We've decided that not only was the pot of coffee premature, so were Lilo's babies. After examining the dead buckling, I can see that his front teeth are not out of the gums yet, a sign of prematurity in goats. It also makes sense that the premature delivery was caused by a stress of some sort and that's where the meconium came from.
My best friend, and goat guru, Sarah came by this weekend and checked all the goats. She believes Sox is not pregnant - something I was hoping for as she's a bit small. We checked Stitch, Asha, and Tumbleweed and felt babies move with all three. But their ligaments are not loose yet so we have a way to go. I think they may all be a few weeks to a month out. Lilo was due around now, so her babies were only about a week early. Looks like the rest of the girls waited for the next heat cycle to get pregnant.
Another, less pleasant, discovery...my herd is infested with lice. The first indicator is that some of the girls have rough/curly hair. This is a symptom that something is wrong. When you part the fur, you see lots of little pink dots all over. Those are lice. I actually had checked the girls last week but missed it because I didn't see any lice MOVING. Not necessary. If you see a bunch of pinhead sized pink specks throughout your goat's fur and she seems to be itchier than normal...it's lice.
This is not the same kind of lice that live on people. Even if my boys go out and rub their heads all over the goats, these lice will not make them a home. But it needs to be addressed. I will be going to the feed store this week and getting pyrethrin powder or liquid and treating everyone. Yuck. It still makes my skin crawl to think about these little buggers all over my girls.
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