As I stated yesterday, I was pretty confident that Butter was going to kid and sure enough she did. She kidded somewhere between 4:15 and 5PM. She had a pretty long labor and I got a little worried for a bit because it was taking so long. I did have to "explore" to make sure that there wasn't a jamb in the canal. I was thankful there wasn't. She was just a first timer and wasn't stretched out. The first born was a little buck and he took many, many pushes before coming out. I tried to help her by pulling gently on the legs but I don't think I did much good.
About 20-30 minutes later a little doe was born.
She seemed a little weak at first and needed help to get spit out. You take them and hang them gently upside down and swing carefully to create a centrifuge effect. It worked. She coughed and sputtered and finally cried a little.
The little buck has Butter's ears and the doe has dark ears but besides that they coloring and spotting is amazingly similar to their mother. I love their little caps! They both look so much alike and they both look so much like their mother. 
This is the little buck. 
At first I thought Butter was going to let her babies nurse. I almost got the doe to latch on when Butter decided she'd had enough and kicked her away. That's when I decided that all this latch on training was too much (I'm such a worry wart!!!!! that i just had to get food into them) and got the milk bucket and milked enough to give them each a few tablespoons. We then spent the next couple hours trying to get them to bond and latch but she just wouldn't have it. So I milked again and fed them a few more tablespoons. I got a "cave" ready for them in the kid stall and put all my kids to bed. An hour later I went and milked Butter, enough for two night feedings.
The 2 new kids ate 6 ounces each at 11pm and 3am, without any trouble at all. They took to the bottles very easily and fast. When I fed at 11pm I brought them in with their momma and fed one at a time. The little buck walked around calling and following his momma around and she walked in circles not letting him near her. She talked to him the whole time and would sniff and lick him but wouldn't let him near her body. After a bit she started butting him, which made me nervous.
They've done well now on their 3 feedings so far. Butter calls for them once in awhile and we've let her in to see them but she sniffs and makes sure they are okay and walks out to the other stall. Silly girl!!!
The 2 new kids ate 6 ounces each at 11pm and 3am, without any trouble at all. They took to the bottles very easily and fast. When I fed at 11pm I brought them in with their momma and fed one at a time. The little buck walked around calling and following his momma around and she walked in circles not letting him near her. She talked to him the whole time and would sniff and lick him but wouldn't let him near her body. After a bit she started butting him, which made me nervous.
They've done well now on their 3 feedings so far. Butter calls for them once in awhile and we've let her in to see them but she sniffs and makes sure they are okay and walks out to the other stall. Silly girl!!!
These pictures were taken by my 11 year old dear daughter and she took over 200. :) I need to get some better pictures of them up and about. Of the pictures on this page the first 3 were taken by Kelsey Anna and the next three by Charissa.
5 comments:
How exciting! My son loved looking at the photos with me.
Congratulations on the twins! They are so cute!
Now, I know absolutely nothing about goats, but isn't there a way to restrain/convince her to let them nurse? You know, maybe with treats or something? Being a new mother, maybe she doesn't "get' that part of the job.
Yes, you can force them and it takes a day or so and they finally get it. I had to decide whether or not to do this with the other mother as well. You can tie them to the fence and hobble their legs so they don't kick. But in the end I really think all that work isn't worth it because in just 8 weeks they'll have to be separated from their mommy to be weaned (they are milk goats after all and their purpose is to feed us as well so they have to be weaned at some point). Weaning after 8 weeks of having mommy is a very hard thing to go through. So I decided it was easier to "wean" them now when they don't really know any better then to do it later.
Hooray! They really are cute. We can hardly wait to visit them...er...you :-)
So cute! I'm in love.
Although, I am wondering what is in your water, and hoping I never have some ;)
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