This is Gilly and her other buckling today. He is a little spitfire. Gilly is such a good mom, I'm so glad she has one to care for. This buckling is totally normal, he is the brother to the little guy with no anus who had to be put to sleep. I was cuddling him today.

Seiden had triplet boys today! Two tri-color and one black and white with blue eyes. Guess I called it right since I said she would have triplets....LOL. And I thought she was going to go today. She passed the afterbirth and ate it while I was at work (thank you!).

This buckling has no anus. He was born 03/21/12 in the afternoon. At first he appeared normal, but the next morning when I was out there he was acting like he was in pain and I checked his hind end to see if he had pooped and lo and behold. I had seen this in a bull calf years ago and knew what it was. It's called Atresia ani & Atresia recti.

Atresia ani simplex occurs when the anal membrane fails to perforate or disappear. The exterior opening of the intestinal tract is then closed. This can be surgically corrected and if not the animal will die within 7 days or so. The feces builds up in the intestine and will eventually burst.

Atresia ani et recti refers to congenital closure of both the anus and rectum. This takes place during fetal development when the rectum and anus openings fail to develop.

Atresia recti simplex refers to the condition in which the lumen of the rectum failed to develop, but the anal opening is normal. There may be malformation of the genito-urinary tract associated with abnormalities of the colon and rectum causing the intestine to empty into the vagina or bladder. Atresia of the gut, particularly the colon, may result from external pressure on the amniotic sac during rectal palpation between days 35 and 40 of gestation.

This info was taken from Goat-link.com.

If you see this in a kid, get it to the vet right away, if it's simply the anus opening failed to form, they can preform surgery with good results. If not, put the kid right to sleep, as it's feces will build up and cause it's intestines to burst causing a horrible death. This buckling was ultrasounded and had no large intestine and was put to sleep right away. He died in my arms peacefully. It hurts big time. But I hope his death is not in vain and will teach others about this condition. 

Rest in peace little guy, you may be gone but you'll never be forgotten. First time in 13 years of having goats I had this and I really, really hope it never happens again. Luckily Gilly had twin bucklings so while she still misses him, she at least has one to care for and she is a wonderful mom.

Well we got the snow. Kids weren't too sure about it at first but they got used to it. The little tri boy is so friendly, every time he sees me, he comes running up with a little prance to his step, he has gotten big, can't really call him little anymore. Supposed to warm up to mid-40's and possibly 50's for the next few weeks, which means I can scrape down the yard around the barn so the goats don't have to step in mud. They really hate mud!

Well, supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow tomorrow, saving putting hay out until Saturday. Not sure if we are going to get it or not, but am really glad the first does to kid will be at the end of the month :-) The picture above is from last winter....the snow is 4-6 feet high in places from drifting.....