This morning I was out in the pasture with Moria trying to get my hands on Duchess to give her some medicine when I noticed Moria's mama, Zabrina straining at the poo pile. Zabrina had been in labour on and off all week so I didn't get too excited. After we finished with Duchess, I noticed Zabrina lying down and knew we were ready for some action. I sent Moria inside for the camera and the cria towels and went to the barn to grab the record book and iodine wash. Zabrina is a second time mom, so I expected things to move fast...The didn't. Within a few minutes we had a nose showing, but no toes at all. This is a problem. We like both a nose and a two sets of toes. We stood back and watched and waited...and waited. No progress. Time for a frantic phone call to mom (she'd gone into town to sort out an ice cream mix-up) and to get a pail of water ready so we could scrub. Moments later we had legs out, on their own (along with the head), but baby was not positioned right. I've seen a lot of cria births and this wasn't looking good and Zabrina was not happy. Mom pulled in the drive and went in the house to change back into barn clothes and scrub. Zabrina decided to lay down, right on top of baby's head. We stepped in, helped baby out, hung her upside down to drain the fluid from her airways (usually the fluid drains on it's own when the baby is hanging during the birthing process, but this one had an unusual birthing process), dried her off and started taking pictures.
Atarah working on the whole breathing/being alive thing
Atarah using Zabrina for a chin rest while Duchess tries to convince her to get up and play. Duchess was very impatient for Atarah to be mobile enough to play.
By mid/late afternoon, Atarah was quite lively. She did not want to be caught to be weighed and given her vaccines. By tomorrow I expect Duchess will be playing with her just fine.
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