Goat-O-Rama Kids of 2018

[Nanno]

Jezebel finally had an abundance of milk this morning. I think I can safely cut back her grain and various milk-encouraging supplements, so now maybe her digestion can get back on track. I'm also glad not to have to keep doing the hot compresses several times a day. She does have a history of being slow to come into her milk, but this was ridiculous.

Penny and Rita sure are cute. They've come in to help us watch movies these last two nights, and now Phil and I each have one in our lap to help us with office work. 

Rita's ears were lopsided for the first two days and it was adorable! One up, one down. 

I took a bunch of pictures that were all the same but just a little different. I couldn't choose which one or two I liked best so now you have to bear with me while I post them all. 

   
   
   
   
   

Ah, here's one that came out different! 
   

[Nanno]

Lovely Rita and her crooked EARS!!
   

Little Penny Lane. She's so soft she feels like a little bunny. 
   
   

Rita gets a drink. Look at those tilted-up ear tips! 
   

Coral and Skeeter had a good time play-fighting on our walk. Coral has been very playful lately, and look how big and beautiful Skeeter has gotten! 
   

Coral is still the cutest goat in our herd in my opinion. She has the sweetest little face and a constantly curious expression. Not only has she been extra playful lately, she's also been extra friendly and extra greedy for food! She's due to kid around June 2nd. She has so much fur I took to calling her "Fuzzy" over the winter and now I can hardly remember her real name any more.
   

[Nanno]

Penny and Rita are really getting active, and Jezebel is starting to take them around with her to graze with the other goats. For most of the the first week she hung around the house with them. But now they're bouncing and running, and I'm guessing they'll be accompanying us on our daily walks in the next day or two. 

I took these photos yesterday while they were discovering the joys of bouncing on rocks. Jezebel's kids always take a little longer to start doing fun things because she's so over-protective. But eventually she can't keep them under control any more! 
   

Wheee!!!
   

Itchy babies.
   

Rita meets TinCup (who is rather difficult to see because of her color). 
   

And she meets Tigerlily (Jezebel's first kid, so a half-sister to these two). Tigerlily rudely has her hackles up! 
   

Tigerlily isn't the only one who knows how to be rude! 
   

Just love those longhorn ears! 
   

Fly, baby, fly! 
   

[Nanno]

I discovered this morning that Penny is the more adventuresome of the two kids. I have a pile of shredded tarp on the back patio that is part of a horse obstacle I'm building. It was blowing around like crazy this morning in the terrible wind storm we had. All the goats were pretty suspicious of it, but Penny was very curious and kept approaching it with wide, nervous eyes. She would run away when it would flap at her, but she couldn't resist going straight back to investigate again. 

How did I get into this predicament? 
   

Penny's poor little head is raw right now from disbudding last week. She reacted more than most, but even though it has stayed red for a long time it doesn't seem to hurt her at all. I think it bothers me more than it bothers her. This little one is as soft as a rabbit. She's incredibly fun to cuddle, and she's starting to jump up on my knees and ask to be picked up now.   
   

It was warm out so I removed my barn jacket and laid it over a rock. Penny was immediately drawn to it. She started pawing at it, discovered it was a cozy thing to lay down on, and promptly turned it into a nest for herself. 
   

No, you can't share! 
   
   

In other news, Nauti and TinCup are showing, and we've regularly felt babies kicking! Nauti is due May 6th and TinCup on May 16th. 
   
   
   

[DownUnder Gal]

Lovely pics! Some of the photos of Rita remind me of Coral when she was a little 'un

[Nanno]

Yeah, they're very similar. I guess that makes sense because they're very closely related. Rambo is the daddy of both, and their mama's are twin sisters.

[Nanno]

We've been bringing these little cuties into the house to watch movies with us most nights. Like most kids, they love to use the dining room table and chairs to play "fort." 
   

When Phil gets up to grab a snack, I get TWO baby goats! 
   

Penny and Rita came for their first walk the other day. Jezebel didn't want to bring them but Phil and I forced the issue by picking the kids up and carrying them for the first part. They loved it, but their mama grumbled, growled, and dithered over them the whole time. Jezebel is the classic goat version of a "helicopter mom."
   

