One Bad week

I just lived one of the hardest days of my life as a farmer. 

I made fatal mistakes, and I knew better, but just didn’t think. I don’t want to relive last Wednesday (April 3, 2025), but I have to file a report for work, so I figured, while it’s still fresh, I might as well write it down. 

So here we go. 

We’ve been on baby watch for a while now, you may have seen videos or reels on Instagram or Facebook. Baby watch is always exciting. We have learned to have certain things on hand in case we run into problems, namely with the goats. The pigs, I’m kinda scared of them without babies, so I’m NOT going in to deal with them with babies. 

Monday

Around 2am, a gust of wind blew our bathroom door closed and it made a loud noise, which naturally made me levitate off the bed. Being wide awake after that, I started to hear a goat who sounded like she was may be in distress. I thought, “she might be in labor”. I’ve learned over the years not to jump when a goat calls, because sometimes they’re just making noise, even at night. So I gave her 30 mins. 

She was still calling so I decided to go check on her. She didn’t look like she had given birth, but was still calling and seemed uneasy. So ok, she’s just making noises. I turned to head back inside and that’s when I heard a small baby cry. I started looking for the baby, and found it tucked under the concrete play area we have for the goats. I pulled the baby out, set up a heat lamp, and tried to get the momma, E.B. back with her baby, but she was too upset to come near me. 

So I left assuming I was keeping them separated. “I’ll give her time”. I went back inside, crawled into bed and attempted to go back to sleep. 

30 mins later, she was still in distress. So I woke Chris up, it was about 4am now. I told him what was going on and that I was going to need his help. 

We went outside, and sure enough, the baby was still under the heat lamp, andE.B. was still running around looking for her baby. So Chris grabbed E.B., and we heard a baby cry. Wait, there’s TWO babies?! This one was close to where I found the first one, but was harder to get to. Chris got the second baby under the heat lamp. But E.B. didn’t want to be with her babies. She was a first time mom and that’s pretty normal from what we have seen. Eventually, they get it. 

So we locked her in with her babies so they could nurse. We went back to bed. 

When we woke up a couple hours later, we went to check on the new momma and babies to be sure they were nursing. Once we saw that E.B was willing to nurse, we removed the barrier and let them go. 

E.B and her babies

I left to run some errands and came back to another baby goat having been born. This one was from Mara, our Nigerian Dwarf who has had problems in the past. She had her baby, got it cleaned off and was in the middle of eating hay. There was no cover and I was worried that the baby would be too cold to stay where she was so I grabbed the baby to take it under the heat lamp. 

Mara and her baby girl

Mara wouldn’t follow, but just yelled at me. So I turned and brought the baby back, concerned about this I kept an eye on the baby all day. 

Tuesday

I went to check on Mara and found her adorable baby was exploring near momma and was totally fine. Ok, Mara knew best. 

Things got stressful on Tuesday. I was working on filling orders and heard baby goats crying. But with fresh babies on the ground, it’s not out of the norm. So I kept working. Finally I gave in to see what was going on and found three more babies, one couldn’t walk, and it looked like the momma had abandoned it.

This cutie pie was with two other fresh babies and so I assumed all three had been abandoned. I went to check the rest of the goat area and found a few more fresh babies and no momma’s, one was up against an electric fence getting zapped. I got the baby off the fence and found its mom and all was good. Another baby was over by the hay that Mara had her baby in, but again, no mom could be found. 

Learning from Mara, I decided not to take the baby since the mom probably knew her baby was there, (even though I didn’t know who the mom was), and Mara did just fine with her baby there. I went back to the abandoned babies, tried to get Spots, the mom to take care of them, and finally decided that I needed to just get some bottles ready in case I needed to bottle feed. 

Off to the store I went.

Freshly made bottle in hand, I got two of the three babies fed, the third didn’t want the bottle meaning it was already fed. Then I realized that only one of the babies belonged to Spots, the one with the weak legs, and the other two had a mom who was in fact taking care of them.

I was relieved.

I went and checked on the babies that had been born the night before and one was doing great, going down the hill with E.B. to graze and the other was just staying under the heater. I thought the other two babies are doing great, it’s so nice outside, this baby needs to get sun and move around. So I unplugged the heater and forced the baby with mom. 

This would be my first mistake.

McKenzie came and helped me try to figure out what babies belonged to which moms and we spent time working with the baby with weak legs helping it stand and researching what the problem was so we could help it. But I had to get orders delivered.

When I came back, I fed the weak baby again and discovered one of the babies born to E.B. wasn’t doing well at all. It had what we call Floppy Baby Syndrome.

By now it was too late to get back to the store and I needed to grab a tube to get a baking soda water mix into the baby's stomach. So I made a syringe of the mixture, and slowly force fed it to the baby, who was unable to drink it.

