I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight

On Wednesday I woke and looked out the bathroom window and saw our Nanny goat, Lou, in one of the animal shelters all alone. Lady animals often want to be left alone when they are about to give birth. I rushed to wake Myles and let him know the news. He got out the camera with the telescopic lens and spied on her for a couple of minutes. Something caught his eye and he rushed to put on some boots and see what was happening.

Ninja at the back and Chop Suey freshly born

In the back corner of the shelter lay a little bundle of joy covered in blood and poo. Myles and I were ecstatic that a new member of the family had arrived. A couple of minutes later Lou squeezed out another kid. Mum wasn't that interested in her kids and kept walking away. So, with the advice from a neighbour, we wired them into the shelter, with food and water. Hours later we hadn't seen Lou feed the babies but we assumed it was happening - as we couldn't watch the whole time.

Myles left that night on a business trip. I made a final inspection of all the animals - Lou still wasn't interested in her babies. I went to bed but then got up early to check and feed them. Lou rushed to get the food I was carrying down. The babies were crying and the white kid walked out of the shelter in rather a wobbly fashion, getting close to the sheep thinking they were her mother. I decided that the babies couldn't be left alone anymore and I would have to intervene. I picked up the two kids and placed them in the holding pen near the house. Lou didn't even notice they had gone!

The balcony sun umbrella was used to shade the kids because it was rather a hot day. I knew that Lou would still have to fed the kids somehow but I wasn't in a position to hold Lou and milk her at the same time so I called for some help. Lou came into the holding pen quite easily - could have been the food! We lay her on her side and managed to get the male kid to drink a very tiny bit of milk. Both kids were very hungry but unable to find Lou's teats. I then set about milking Lou - something I had never done before! It was relatively easy and I soon got about 30ml of milk. We then fed the kids via baby bottle. But it was not going to be easy to milk Lou every 2 hours so I decided, after talking to a vet, to get some substitute milk from the local co-op. Lou freaked out once we left the pen and trampled on the kids but they seemed OK.

Jodie nurses Ninja

After the trip I made up a batch of the milk and we all bottle fed the animals. The female kid was very enthusiastic, but the male was struggling. When the weather started turning bad the kids were brought inside to keep warm and feed them some more. Again the neighbours helped out and even brought dinner down to me. The male didn't have any sucking action and had to be syringe forced feed - he was also unable to stand. Everybody knew where this was going but wanted to give him the best chance. By 8pm Ninja Turtle, male kids new adopted name, was having trouble breathing. Ninja had been cuddled, fed, and kept warm by Jodie for hours but she now handed him to me.

The neighbours left by 9pm and I was left with Ninja. His breathing became more shallow and occasionally he chain breathed. At 10pm he passed away in my arms. In the movie Donnie Darko there is the line "Everybody dies alone" - Ninja died in my arms, warm and loved - I don't think he was alone...

The final hour of Ninja

Mum has been reunited with baby and they have bonded well. Perhaps Lou was unprepared, scared, and in shock after giving birth. But she is making up for it now. The kid is called Chop Suey.

We believe that either Ninja died due to some sort of birth defect or, his Mother trampled on his head.