Goat Babies Encore!

Rosie kidded last night and gave us another two female goats.  Unfortunately she was very early (145 days), we were unprepared and we didn't follow the advice and traditional wisdom of baby mammals. All the above resulted in a very long and stressful night and a goat mother that has rejected one kid. However, both kids know how to nurse and when Rosie is tethered she allows both to drink freely.

Goat Babies

Clover delivered her twin baby goats on Earth Day (April 22) after a gestation period of 149 days. She was left unattended for 1 hour 15 minutes and that's when she decided to go for it. My father walked out to the pen after having a sandwich in the house and realized that the ranch goat population had doubled.

Daisy and Basil are healthy and happy and just starting to frolic and play.  Welcome to the world you two!

The Countdown Begins...

April 18th is day 145 on the gestational calendar for Clover. Since goats usually give birth between 145-155 days after conception, we could have baby kids as early as tomorrow. Clover looks terribly uncomfortable and I'm hoping for an early birth. God knows I'm ready.

In the last three weeks we've:
Created a milk parlor,
Constructed a milking stand,
Built a kidding pen/nursery,
Picked up 4 bales of fresh hay,
Finished preparing a kidding kit, and
Had a pre-natal ranch visit from the vet.

Now we're just waiting for baby Nubians.

Pre-natal check-up

The vet visited the girls this week to draw blood for CAE and CL testing. She also showed me how to administer CD&T vaccinations.  The girls performed beautifully and were hardly bothered at all by the poking and prodding. Apparently, they can withstand anything if they're nibbling on dates.

Dr. P says that both girls look big enough to be carrying twins! (Unfortunately, my mother loved Dr. P until she said the dreaded T word. Mom is definitely looking forward to kid goats but was hoping to enjoy far less of them...say 1 per goat.)

Clover is due April 23--16 days to go.

Photos

I realized this morning that my blog isn't exactly overflowing with photos of the "kids." I think it's because 1) I'm afraid of bringing my camera and/or phone into the pen for fear that they'll jump on me and smash anything in my pockets and 2) they're so curious that the minute you take out the camera they're running up to it and sniffing it--thereby causing obscure photos of ears and mouths.

So, anyhow here are some photos that I or my sister managed to take of my fabulous caprine friends.

And then they're gone....

When my little Francis arrived at the ranch he was already "banded." (A procedure wherein a very tiny rubber band is placed around the top of the scrotum which continually restricts the blood flow from body to testicles). He walked around like this for weeks and I constantly checked between his legs to see the progress of this intriguing and somewhat disturbing process. Little by the little the testicles shrunk and hardened as they dried up from lack of blood. Little by little the tiny band pulled the skin connecting the sack to the body until one day...they fell off.

So, now I have a wether.

Goats and Bikes

Two of my favorite things in life are my new goat kids and my Cannondale Caad 9.  After a long day at the office, with crazy old clients complaining about money, it's incredibly refreshing to hit the road for an hour long ride. It is especially refreshing when the end of the ride concludes with bottle feeding baby goats. The lawyer world seems thousands of light years away with every bleat.