And now I have four kids.....

Well, the minivan was plumb full the other day. I picked up my kids from day care, and they jumped in with the two goat kids that were already in there. An emergency c-section at work had left two critically ill newborn goat kids without a mama. So, they came to live with us until they can find a permanent home, which may or may not happen. Seems like no one is crazy enough to want two useless goats! So for the time being, it seems that we have goats.

They are the cutest darn things, Samson and Delilah. For the first few days they lived in our laundry room in a big dog cage. They had to be bottle fed every few hours, and they had absolutely no personal hygiene, let me tell you! I did so many loads of laundry that week! It was touch and go with them for a few days, and they even received transfusions for their weak immune systems. They couldn't walk at all for the first three days of their lives, unusual for baby goats. Samson actually lost a pound from birth weight while he learned how to nurse from a bottle.

Now, Samson and Delilah are growing babies bouncing around like crazy! They live in a temporary kennel situation outside, and are learning to drink milk from a "lamb bar", basically a cooler with nipples sticking out of it. This way I can feed them morning and night, and they can determine how often they want to nurse all day long rather than gorging themselves on 2-3 bottles a day. It has been very satisfying to see them not only survive, but grow and play!

I tried very hard to keep the real kids away from the goat kids for the first week. I guess being a vet I am slightly paranoid of what my kids might catch from random clinic animals. Soon, however, I could no longer keep Lola away from them, and she started helping me feed them (followed by a huge hand washing session, of course!).



Now that they are outside, Lola and Rowan really enjoy going out to see them when the weather is nice. I let them out and all four kids run and play in the green grass. What a beautiful sign of spring! It has been so wonderful outside lately. The kids have been out every day enjoying the sandbox and the swingset. We made it down to the park today, but Lola's pesky fever just seems to hang on and on, and sure enough it was back up this afternoon. Hopefully a good long nap plus the fresh air will help her out. I hope so, she needs every ounce of energy to enjoy this wonderful spring weather while it lasts!