I put the baby under the heat lamp to warm it up, (this became my first fatal mistake). I saw the other baby standing by a fence calling it for it’s mom, I thought for a split second I should move this baby goat, but got distracted and walked away to check on the baby by the hay. (This would be my second fatal mistake).

I hadn’t seen a mom with the baby all day, but I thought, just because I didn’t see a mom doesn’t mean she wasn’t here. So I left the goat there, hoping the mom was coming back and I just wasn’t seeing it. 

This was my second mistake. 

Wednesday - (Also the absolute worst day of my life as a farmer)

I woke up to the sound of rain and at that moment I realized I had made a fatal mistake with the Floppy Goat. I should have brought the goat inside to warm it up, then worked on feeding it, or giving it the baking soda mixture.

I had two other goats I was concerned about, the one by the hay, and the one who couldn’t walk. So I needed to get back out there.

I got outside with a bottle for the goat with the weak legs, found it still alive and still unable to walk. I picked it up and brought it to a dryer area, helped it stand and fed it. I found the floppy goat where I left it, exactly as I expected to find it. I took the baby away from the heat lamp and put the other baby under the heat lamp.

I turned to find another baby had been born, but didn’t make it. The momma, Georgia, was a few feet away with her other baby that was alive and well. 

Georgia and baby

I ran around to do a wellness check on all the other babies, but couldn't find one of the first born babies, but all others were fine, except the baby by the hay bale.

When I got to this abandoned baby, it was on the brink of death. I ran inside with the baby and quickly dried it off. I threw some towels in the dryer and wrapped the baby goat in the towels and put it in the bathtub while I ran to the store to find that tube I had needed for the other baby.

I went to two different stores, and called a third, no one had the tube I needed. (I know about his feeding tube, because we had it and used it for kidding season last year. It saved a newborn that was born to another first time momma.) 

So I raced back home to the baby in a total panic. When I got home, my garage door opener wouldn’t work, I was starting to melt down. I got inside and realized the power was off, we had been on our generator since Sunday, which meant my generator had stopped working. 

I hit the floor sobbing. I have never felt more defeated or alone in my life. 

Once I pulled myself back together, I called the generator company. They gave me a few numbers of service providers, the first number I called picked up, informed me we are a high priority customer, (I don’t know why, but I am so grateful), but that it would be a while because of the power outages around the state. They would give me a call. 

In the meantime, I had a baby goat dying in my bathtub and no way to warm it up. I was on my knees crying and praying. How do I help this baby? I have no electricity, I can't heat up the towels again, I couldn't make a warm bath for it. And because we have an electric stove, I can’t even make a bottle. Then I thought about the bottle baby and realized I couldn’t feed it now, and the heat lamp I put it under was now out. 

Wait! I can make a fire! 

I ran downstairs and got a fire going. I realized one of my dogs, Spence, was missing. I called him, and he came running downstairs. I was curious, but didn’t put two and two together. The generator guy pulled up and I went outside to greet him. I filled him in and asked if he needed me, and returned to my fire. Again, the dog was missing. 

I snuck upstairs to see where he was, and sure enough, he was in the bathtub messing with the baby goat!! I LOST IT. He didn’t hurt the goat, but I really didn’t need that added stress. 

I got the baby by the fire, and just sat there with it, knowing that I needed to get back outside to look for the missing goat, the weak goat that couldn’t stand, and any other goats that might need my attention. There was another baby who kept wandering away from its mom and I was concerned we would end up with that one needing help as well. 

McKenzie was on her way and was planning on doing an immediate goat check when she got here. The neighbors had informed our group chat that there was a tree down on our street and it took a line down with it. I let her know they were closing the street off. She got to the street, but it was raining so hard she couldn’t see the tape and ended up running over the line, the tree had been pushed out of the way already, then she got stuck. UGH!

She was quickly able to get herself out and made it to the house. By now the farm was so flooded, that one of our five strands of hot wire for the cows was completely submerged under water.

It rained so much our backyard was flooded, and a strand of Hotwire was underwater.

The she shed we are planning on turning into our shop was also taking on water, and the generator guy told me the engine in our generator needed to be replaced, but it was going to take about a week to get it. “Ummm, that’s not possible for us. I have no electricity, I have babies being born and are dying, I have meat in freezers, our whole livelihood is at stake without power”. So he got on the phone and started looking for a new generator. 

McKenzie got to the farm, and immediately brought in the two babies I had originally thought had been abandoned. They were wet, but healthy. So I told her to put them back, but we agreed to move them into a shelter, so they could dry up. 

This would end up being my third mistake.

She moved those babies into one of the shelters and found another dead baby goat, and one more that was drenched and dying. She ran it into the house, we got it dried off and by the fire. Now we needed to try and get these babies fed.

Luckily our commercial kitchen has a gas stove, and is conveniently located on the farm. McKenzie and I traded places quickly so I could make a bottle for the baby with the weak legs. Once we got the baby fed, she did the chores, and grabbed the eggs that needed to be delivered. 

