Saturday, February 11, 2017

Swallowing the milk


February is goat baby time here on the farm.  We've had a mild winter, but on the coldest night, our doe Molly gave birth to two little ones.  Not being able to get the first one dried off while birthing the second, the first one did not make it.  The second was very cold and not able to eat when she was found - very near death.

Before you can feed a kid (baby goat), you have to get its body temperature up to normal so the milk won't sour on their stomach.  We put "Maddy" (Madeline) in a cooking bag and submerged her in almost hot water in the tub.  She got warm, we took her out to start drying the wet parts of her off but she got cold.  Again, we put her in a bag and filled a plastic drawer with the water.  Still not quite warm enough and not yet wanting a bottle, we made a burrito out of towels with her in the middle, put a heating pad under her and blew warm air from the hair dryer into it.

Throughout this process, our dog Hope wanted to be with Maddy something terrible.  She cried for her and tried to stay close to her.  She just wanted the little goat for herself.

Finally, she warmed up.  Now it was time for the bottle.  We only had one on hand with a nipple the kids don't usually like.  We had to make her mouth squeeze down to get the milk into her mouth.  She fought us some, but with some honey in the mix, she finally swallowed the milk.

She was still struggling to keep her body temperature normal and it was another cold night, so she stayed in a burrito in our laundry basket.  At 4:25a.m. she was all out squalling for some milk.  She was ready.  So ready in fact, we took her outside to mom.  As with all new kids, she couldn't quite find where to get her milk, but once she did, she emptied momma out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that morning, I shared the insight God gave me about little Maddy with our daughter.  She was found in a very bad situation and her mom could not help her.  We took her into the house and did everything we could, even when we were tired and worn down, to give her the best possible chance to survive on her own.  We didn't take her in to claim her as our own like our dog Hope wanted to.  No, we wanted to help her, get her back to the health she should have had.  And when ready, we took her back to her mother.

Maddy had to do let us help her though, and ultimately, she had to swallow the milk.  She didn't like how she was getting it, but she had to have it to gain her strength.  Without it, she would have died within hours.

I looked our daughter in the eye, "You won't swallow the milk."  Tears filled her eyes for a moment and for just a brief second or two, she got it.  The walls went back up, but at least she understood we didn't take her in to claim her.  We took her in to love her and get her on her feet so she could be healthy when she reunited with her mother.

Father, I pray for healing and ultimate surrender to you for our daughter.  I pray she will one day be healthy enough to have the joy you intended for her.  Please watch over her this next year as she goes out on her own.  May she get some of the milk before she does.  In your name, amen.

1 comment: