Our black and white doe delivered her baby early this afternoon while I was out in the barn dropping off some things that did not need to be in the garage anymore. I heard a very high pitch goat cry and thought, “that’s not one of our babies!” I was wrong. It was one of our babies! It was the first of a set of three from that mother, who had delivered a stillborn only six months ago. This time, three! And she did it all on her own, and just fine.
The other expectant mother stayed to the side, perhaps settling into a nest for herself, or perhaps to preserve her colostrum for her own babies when they come, which I expect to be in a day or two, most likely. After all, the father is fast at his work, and even this set indicated that the black and white mother took in three days of being put in with him. They were put in at the same time.
After momma cleaned them all up and all had their first feeding, a quick check of their undersides shows they are two females and one male. The brown one was born first, and we are calling her fern. Then came Oreo, the belted one. The one that has about as much white on him as his mother is Echo.
Looks like I am not the only one to be cleaning out his shop today!
I won’t at all be surprised if the other mother delivers tomorrow. She has done it a few times before and has been very successful at it, so I think she will do fine whenever they come. Goats, kittens, and newly bought chickens are just some of the reasons that springtime is always an exciting time on the farm!
You know? I spotted the boy as soon as he popped out! How could I tell? He was the one that hit the ground, coughed up his fluids, and turned and looked around for his food on mom’s underside right away. He found it before the two that were born before him!
