The Birth of a Cria
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| A Foot Appears |
The dam (Gem) seemed to be in labor for days.
Not active labor, but she really was acting funny and didn't eat much. This is why it is important to know your animals,
you need to notice even the most subtle differences in their personalities for their health and medical well being.
Step 1: We had been watching
Gem for days, and on the 4th day, she seemed to be having contractions and fluid was leaking out. (Her water broke)
We knew there was a baby coming in a few hours!
Step
2: A foot appeared! We watched a foot appear about 20 minutes into the active labor. We sat back and kept
a close eye and let nature take it's course. This didn't exactly go as planned! After the foot appeared, about
20 minutes later it disappeared! It went back inside! We waited and watched as the cria seemed to be trying to
find it's way out!
After waiting a total of almost 2 hours, we started
to get concerned. We made sure to watch that the baby was still active inside of Gem. He was. We called
the vet who said that everything was probably fine, but to go in after him! So...we did!
Luckily my husband and mother-in-law were there with me.
Gem trusts me, so I held her head. My husband, Mike, held her body still. My M.I.L., Karen, had the smallest hands
and was voted to go in after the baby! We sanitized her hands and lubed her up and coached her along as to what to do.
The cria was facing the right direction. She felt a foot, then another foot, then the nose. We made sure that
the head was above the feet and told her to pull him out. She got the feet and head out enough and Mike took over holding
Gem. Karen and I proceeded to pull the baby out, gently, paying attention not to rip Gem or to hurt the baby.
With a few tugs he was on the ground! A healthy almost 20 lb cria! Gem was so patient, and such a good mother!
She gave me continous kisses as a thank you!
We named him Jonas, he is a beautiful rose grey color just like his dam.
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| Pulling the baby out. |
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| Supporting the head and clearing the airways. |
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| Cleaning him up. |
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| Not sure who was more exhausted! Look at that face! ;) |
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| Mom & Baby |