Phil and Penny. 
   

Blackbird and Skeeter are growing into two very beautiful doelings, but they still love to clown around! 
   

Blackbird loves to climb and jump. In fact, she showed off some moves the other day that we haven't seen any baby but Finn make. She jumped up and balanced on the narrow ledge of rock that runs along the front of our porch.   
   

The girls with their mama--look how they've grown! 
   

My photos don't do Blackbird justice at all. She's a long-legged, long-bodied little doe with very correct conformation. I think she's going to grow out quite nicely.
   

Skeeter is a real head-turner, and next year the gray hair should come in a deep brown with a lot of tan/gold around the edges. Forget tri-color--I think this little gal is gonna be quad-colored! 
   

And here's last-year's kid that we kept. Little Coral just gets cuter all the time, especially now that she's getting roly-poly with her pregnancy. She's turning into a little spitfire lately too and has been challenging the bigger girls. We're hoping she doesn't get too rough.  
   

[Nanno]

Big excitement this morning! Nauti delivered two beautiful, healthy kids around 10:00 a.m. We've got a buck and a doe and it was a perfect, textbook kidding. I saw that Nauti was in labor and she baa-ed at me eagerly when I went in the pen. She gave me a look like, "Now that you're here I can start!" But I had some things to do and she didn't look quite ready, so I went and did a few little chores before going back to check on her. As soon as I came in the pen she baa-ed at me again and started pushing hard. So I went down to get some warm water and clean towels. I wasn't gone five minutes, but when I came back the first little kidling was on the ground--a little tan belted buck! Phil came out just in time to see the second baby pop out a few minutes later. Number two is a black and white doeling. They're beautiful kids and we're so pleased that everything went smoothly. Mama seems to be doing well. Yay for baby goats!  
   

[Nanno]

Yesterday was a gorgeous day for a kidding. The air was balmy and there was a gentle breeze. When I went to let the pregnant girls out of their pen, I could see that Nauti had dug herself a sunny little hollow in the dirt and was laying in it with her belly spread out wide on either side of her. She looked at me over her shoulder and baa-ed softly when I let the other girls out, but she refused to move. I checked on her and she seemed very glad to see me and immediately began to push. But since nothing was peeking, I decided I had a little time so I fed the other girls their morning grain and I went across the pasture to let the other goats out of their pen. 

When I came back to check on Nauti, things were definitely happening! Nothing was coming yet, but she was pushing in earnest and she seemed quite distressed when I left her to run down the hill and fetch the hot water and towels. I called Phil down while I filled the water buckets. He grabbed the kidding box. By the time we got up there, we had a kid on the ground and Nauti was already cleaning him off. Phil came up the hill with the towels just in time for the second kid to pop out. What a wonderful, quick, easy kidding it was!  
   

I put down a couple of puppy pads and scattered clean straw over the top so the kids wouldn't get covered in dirt. Then we helped Nauti clean them up. They dried very quickly in the warm sunshine.  
   
   

The little buckling needed help getting started at first. Phil had the magic touch.
   

His sister was on her feet and eating faster than any kid I've seen. She barely even had to figure out her legs and only fell down a couple of times. But soon both of them were up and nursing on their own.  
   

And mama was tired! 
   

I love new baby cuddles!
   

A curious crowd gathered outside the pen during the proceedings. Once the kids were up and dry, I let them investigate. 
   
   

We haven't figured out names yet, but I'm sure we'll have some in the next day or two.

[Nanno]

Skeeter and Blackbird are maturing into beautiful, sleek young does. They are over three months old now and way too big to be sitting in laps any more, but it's hard to say "no" to critters this cute! 
   

"Hey, wait a minute!" 
   

The situation rapidly deteriorated. Finn showed up and demanded attention by grabbing Skeeter's ear while Blackbird distracted Phil. Phil had little hoof-shaped bruises on his back that night! 
   

Alright, back under control... more or less. 
   
   

Blackbird had to have a turn on Phil's lap too. 
   

What a pretty girl she's becoming! I shouldn't have trouble finding this lovely doeling a home eventually.