I brought a bottle in for the other baby McKenzie brought in, it had warmed up and was doing significantly better. It gladly ate and I decided it was strong enough to go back out with the other goats.

As I was bringing the now healthy baby outside, and put it under the heat lamp, I saw that the first momma, E.B. was soaked. I thought she must be looking for her other baby. So I went searching with her, I found her baby exactly where I left it, but it died in the rain. 

We were now up to four dead baby goats. We would eventually lose a fifth to another fatal mistake I was going to make. 

When I got back into the house I saw that the baby I brought in wasn’t by the fire anymore. It was lying by the front door. Spence had been outside with me, so I thought the baby had actually made its way to the door. It was starting to make noises and I was thrilled it was coming too!

So I quickly made a bottle, and still not having that feeding tube I used a syringe to slowly feed the baby. It took the milk, but because it still felt cold, I didn’t want to give it too much. But it was breathing better, it drank the little milk that I gave it and was making the occasional noise. This is awesome!

I quickly grabbed the gels I give to the newborns, especially those who need a little help. I gave the baby the gels, and wrapped it back up and put it next to the fire again. Again I went outside to do another check on the goats. 

This was my third fatal mistake

Basil, the mom of the two that I had thought had been abandoned, and whose kids McKenzie brought inside, only had one of her babies with her. But there were a few solid white babies, so I assumed it was just mingling with the other babies. Other than that, the chaos seemed to be calming down. We were now back on a generator, so we had power again, the baby inside was getting stronger, and it was now getting dark outside. 

I called it a night. I brought in a dog crate, put a bunch of towels in the crate, and then wrapped the baby up again in a cozy blanket. Put the baby goat in the crate, and went to bed. 

Thursday

I woke up to complete silence, the generator wasn’t running anymore, I opened my eyes and saw my fan was spinning, WE HAVE POWER!!! However, it was silent. I knew the baby downstairs was dead. 

I looked at my phone and saw I had a message from Chris letting me know his flight back to Chicago had been cancelled because of the weather, so he was now stuck in Colorado, my heart sank. 

It took me some time, and even as I’m writing and reliving this nightmare, I’m pretty sure giving the baby the gels is what killed it.

But at some point it dawned on me that the weak baby goat didn’t get up and walk to the front door. Addie, the only dog in the house, grabbed it and carried it away from the fire. I know she did this because, like I said, she was the only dog in the house, but I had also seen her try to move the baby goat another time. Spence had also moved the goat, not just while it was in the bathtub, but while it was by the fire.

I had two dogs in the house who could have hurt the baby. 

I knew I couldn’t trust Spence with the goat, but it never dawned on me that I couldn’t trust Addie. 

I went back outside to check on the goats, and saw that everyone who was alive the previous night, was still alive and doing well. Momma goats were looking for their babies, except Basil, who never re-connected with her second baby after we moved them.

I had a bottle ready for my weak baby goat who was starting to stand on its own. 

The goat I had nursed and fed, and brought back outside was wanting a bottle from me as well, so I had to run back and make another one.

I noticed it had a momma goat (Snow) who really wanted to be it’s mom. The baby just wanted me instead. These two goats had bonded so Snow seemed to be tolerating the goat with the weak legs. Basil’s baby had also become part of this little group of goats.

I really didn’t want three bottle babies, so I tried to get the momma to adopt all three. 

I was a walking zombie on Thursday, barely going through the motions. So much was hitting me, all the goats that had died.

I had a sneaking suspicion that our guardian dogs were getting in the way of the mom’s giving birth and because of that the momma goats were walking away from the babies.

We wanted to move the dogs on Tuesday, but it was chaotic, and Wednesday only got worse. Amos wanted to help out, and would lay with babies and protect them, so I started giving him the orphan babies. “I need you to protect this baby, keep it warm and safe please”. And he did.

Amos taking care of The Duke (baby with the weak legs)

Bob looked so defeated with all the babies dying, and I definitely saw him cleaning off some babies for the moms, but that’s not what you want, because then the mom doesn’t bond with the baby. So I gave Bob some babies as well, “I need you to keep these babies safe and warm over here”. 

I have no way of proving my suspicions, but we have opted to move the dogs for the next kidding season. 

Friday 

Chris was finally home, he helped me get Snow on a milking stand. I put her baby with her, and it started nursing. I also did the same thing with the baby with the weak legs and it nursed as well. Then we did the same thing with Basil and her baby. 

Snow reconnected with her baby

We locked Snow and the two babies up in hopes that the three of them would bond. I wanted to do the same with Basil and her baby, but I didn’t know which one was her other baby, and didn’t want to separate them. By the end of Friday, the Snow and her baby had finally bonded, and she is happily a momma of one baby. 

And I am the adopted momma of Priscilla and The Duke.

Priscilla is Basil’s abandoned baby, and The Duke is Spots abandoned baby who had weak legs. Both babies are doing great!