I don't know.  I don't know if this year will be more productive than last year as far as my blogging skills go.  I realized that I posted NOTHING in 2022.  I don't know if 2022 was just that uneventful, or just that busy.  But here we are in 2023 and I am going to try to keep things updated.  We shall see. 
The year started off as all years do for us with the Pa State Farm Show.  We have shown at the Farm Show for what we can figure was around 2005, when Nigerians were first accepted into ADGA.   This year was very good for Lamp Oil Farm with 2 of our doe achieving Best or Reserve Best of Breed.  Our homebred doe, Daisy, did it again with Best of Breed in the Youth Show, but yet again, failed to obtain her leg for illegible tattoo.  UGH, I really need to get microchips this year.   Our doe, Cedar View Ayanna, earned Reserve Best of Breed in the Open Show.  In the youth show, we had 5 of the 6 doe up for Best of Breed!  With all but one being home bred.  The kids did great showing.  Hard to believe only a couple more years until they are out of 4H and can't show in youth.
Not only the kids did great, but I also earned BEST OF SHOW for an original design quilt.  This is an achievement I have been working towards for the past few years.  Several of my other entries also received high placings.  It was a great show and we are hoping to get to other sanctioned shows this year besides our local fairs.

Sunday we decided to drive to Shippensburg to add 3 new boer kids to our herd. Thinking this was a great idea so each of the kids can have a market goat. Sounds great in theory until we have all become attached to 3 more bottle babies. So in addition to 2 lambs and the 3 kids we were feeding, we are up to 8! 8 eating machines 5x a day.

Friday started out like any other day. Got up, made bottles and headed to the barn to feed our bottle baby lamb and goat kid. After they were fed, I usually start the barn chores of feeding and putting out hay for the other animals.

For the past couple weeks, we had our boer doe, Muffin, separated in the kidding pen, as we knew she was due to kid soon. I went over to check on her and realized she was in labor. I rounded up some towels and stood watching for signs of pushing. Nothing, I could tell her waters had broken at some point, which normally means babies are on the way, but nothing. I checked her ligaments which are beside her tail, this is a sure indication that she is in labor. Ligaments are 2 rod like structures on either side of the tail head that when labor is eminent, they soften and disappear, like when a woman is dilated. I could still feel the ligaments. This was not normal. I presumed we were dealing with a premature delivery.

I reached in to check for babies and felt hooves close to the birth canal and decided to wait a minute to see if she would push. Nothing. I texted my husband to let him know babies were on the way, but I didn't expect it to end well. We had been concerned for Muffin the the past weeks because she had been carrying her babies extremely low, I had never seen a goat with its belly almost dragging on the ground. We presumed she was carrying a large litter and had just run out of room. The past couple days, she was laying down and couldn't get herself up without help because she was just too big. So now I decide not to panic and just reach in and pull the kid out. As I did, she helped to push and the baby was born, alive but very small. She was noisy and seemed lively. This is a good sign. Muffin is a pro at being a mom, so she got to the business of cleaning off her baby. I waited a good 15 minutes and she still had not begun to push out the 2nd kid. So again I reached in and she began to push and together we delivered another doe kid. She too was alive, not quite as lively but she was crying. She was a tad bit smaller yet. I could feel in Muffin's belly was still another baby.

I know when there are multiples that there is some time between births because the kid has a farther journey to travel to reach the birth canal, so I waited about 30 min. Muffin was happily cleaning her other 2 babies and not at all concerned with getting the other baby out. So yet again, I reached in and grabbed the hooves and pulled out the 3rd baby. Another girl. She was very small, and listless. I quickly dried her off, rubbed her and cleaned the mucus out of her mouth. Muffin took over cleaning her. I was certain there had to be another baby in there with as large as Muffin was. I bumped her belly to see if I could feel another kid, and I thought I could but wasn't positive. Muffin by now was standing and taking care of her babies.

I still wasn't sure there wasn't a 4th kid (she had quads last year and wasn't nearly as big) This time, I reached in as far as I could reach and found nothing. So by now a good hour and half has passed from baby 1 til baby 3. They were all much smaller than full term kids, I felt their mouths and their teeth still hadn't erupted through the gums so I knew they were premature. I started to milk out some colostrum to give them, but Muffin had no milk! UGH this is not good. Colostrum is sooo important for the kids to get a good start and to be healthy and these 3 already had strikes against them. Luckily, I had some frozen sheep colostrum and went inside to thaw myself and it up.

I figured by the time I returned the kids would be up and trying to nurse, but when I returned, they were all still laying down. Muffin was great at cleaning them off, nudging them to stand, but they were just too week, Baby 1 was by far the strongest and was at least trying to stand, Baby 2 was sitting up, but Baby 3 was still flat out not doing much. I wrapped up Baby 3 and brought her inside to warm her up in the heating pad and get some colostrum in her to perk her up. Inside, she was trying to sit up, she was crying a lot, but was getting cold. This is a dangerous sign for a new kid. They have to be able to maintain their body temperature. I let her wrapped up while I went to the barn to give colostrum to the other 2 kid, Baby 2 was now struggling. So off to the house we go to warm her up as well. Baby 1 is now at least trying to stand and find a teat to nurse, but Muffin wasn't having any of it. So Baby 1 is off to the house as well. I manage to get Baby 3 warmed up enough to tube some colostrum into her, but it is clear she is struggling too much to breathe.

Scrappy, our Australian Shepherd mix, took the job of guardian very seriously. He is my baby protector, whether human or animal, he thinks it is his job to stand guard. I realized later that he didn't take any interest in the other 2 babies, just Baby 3 who was clearly not going to survive. I text our vet to get her suggestions as to what to do about Muffin and mentioned the baby was not doing well, she offered to come out later in the day. Baby 3 wouldn't make it until she got out. I went back to the barn to check Muffin and when I returned she had passed away with Scrappy by her side. Unfortunately, that is the life of a farmer. Not every birth has a happy ending. Things happen that are out of our control. Luckily, the other 2 are doing well, they are with Muffin during the day (though on a bottle) and I bring them in at night to stay warm and to bottle feed them throughout the night.



The vet determined that Muffin suffered a ruptured pre-pubic tendon. A tendon that essentially holds the abdomen in place. This type of rupture caused her abdomen and uterus to severely drop and the weight was just too much to sustain the pregnancy any longer. Muffin being a good mom, helped to keep the babies inside of another couple days by laying still and not moving around. Unfortunately, she is not able to be bred anymore, But she gave us 2 beautiful doe kids that will grow up and be productive members of our herd.

It is that time of year when cold weather equals new babies.  And it never fails they usually come on the coldest night of the year.   This requires me getting up several nights in a row to go and check for new babies and getting them dried off as quickly as possible.  Luckily this year, all but 1 ewe went close to the time I do barn chores so the babies didn't spend too much time out in the cold.  It always amazes me that these fresh, wet babies aren't froze fast to the ground.  But the moms (usually) get busy licking them clean.  So far we've added 5 lambs this season, 3 ram lambs and 2 ewe from our registered American Teeswaters.  What can I say, but in my experience, sheep are dumb.  All too often I see these sheep either push their babies away or the lambs have no idea how to nurse.  It usually ends up with a bottle baby or two.  But, they are so adorable.