Animal Babies
After Tony's Mom dies at ninety seven, he comes home. His Mom was the third oldest in Provincetown. Because of the brain disease, air travel makes Tony more wobbly but he manages. Kind of like a joke, I bought three day old anaconda chicks while he's gone. A week before our order of a dozen Banties arrived but the feed store held on to them an extra day. They are so weak. Four die. After the chicks come home, one more dies and then they start living. At night I cover the box up with fiber board. The heat lamp is clipped to the goat delivery pen. It frosts at night but the chicks keep living so I buy three more. The anacondas are like pillow puffs. The brown Banties commandeer the big yellow puffs. The Banties surround them and settle in. They peck at each other when week old Banties try to steal an Anaconda Puff. Then Cindy Lou goes into labor two weeks early and I am running. Cindy doesn't think she wants to walk to the delivery pen but she comes along slowly. All the other goats want to sniff her. When they can't see Cindy they start wailing. I take the big, plastic heat lamp from the chicks and twirl the blue cord, secure it, and clip it. I get an old metal heat lamp for the chicks and resecure that one. Keep one eye on Cindy. Run to get the green towel and the shot glass for Iodine. Run back and Cindy is licking off two babies. She is frantic. Grab the towel and help. Cindy licks me too until we all just stop and sit still and all the babies are going to be okay for right now. A week and Tony comes home. He is confused about the number of chicks but he's scared to say anything for a day in case he has the number wrong.
After Tony's Mom dies at ninety seven, he comes home. His Mom was the third oldest in Provincetown. Because of the brain disease, air travel makes Tony more wobbly but he manages. Kind of like a joke, I bought three day old anaconda chicks while he's gone. A week before our order of a dozen Banties arrived but the feed store held on to them an extra day. They are so weak. Four die. After the chicks come home, one more dies and then they start living. At night I cover the box up with fiber board. The heat lamp is clipped to the goat delivery pen. It frosts at night but the chicks keep living so I buy three more. The anacondas are like pillow puffs. The brown Banties commandeer the big yellow puffs. The Banties surround them and settle in. They peck at each other when week old Banties try to steal an Anaconda Puff. Then Cindy Lou goes into labor two weeks early and I am running. Cindy doesn't think she wants to walk to the delivery pen but she comes along slowly. All the other goats want to sniff her. When they can't see Cindy they start wailing. I take the big, plastic heat lamp from the chicks and twirl the blue cord, secure it, and clip it. I get an old metal heat lamp for the chicks and resecure that one. Keep one eye on Cindy. Run to get the green towel and the shot glass for Iodine. Run back and Cindy is licking off two babies. She is frantic. Grab the towel and help. Cindy licks me too until we all just stop and sit still and all the babies are going to be okay for right now. A week and Tony comes home. He is confused about the number of chicks but he's scared to say anything for a day in case he has the number wrong.
