Raime and Rudy are slowly taking to the bottle and drinking more with each feeding. This morning Raime actually came to the bottle without me having to catch and hold her. Rudy was interested, but changed his focus and went after Mame’ instead.
Both Raime and Rudy are trying to nurse on Mame’ but she is having none of it. They are hounding her to the point that she won’t stand still for anyone to nurse. So this morning I had Bekah hold Rudy while I gave Raime a little more from the bottle. As soon as they stopped pestering her, Mame’ stood still for Ricochet and Reggie to nurse. So everyone finally managed to get their breakfast.
All four kids seem to be doing well, and are very lively. It is such a hoot to watch them all playing together and expressing their joy of living.
Yesterday may have started off well, but it ended very badly. The kids and I left for town about 11:30am and everything was fine. When we got home shortly before 1pm we discovered Molly had died during our absence. Needless to say, we were all shocked and heartbroken by her unexpected death.
I have no idea at this time what might have caused her death. The breeder I purchased her from a couple of years ago is taking her body to the Vet College near us to have it autopsied in hopes of finding out what might have killed her.
Now poor Mame is suddenly finding herself beset by FOUR babies clamoring for her attention. She is fairly tolerant of Molly’s babies (Ramie & Rudy) hanging out with her, but she won’t let them nurse. I have been bottle feeding them and so far that is going ok, other than it really ties me to the house.
It was heart wrenching this morning when I went to feed them and then turned them out in the paddock for the day. They were running around calling and searching for a momma they will never see again.
Last night was the first night I shut the new kids away from their mommas for the night. I know some folks like to start milking when the kids are one week old, but I prefer to start at two weeks to ensure a healthy start. I do what is called “share milking” where I shut the kids up at night, milk the does first thing in the morning and then turn the kids out to be with momma all day.
This morning was clear and cold with some weak sunshine. I started off with Molly and she danced around a bit on the milk stand, stepped in the milk and did all the usual things a first time milker does. She finally settled down and I milked a cup from her before turning her back into the paddock. That was no where close to milking her out so she is shaping up to be a good producer.
Next up was Mame’ and she managed to squeeze out the gate and take off, when I was putting Molly back in. Had quite the time rounding her up again, but did finally get her on the milk stand. She wasn’t nearly as cooperative as Molly, and after milking about a 1/2 cup and wearing more than that (I milk in in a rain jacket for reason!) I turned her back out with her hungry babies.
Hopefully in a few weeks time they will become as acustomed to the routine as Allie is, and just run to the milk stand and hop up on their own, and stand still. Until then I will just have to keep getting up a little earlier to account for the extra time that chores are now requiring.
Kids and Momma's after this mornings milking
On another note, “Rainie” has been renamed “Ramie” by my hubby so that she can be referred to as Doe-Ray-Me. Fits into the word play we started with “Stormy the weather” last year.
I am behind with my baby updates – sorry about that! On Tuesday, Molly copied her sister and had triplets outside in the rain, two boys and a doe. One of the boys didn’t make it, but at least this time the doe lived. The doe, named Rainie, is the largest of the four babies and has a beautiful coat.
I knew she was in labor and spent the night out in the kidding shed. When hubby left for work I came inside to warm up eat a bite and have a cup of coffee. Twenty minutes later the neighbor called to tell me “your goat is outside having her babies!” So once I again I missed the delivery.
All four babies are doing well and since we got a bit of nicer weather (high overcast) they were all outside playing today and I managed to snap so pretty good pictures of them.
Ricochet playing peek-a-boo
Reggie fits under a chair with plenty of room left over.
Rudy is starting to come out of his shell and play with the other kids
I am happy to report that Reginald (Reggie) is doing markedly better this morning. He is now walking, and actually walked out onto the porch of the kidding shed to survey the big world.
Ricochet (Ricky) is living up to his name, and is a bouncy, inquisative boy with quite the personality.
After the rocky start on motherhood, Mame’ is doing much better. She does tend to pay more attention to Ricky, but she is doing better about taking care of Reggie and responding when he calls. She was so engorged this morning that I milked her a bit and she stood still for me without any sort of restraint at all. Hopefully that will be the case when I finally get her up in the milk stand as well.
I took the above video about 2am while I was out sleeping with the goats.
Mame’ had triplets sometime early this morning. I discovered them wet and cold on the ground when I went out to do chores. One was already dead and one was quickly going down hill. I rushed them inside, warmed them up with a blow drier and then held her and forced her to let them nurse.
I didn’t check the gender of the deceased baby, but the other two are bucklings. Both are doing better, although I’m not sure that the smaller of the two is going to make it through the night. Compared to his brother he is very weak and barely able to stand. His brother on the other hand is literally bouncing off the walls, and is probably going to end up with the name Ricochet (Ricky for short).
Mame’ is showing more and more signs of readiness, but so far no kids. Temperatures at night have been in the upper 20’s so I have opted to get up and check on them several times during the night rather than sleep in the kidding shed.
I came across a great website that is specifically about the care of Nigerian Dwarf goats complete with a very thorough section on kidding. Cornerstone Farm even includes diagrams and birthing pictures. Definately a beneficial site to Niggie lovers!
Both Mame’ and her half sister Molly have an estimated kidding date of March 23rd. This afternoon we got the shed that we use for kidding ready for them and moved them into the maternity pasture. I like to have them in the new paddock and housing a couple of weeks before they are due so that they have a chance to adjust to their new surroundings.
Both does are first timers, and I have to admit that I am starting to be a nervous nellie waiting for the blessed events to arrive. Mame’s ligaments are softer than Molly’s today, so I am guessing that she will go first.
Maybe I should start a pool with guessiments on when each of them will finally deliver!
Mame - two weeks before her due date.
Molly - two weeks before her due date
L-to-R: Allie (due in June) Molly and Mame watching Bekah
When you have animals, especially dairy ones, you have to make a commitment to provide them with care nearly 24/7. You can’t skip milking times because you don’t feel like it, or you would rather hit the beach instead.
Folks often ask if modern day homesteaders are able to take vacations and the answer is a qualified “yes”. You can take vacations IF you have someone reliable to take care of your critters. The difficult part is finding that person. If you are friendly with your neighbors they might be willing to trade “critter sitting” with you so they can also get some time off.
We are blessed to be able to swap “critter sitting” wtih the lady we bought our little herd of goats from. We also try to time the breeding schedule so that birthing isn’t expected within a month of our trips.
I wrote previoulsy about recieving a large number of left over Christmas trees to feed to my goats. They are making steady progress on demolishing the pile of trees, and after I dragged a new one into the pasture this morning I thought to take some before and after pictures.
Remember these are Nigerian Dwarf goats that stand less than 2 feet tall at the shoulder, so just imagine how much more quickly a larger goat could get the “recycling” done!
Before.... (with some after's in the background)
After - it took the boys two days to strip this smaller tree
