Late Coming Updates from Gullringstorp Part 2
Frida :
I am happy to say that Frida is recovering just fine !. She has been placed in the “baby yard” for several days and is now out with the rest of the herd in the large enclosure. Since goats are social animals, she was not very happy being separated from the herd. I just felt it was best for her to be out in the fresh air, but to stay calm at the same time. We are now having really beautiful weather and t he goats are out in the enclosure for the entire day until around 7 pm. I am out often to check on Frida and all the goats and see her doing just fine. I watch for a while to know what she is up to and how she is handling the others. When Pumpkin approaches her, she makes a sound that lets Pumpkin know, not to bother her and she walks away. It seems to be working fine. Frida knows that she needs to take it easy. She will be a bit short of breath at the end of the day but she has complete calm in her box and is able to recover from the day’s activities and is breathing normally within a couple of hours. I am not sure yet if this will be a remaining effect from the pneumonia or not. if so, then we will just work with her and make sure she continues to have the best quality of life as she can, within her capabilities. Frida is determined not to succumb to this and we must take our lead from her. She will not be put down because of some shortness of breath at this time. As long as she eats , has interest in the other goats, tends to her daughters and can get around the enclosure, then it is up to me to make her life as comfortable as can be.
I have had to make decisions like this about other household pets during my lifetime, but this is the first time for one of our goats. Frida is a very special goat at Gullringstorp. When we got her we knew that she had babies in the past and had those babies sold. So I said, I would never sell her, or her babies and I haven’t !
Frida out in the large enclosure
Frida has learned to pace herself when out in the enclosure. Here she takes a little rest
Frida grazing on fresh grass with one of her daughters
Frida is a great mother and is always near her daughters; even as she recovers from her illness
We were told by out vet that Frida’s pneumonia was a result of possible allergy to a hay we were giving the goats. None of the other goats have had a reaction to the recent hay supply, but it was explained to us that Frida had developed a hyper-sensitivity to this hay. I am happy to say that the lovely meadow hay is not the problem so we can give this to Frida.
New Meadow Hay Pick-Up
We have been back to the farm that is selling off their supply of meadow hay. We bought two huge bales on tis day and have 4 more on reserve. Our goats love this soft fine delicious hay and we are expecting at least 6 more tiny mouths that will soon be eating hay . I can’t think of a better hay for them to be introduced to. We may have to purchase more because our goats really love this hay.
Just arrived at the farm to pick up hay. Making sure the trailer is ready
The farmer picks up the first bale with his tractor
It’s ready to be placed on our trailer
Drop it on the trailer !
I sure hope it fits !
It fit !
Time for the second bale
Up she goes! I really enjoy watching tractors and their lifts. They are really cool
Now comes the big squeeze ! hope the second one fits !
Look !! They were a perfect size for our trailer! Nice that the farmer helped my husband tie them down
A former sheep farmer and a goat farmer working together
When we arrived home, I got a wonderful greeting from our little herd. Look at them!
Leif backing the trailer into the outbuilding to unload the bales
There was a problem with the release latch on the trailer
In Sweden, you do almost everything on your own. The concept of asking a neighbor is not so common. Here you see my husband finding a solution to move the heavy bales away from the latch, himself.
Thank goodness the bale didn’t roll onto my husband! He would be a flat husband!
Maternity updates :
All our pregnant ladies are doing well. They are all really good when it comes to the milk Stand. I just open the door to one of the boxes and who ever is due up first or next , just run out of the box and hop onto the Milk Stand, no problem. I really didn’t believe that these girls would ever become trained to the Milk Stand , but I was so wrong. It just took repetition and yummy grain in the food bowl and No grain their boxes.
As far as delivery, we are looking at Nanna to be our first to deliver. She was successfully bred December 16th which puts her quite close to her delivery. We keep a close eye on little Mis Nanna.
Little Miss Nanna
It’s really hard to see Little Miss Nanna’s baby bump but believe me , she has a little basketball tummy under all that long hair
Little Miss Nanna resting in the sun
I can hardly wait for her to deliver. These will be our first Pygmy goats born at Gullringstorp!! They are going to be much smaller than the Nigerian Dwarf newborns, and they are small!
Alika and Keriana are also doing well:
Keriana and Alika are always together Alika is on the outside so you can see her baby bump and it is quite pronounced
We had to check breeding dates and found out that Alika had to be bred twice so she is not due until first week in June. We were surprised because she is the largest of all three mothers-to-be. Keriana will be second to deliver a bit later in May.
All these young ladies are “first time Freshers” meaning first time to give birth. Now I start to worry as we get closer. I just hope that they will not have any difficulty in delivery. Little Miss Nanna is who I worry about more. She is so tiny.
It was difficult to know that Keriana was pregnant because she always looked large. that was because she has a fluffy coat of fur , Now we know that there is a substantial baby bump under all that fluffiness!
Keriana is Frida’s daughter, born here at Gullringstorp 2 yrs ago. Unfortunately, this little lady is nothing like her mother. She can be quite unpredictable and she has a short fuse. You can be patting her one moment and the next she will turn and butt you. Sometimes she walks away and for no reason she will come back to you and butt you. She can be a nice goat , when she feels like it. I just hope her babies have their grand mother’s temperament not their mother’s.
GullringstorpGoatGal
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