A Most Amazing Morning: Hix on Patrol

   

Hix...Mighty Keeper of the Kids

    You know it's a good morning when you head out to feed goats and hear that familiar cry in the distance. It means one's having babies or has had them already...Either way, when they don't come to eat with all the rest, (and when they're as ready to pop as Cupid was) you know it's bound to be a good day.

     Once I confirm her status (early pacing...enough to merit her "Bring food back here please, I'm not up for the hassle today.*") I get her her own bowl of chow, check her backside (probably within the hour) head into the house to get towel, journal and laptop, figuring a good play-by-play will make for a timely blog. But no such luck. Hix beat me to the proverbial punch and I ain't getting nowhere near his goat babies...Not for awhile.

     For the record, Hix has had a bad weekend. For reasons that make absolutely NO sense to him, TJ is flexing his alpha muscle in all new ways these days, so much so that Hix spent the past two pretty much curled up in a corner stall. (Granted it is cooler in the barn, but when he came out to eat Saturday morning, TJ jumped him ferociously, so much so I had to pull TJ off of him, which made Hix instantly lose his appetite, and tail-tuck it to the barn where he didn't come out for 36 hours. (I did take food to him, but had to hand feed him before he let go of his nerves long enough to realize I had locked the doors and TJ wasn't coming in.)

     At issue: testosterone and alpha rules. You see, TJ is one year older than Hix (and his uncle at that). When Hix was a pup it was no contest, but like the teenage boy that keeps on growing, Hix (who's been in a major growth spurt) is now surpassing TJ is both height and head-size, which TJ sees as a threat. As a result, Hix has grown more fearful and confused and hence, more aggressive. I'm not sure at what point he'll say "Enough already" and cease his belly-up submissive posture when he realizes," Hey, I'm bigger. Why am "I" the one going belly up?" (Not sure it works that way. The eldest may always be alpha once established. I'm researching it and calling all sorts of vets, but it's enough to keep us all on our toes, with Rosebud ever the peacekeeper. She's the Jan Brady of my lot.)

     I will say after Day 2 of this activity, I had a long talk with TJ. While dogs are keen on learning words like "Sit" and "Stay" and "No" I'm into the eye-to-eye, hold-the-gaze technique of touching each dog and talking to them like the loving family they are and reasoning with them as to why we have to all get along. "Fam-ly" was our word of the weekend..."Fam-ly" I'd say, as I'd try to hug or touch as many as I could in one grouping. (ie. there are individual teachable moments, and group teachable moments. It may sound crazy, but last evening when I went out to take cookies, all 4 dogs came out playfully jumping and running; no one fought once. Not saying they won't fight again. But it wasn't as permanent as I feared and Hix was back to being his big ol loveable self, playfully scuffling with TJ as if they were brothers. Still, I'm researching the subject and watching it closely.)

     So back to this morning...

     By the time I hit the barn, Cupid (best of my mothers, making kid-bearing look like Ned in the First Reader) has plopped out 2 babies in less than 20 minutes. Hix is now IN the stall with her, growling in fierce protection. I keep his focus on me while Pat pops in the stall next door to ensure that everything is moving. (Would hate to have a baby goat trapped under placenta when you've got a 150 pound dog refusing to let you near it.)  Fortunately, Cupid had it covered. Licking her babies clean is her joy in life. Once I say to Hix, "Good Boy Hix...Good Boy..." his demeanor changes; his ferocious growl now drops to instinctively protective scowl; it's clear he's torn between loyalties. Still, I know not to challenge it; in this moment nature takes the side of the babies and Hix got there first. But with my voice now calm, he seems to grasp we're on the same team. About that time, the smaller of the babies (second born, the one less licked) staggers to him in search of its mama, and rather than nudge the kid over, Hix starts to lick the baby himself (only with a tongue about 10 times the size of Cupid's).  End result will make for one VERY protected kid, and one of the deepest bonds of loyalty found in nature. 

     Once Pat leaves the barn, Hix returns to the stall next to Cupid's, monitoring through the cracks as the babies begin to nurse. "You can enter, but you can't stay" is the obvious interpretation of the slower, more guttural moan. I do as he says. Try to snap a pic (too dark). Pat brings everyone water, and we commence with our morning. These will be Hix's babies for the time being. He's had a rough weekend. He deserves the prize of being first on the scene, so we'll leave him to it. (At one point he re-enters the stall, only to have Cupid poke him with her horns as if to say "Thanks guy... got this covered...Could I have a little space please?")  In Eeyore like fashion, the massive, but victorious Hix galumps  his body back to his own stall, where he plops his huge body down, placing his massive head on the threshold, perfectly poised to pounce if needs be.

     I gather my things to return to my day, when on the outside of the barn, I spot TJ, securely nestled on the outer side of Cupid's stall. In the end, she's got dogs to the left of her, dogs to the rear...leaving her, "Stuck in the middle with two!"

     *For the record, chow time is half eating, half competitive sport as the goats run in circles  from bowl to bowl checking to see if someone has more.  The babies position themselves beneath the fray where the crumbs fall, leaving them less likely to get poked and allowing them to eat constantly while the others dart about. Because babies consume slower until they are weaned, the arrangement works perfectly.  For mother's about to give birth, they won't risk the run-about...Too chancy they'll get butted in the belly, causing harm to the baby, so they hold back and squawk until you feed them separately....All the more reasons I find nature so fascinating and goats some of the smartest critters on the planet.