Beautiful Brownie, the far right goat in the photo above, was in labor with triplets. I was camped out in her pen waiting to assist as needed. She became restless and I snuggled her in my arms to calm her down. Suddenly she jerked her head a few times and then fainted dead in my arms. Mark and I quickly did a C-section but were unable to revive the kids. Our faithful veterinarian identified the cause of death as a ruptured uterine artery which caused immediate death for the kids and the doe. Mark and I have been devastated and even though we were blessed the following week with seven healthy kids, it has been difficult to have the same level of joy that kidding season brings. There’s a huge hole in our herd. Brownie was the first to greet me each morning, certain that she was starving and hoping I would hurry up with feeding. She was a goofy character who brought so much joy and laughter into my life. She was not “just a goat” she was my quirky, loving and prolific goat with personality plus! To any of you goat people who are reading this…my heart is broken and I know you understand. To you who don’t have goats, as soon as you fall in love with a goat you’ll also understand! I lost a fantastic milker, a great breeding animal and a very good friend.
Bluebird Ridge Farm 