My darling Red, pre-Abu romantic interlude
As with all things in 2020, there are just some things that make us scratch our head and say, “Hmmmmm…” Although not a political circus or a new and frightening medical issue, there have been things here at the farm that just seem so out of the ordinary and are just hard to explain. October is turning out to be no different than the rest of the year. We are again dealing with a highly unusual situation.
My dairy goats are able to have one baby per year. The girls do not begin to cycle until the days shorten, the temperature begins to drop, and Sir Abu goes into rut…a highly unpleasant season but I will lament upon that on another day. The girls began showing signs of estrous in late August, some of them have already had their romantic interlude with Abu and are scheduled to deliver in late February and March. One baby per year, is the natural order of things. One baby per year is not only healthy for my girls but easily managed by us. Just one baby per year is what we have always experienced, read about, and anticipated until 2020…sigh.
You may remember my writings about my darling goat, Miss Honeybelle, aka Red. Red is one of my more robust girls. She has beautiful babies, is an exceptional mom, and acts as the herd nanny for the other girls. She is quite possibly the sweetest creature I have ever had the pleasure to come into contact with. When pregnant, Red is as big as a barn. In the late stages of pregnancy, Red no longer walks, she lumbers. Well dear reader, it is early October and my dear red girl is lumbering about the barnyard in late stage pregnancy.
The Bibbed Wonder and I have been saying to one another for several weeks, “Does Red look pregnant to you?” and “Are you sure Red isn’t pregnant?” At this point, there is no question about it, Red is indeed pregnant. It looks like she is carrying twins for sure, if not triplets…sigh. The question is, how did this happen? I mean, we know the fundamentals of how it happened but how did my girl get herself into this situation so early in the year and why did she begin to cycle before her “normal” time?
I am not mentally prepared for baby season. Baby season is stressful, tiring, frightening, and I need months upon months to prepare myself for such mental and physical duress. I have not had months upon months to prepare. I am still dealing with ill-behaved, what are now tweeners, from the spring. I am not ready for new babies at all. I’m not even the one having the baby and I am stressing. Imagine my poor Red. I think I have seen her give Abu the stink eye as he walks a path of dirt along the fence line between himself and the girls. I’m pretty sure her look says it all, “Put that dirty thing away, you oversexed barbarian!”
The Bibbed Wonder doesn’t think Red will make it to November without babies. She will probably deliver in a freak, sub-zero ice storm, have triplets…all boys, need a vet…let’s make it on Thanksgiving just to really add gloom and doom and the added holiday emergency vet fee…SIGH. Thanks for screwing up my Thanksgiving too Covid-19, 2020 and Abu, you oversexed barbarian. Nope, I am definitely not mentally prepared for baby season. I keep asking, “When did this happen?” The Bibbed Wonder with his snarky humor says, “I guess we will know when she delivers and we count backwards five months.” One of these days, The Bibbed Wonder is going to find himself camping out in the goat yurt with Abu…SIGH.
I will keep you posted on Red’s progress and health. Hopefully, she will deliver triplet girls, all healthy, gorgeous and spotted. I too hope she delivers without incident and remains my healthy, loving, sweet girl. We have lost two pigs this year in birthing scenarios, I am feeling a bit weary. However, once those adorable babies arrive, all the worry, stress and work will be worth it…until they become obnoxious tween goats. Let’s hope, this is a lovely gift from 2020…not like a re-gifted bread machine in a mangled, dust covered box, you receive from a friend who couldn’t sell the damn thing at a garage sale…SIGH.
As always dear reader, as we continue to scratch our heads over the events of 2020, stay safe, stay smart, keep your sense of humor, and keep washing your hands.
Opmerkingen