Thursday, April 30, Rose Petals the goat came to stay at the Ranch. Her mama had rejected her and my breeder friend was having trouble getting her to take a bottle. Luckily, I have plenty of extra hands to help in such an emergency. The first battle was to get little Rosie to take a bottle. Nigerian Dwarf kids are tiny, their mamas' teats aren't too big either, so I've found that Gerber baby bottles do the trick. By nine o'clock at night, I was beginning to get her to take a bottle. Friday, she spent her day with me, eating every 2 hours give or take. I got 16 ounces of goat's milk into the wee one, yesterday she drank 20 ounces. I've given her Nutri-Drench and Probios as I try to get her rumen working properly.
Rosie has become buddies with every cat and dog in the house. Her first night here, our lab mix, Buster couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Yesterday, Rosie played "tag" with Boo, the cat. We are all smitten with this tiny, blue-eyed creature. As I type this, one-handed, Rosie is resting on my lap. I'm seeing her get stronger, more active each day. Her rumen is starting to kick in, AND she's starting to poop. A basic function Rosie was struggling with. I was just going to keep Rosie long enough to get her eating and build her strength. Now I think she's found a forever home at Big Buck Ranch!
