Six Wonderful Cousins

Over the Christmas Holidays I got to witness two beautiful births. Magic and Goldie were put to their boars on the same day, so I knew depending on conception, that they were due around the same time.

Magic was paired with Seraphim.

Magic

Seraphim

Both grew and appeared to progress very much in sync with each other. Towards the end, Goldie was definitely the smaller of the two. Hers was a brother sister pairing with her litter mate Wizz Fizz.

Goldie

Wizz Fizz

 So I was most surprised when she went into labour first. I only missed the birth by a few minutes.There were three beautiful bubs.

Sheltie boar Kingdom 'Oro Valentino'

Texel boar Kingdom 'Ti Adoro'

Texel sow 'Mio Amore'

Within 10 minutes I saw the early labour signs with Magic. She was pacing in circles, sticking her head 'down there' and sniffing, seeming restless, unable to stay still. Sure enough the contractions started. Small hiccup type movements. Then there was a baby.

The first pup makes an appearance

The second pup took a little while to arrive but the third appeared very fast. Aside a watchful eye I had not been involved in the process at all as Magic was doing a great job and I didn't want to stress her out or distract her from the task at hand. 

As the seconds ticked by I started to worry. "Which pup is she cleaning?" I asked my husband, "I can't tell!"; "Dont worry" he reassured me "She's cleaning the new one." I started lifting her hair anxiously trying to see, seeking confirmation that he was right.

All of a sudden I could see a little face fully encapsulated in the sac. My heart skipped a beat. I tried to rip it open but with my own baby in my arms I was limited. I desperately struggled to pierce it using my thumb and fore finger. "Help me quick!" I pleaded. By this stage I felt sick. Seconds seemed like minutes and I knew time was of the essence. Then, my husband did something I had not even contemplated. He picked Magic up and swung her 180 degrees so her mouth was over the baby. She bit down immediately and began peeling the sac away from the pups head.

Our eyes were fixed on that tiny little mouth as we waited for it to take a breath. When at last it did, we sat there on the shed floor with the biggest smiles plastered over our faces. Thank the universe we were blessed enough to witness the birth. Without intervention I am sure only two of the three pups would have survived.

Texel sow Kingdom 'Zoli de Rosa'

Texel boar Kingdom 'Magic Starz'

Sheltie boar Kingdom 'Celsius Thorn'

I handled each one gently, looked them over, snapped a quick pic and then popped them back, content to simply watch them bond from the sidelines. I couldn't believe my luck, six new safe arrivals all in the one night.