Hey , guess what ? I ’m go to be a pa again in two weeks ! My girlfriend , Katy theAlpine , is having my babies . I desire they ’re as cunning as Ranger and Rapunzel , our kids from last year . We ’re getting quick for the big upshot !
Katy is due on March 24 , although five mean solar day before and five days after a Energy ’s due date is within a normal pregnancy . It takes five month for a mama stooge to make baby . Katy did n’t need anything out of the ordinary for the first three and a one-half months of her pregnancy , peculiarly because she ’s really rich and did n’t demand extra feed . ( Do n’t say her I said she ’s a tubber — she’ll seize with teeth my ears ! ) Then , six weeks ago her pre - kidding provision get .
First she beget a shot of Bo - Se . Bo - Se is an injectable prescription selenium and vitamin vitamin D supplement that pregnant mama goats need if they live on where the grime is Se deficient , like it is here in the Arkansas Ozarks . Selenium is an all important trace mineral . Yourcooperative extensionagent can tell you if there ’s a Se inadequacy job where you populate . Mammals need selenium to regurgitate , give Milk River , give nativity without problems and have properly function muscle . Kids and lambs from does and ewes with atomic number 34 deficiencies are sometimes have with white muscle disease , also called nutritionary muscular dystrophy . They have curve leg or are too infirm to endure or nurse . We all get Bo - Se shots twice a year , but it ’s specially significant before our mama Goat or sheep give birth .
The same mean solar day , Katy fuck off a CD / T booster shot . CD / triiodothyronine inoculation help protect us againstclostridium perfringinstype coulomb and D ( overeating disease ) andclostridium tetani(tetanus ) . granting immunity will pass from Katy to her nestling in her first Milk River , a compact , creamy , antibody - rich substance anticipate colostrum . Then they ’ll be protected for about six workweek , until their own resistant system mature .
Then Katy started getting extra provender . Because she ’s productive , Mom doles it out carefully , establish sure Katy gets enough food without piling on a fortune of extra system of weights . Calcium is very important for fraught moms , so Katy eats dry up alfalfa hay to contribute additional calcium to her dieting . Now , she gets metric grain , too , but not as much as most does and ewe would get . Obese fraught ma who eat too much can develop great big kids and lambs that are severe to deliver . They ’re also prostrate to a condition called pregnancy toxemia . A tummy full of babies takes up so much space in a big , juicy Department of Energy or ewe that there ’s not enough way for her to compact enough nutritious provender into herrumenand she becomes energy lacking . Substances call ketones build up in her body and she gets weak and blockade eat . Our supporter Kes , theBoer goat , had maternity toxemia when she was young and she almost died , so Mom is measured about how much and what Katy eats .
Katy also gets ahomeopathic remedycalled genus Caulophyllum in her imbibing water three times a hebdomad and a big fistful ofblackberry leavesin her feed tub every day . Mom also gives her five berry - flavor Tums once a day ; some experts say Tums help leave useable calcium ; some say it does n’t , but Katy loves them . mummy think , what can it hurt ?
Katy has access to goat mineral all the time , and Dad gave her acopper boluslast week . Momdewormedher , and she ’ll get another round of dewormer after her babies arrive . ( I ’ll talk about that in another blog after my kids are born . )
Dadtrimmed Katy ’s hoovesa few weeks ago and will do it again next week . Then we ’ll all sit back and wait . If you need to play along Katy ’s pregnancy , check out herFacebook varlet . Otherwise , I ’ll narrate you about her livery and my new baby after they get in . Stay tune !
demand Martok!Do you have a stock or wildlife question you want me to answer?Send me your question!Please keep in thinker that I receive a lot of interrogative , so I wo n’t always be able to answer each one straight off . In the case of an animal emergency , it ’s important to attain out to your veterinary surgeon or extension agent first .
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