High Blood Pressure!? (Doctors are only practicing)

* Updated Photos of Sky

* Pictures of Calico's New Kids (hopefully arriving soon)

Here are the posts that will relieve me of all of my guilt:

1. I did post pictures of Calico and Paris before they kidded. So I can check this one off.

2. This one is a big one. My DH did bring home an orange Harley Davidson. All of my friends gasped and I wondered how long it would take our kids to call to get the details. They never did!! They just didn't really believe it because they know how their Dad is about money and they know how I am about motorcycles. My eldest Son did finally ask, "What is up with the Harley?" long after I had posted.

So here are the pictures for those who have waited with baited breath to find out whether my Husband has lost his mind or not.



When I mentioned to my neighbors that my Husband had bought an orange Harley, they both were disturbed but didn't lecture him. I had forgotten that she had told me about a dream that she had where my DH had a horrendous wreck on a motorcycle.

When the truth finally came out about the bike. She confessed to nearly dying with worry about the whole thing. This made me feel pretty bad beacuse I should have told them the truth sooner.

My neighbor is a bit eccentric and I hate that I worried her so. Yes, she does have lavender hair and an orange VW.

3. My Bantam hen who had the prolapse did not survive, that may have been the reason that I didn't post about it. I did learn a few things about prolapses though. If I ever have another one, I will clean it, cover it in Honey, put the hen in a clean environment, start her on antibiotics, then wait. I won't try pushing the prolapse back into place again.

4. My Doctor diagnosed me with hypertension on my last visit. I have never had high blood pressure before and they always comment on my great BP when I go in. I was a bit swollen that day and I am sure that with the stress of going to the Doctor in the first place, this was the reason that it was high. Well, it wasn't really even high 138 over 89 but this is high for me.

He slapped me on BP pills and wrote Hypertension on my chart. I took the pills for two days and got dizzy, so I quit taking them. I took my blood pressure for several days after that and it was never high again. I am still taking it occasionally and it remains low. As my Dear Husband likes to say, "Doctors are only practicing."

5. Here are more recent pictures of Sky:



6. I did post pictures of Calico's babies, so I can check that one off as well.

Now that this post is done all of my guilt is gone and I can hold my head up high again.

Teaser

Coming soon to this blog! Don't miss even one of these exciting posts.

* Updated Pictures of Calico and Paris (how many do you think they will have?)

* Husband brings home an Orange Harley Davidson (complete with photos)

* Bantam Hen Prolapses (and what I am doing about it)

* High Blood Pressure!? (Doctors are only practicing)

* Updated Photos of Sky

* Pictures of Calico's New Kids (hopefully arriving soon)

Late Night

I set my alarm to wake me at 2:00 am and went to bed. I woke up at 1:00 am and went out to check on Calico. She was just doing what she is always doing when I go out there, lying there chewing her cud, breathing rapidly, grunting occasionally. The only thing new this time was that she maa'd softly three times. They sometimes do that when they are in labor, they talk to their babies, her udder is tight now and strutted. Everything is ready for those babies to come and boy do I ever wish that they would hurry up.

I would love to get this one behind me because this doe is worrying me so much, she is going to have multiples, she looks like she could have a rectal prolapse, so someone will have to assist her in delivery. The worst part of it all is that we have a busy week scheduled with some things that can't be canceled. I may have to find a goat sitter, someone who isn't afraid to help deliver kids and perhaps fix a prolapse.

I have the coffee pot ready to brew, just in case she goes tonight. The first law of kidding or foaling is to have a fresh pot of coffee prepared. Calico is a first freshener, which means that I don't know what to expect from her because she has never had kids before. Cinder always gives very clear signs of labor, her udder is strutted, she talks to her babies, paws in the straw to make a nest and has a large amount of discharge right at the beginning and throughout labor.

Why?

And just why am I doing this? I seem to have lost sight of the reason that I bother with these animals. After having Collette and Paris show total disregard for boundaries for the whole day yesterday. Then having them get to the point that I couldn't catch them for love nor money, I am asking myself this question.

The Rhodies continued to run the banty hens off of their nest, so that they could deposit there own eggs for them to hatch out. To solve this problem, we tried to move the nest with eggs and both banty hens to the barn and into a large pet taxi that we could keep the big hens out of. However, the banties just left the nest and ran back to the goat/chicken house to find their nest that was no longer there. So, the nest and eggs had to be moved back there also.

While I was putting the nest back in place, Cooter was cuddling up beside me, he had been a pill all day trying to escape and trying to fight me each time I tried to block his way, but now he was being his sweet self and wanting me to pet him while he urinated all over my leg, Billy Goats are special that way. This is the first time he got me, he has peed on my DH's rubber boot before and sprayed my daughter-in-law, I was starting to think that he didn't like me!

Calico has what appears to be the beginning of a rectal prolapse, so she is going to have to be watched very carefully and not allowed to labor too hard or long, she will definitely have to be assisted. Which means that I am going to be losing some sleep until she kids. Now why was it that I enjoy these animals so much?