Ok, we are at 11 puppies now, with 2 stepped on and dead before we were involved.
Jennifer has been in the barn off and on all morning now. Four hours and we seem to be finished, finally. Mom isn't nursing yet. At all. ::sigh:: I'll have to get some colostrum and a better quality milk replacer today.
Jennifer has been sitting in the barn more than out of it. The pups have been massaged, suctioned, cleaned and warmed, mostly by Jennifer. Cotton, for the most part, has been laying on Jennifer's lap, stretching across her and babies, pawing at the ground around her, stretching into Jennifer's lap, then up walking a bit, plop out baby, growl a bit, clean baby, clean yourself, start again...
We have wrapped puppies up in Dewey's hunting coat...we've had puppies on heating pads in front of the woodstove, laying on top of flannel pjs...and, gosh darnnit, I'm a homesteading momma now...fully certified...papers and all (they're coming to take me away, hee hee ha ha...) I had nothing out there, no jacket, no toweling of any kind, I suppose I could have grabbed some hay...but a pup was still very wet, very cold, very much not moving and barely breathing. I grabbed him...and whipped off my nice thick and warm homespun slip.
Yes, my slip.
Where can I get my homesteading badge? Can I get a bumper sticker? A window cling? Something...anything...to show I've arrived????
So...first-time momma here with 9 babies and she's not nursing yet. UGH UGH UGH.
I wasn't planning on taking care of the 2 runts plus 9 more now. Maybe she'll settle into motherhood now. Jennifer just came in saying she's laying down, close to the pups although they aren't nursing yet, and she grumbled at Jennifer coming into the milk room. Perhaps a good sign, heh?
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