It has been an exhausting few days. Last Saturday, Anna, our goat, gave birth to three kids.
This evening, Bella gave birth to two! So far it looks like she will be an excellent mother! Anna, not so much...
The first three were born to Anna. This was her first freshening and it doesn't seem that she really understood what just happened to her. She left the new kids to fend for themselves, which has left us with the task of milking her and bottle feeding the babies. The night of her birthing, we scrambled to get everything prepared in the barn and in the house. Of course it was below zero (deg F) outside. With Anna refusing to have anything to do with her three adorable kids, we brought them inside the house. After everything was in place, we finally made it back out to the barn at around 11PM to attempt milking Anna for the first time; first time for all three of us (Anna, Shelly, and myself). After successfully extracting milk from Anna, we allowed the kids to stay up late so they could get in on bottle feeding the goaty kids. Of coarse, they loved it.
We cleaned them up and set them up with a cozy tote to sleep in, but not before letting them play around on the kitchen floor for a bit. If it was warmer outside, they would have remained in the barn, but we didn't want to chance it.
It is pretty amazing how they are able to walk on day one! Not only is it amazing, but it is also pretty cute!
Enel: He looks just like his mother Anna.
Tata: We are told he looks just like Bilbo's sire.
Imin: He looks just like his father Bilbo. He also looks like he is ready for bed!
After plenty of play time, we found a cozy tote for them to sleep in, in the basement for the night. I think Shelly and I finally made it to bed around 1AM.
Today we had to dig out some diapers and let these kids run and play in between their sleeps. Nothing more hilarious than watching a diaper wearing goat running around and playing with children, all while trying their best to stay upright!
I think next year will will do a better job at timing when we allow our buck to hang out with the ladies. Right now, March/April goat babies sound really nice!
-Jeremy
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