Ladona Farm

A couple of days ago, one of my does, Jubilee, gave birth to a beautiful little doeling. That same day, I got a call from a friend whose goat had kidded a beautiful little doeling. Problem was, that little one's mother went down with toxemia and was in very grave condition. I went over to help. We administered appropriate meds, but neither of us thought she would live. My friend asked me to take the baby and bottle feed her. I agreed and brought her home. Then, I thought that maybe I could get Jubilee to adopt her and raise her as her own, along with her own baby. Most goats will not do that, but I decided to try. I rubbed the baby with some of Jubilee's birthing fluids, so she would start to smell like her own baby. Neither Jubee nor the baby was willing to try, though. So, I milked Jubee and fed that milk to the baby. I noticed that Jubilee would talk to that baby and she would respond, if she started crying, so I kept trying to get Jubilee to let her nurse. Well... this is where we're at today. Jubilee is letting her nurse! This is fantastic!!!
The icing on the cake, though, is that my friend's doe is making a fairly miraculous recovery!!! She's not out of the woods yet, but she's up and walking, eating, and drinking. She was so close to death. Neither of us can believe she survived. We discussed trying to reunite baby Lavender with her birth mother, but decided it was too much for her body to handle, as she's still in a fragile state and feeding Lavender could easily take her down again.
Still, it's an all around happy ending!!!