Chat
07-07-2020, 11:08 AM
I have done an absolutely wretched job of keeping this thread up-to-date this year! It seems we've spent more time enjoying our babies than photographing them, which is great, but I should at least post the photos I DO have!
Tigerlily was our last doe to give birth and she held out until May 29th (four days late!), so Phil and I had a nice little anniversary surprise. I wasn't too worried about Tigerlily going overdue because I felt sure she was carrying two kids. If she looked like she was carrying a large single I'd have induced like I did with Snowball last year, but two kids are usually small enough for a big doe like Tigerlily to handle even if she goes over.
At 3:30 a.m. on May 29th, I peeked at the goat-o-scope and saw two kids toddling in the straw on unsteady legs. Tigerlily had cleaned them off very thoroughly and was behaving like the perfect doting mother. I was thrilled! Both kids were dry so I figured they were born about two hours earlier. Phil and I watched them through the camera for about half an hour. They looked strong and healthy and Tigerlily appeared to be feeding them. However, I do like to dunk umbilical cords so Phil and I headed out around 4:00 a.m. to take care of that little chore and offer Tigerlily some fresh water and grain. She seemed enamored with her new family and I couldn't have been more thrilled. Tigerlily has a rough history of lost pregnancies, and she only half accepted Snowball last year and never would feed her on her own.
"Hey guys, look what I did!"
We had a 10 lb. boy and a little 6 lb. girl. Both were two-tone chamoisee and the girl had a beautiful blaze face with the cutest pink nose.
Tigerlily was thrilled with both her kids but she seemed especially taken with the little girl. Keep that in mind because things changed dramatically in the next 24 hours.
Proof positive that Tigerlily did in fact voluntarily feed her daughter in the beginning!
Cupcake was very interested in the new arrivals. In fact, Cupcake is always very interested in everything having to do with our herd dynamics and is one of the sweetest and friendliest goats I’ve ever seen. She greets everybody and never picks a fight or acts pushy. She is almost universally liked by every goat in our herd despite her low status on the “goatem pole.”
Phil and I returned to bed after about 20 minutes but we continued to watch the new family through the goat-o-scope. After about 15 minutes of watching on the camera we began to worry. Tigerlily was no longer nuzzling her kids and now was not feeding them. When they walked toward her udder she jumped and ran away from them. The warm glow of seeing her finally have kids that she loved disappeared as we watched her attempts to stay as far from them as possible. Luckily she wasn't savaging them. She didn't seem aggressive at all, but she definitely didn't want them anywhere near her udder. This seemed odd because she'd fed them quite happily only half an hour earlier and had even nudged them toward her udder. Her udder was not tight or inflamed. She just didn't want to feed these kids and I couldn't help but think that Tigerlily, in the brief time we were there, had transferred her maternal attachment to me. Once she saw me, these kids were no longer "hers".
By daytime, Tigerlily was reluctantly interested in the girl but the boy had been rejected. His sodden umbilical cord was still wet and dragging because she refused to lick it any more after I left. Usually by morning the mamas have trimmed it short and sucked it dry. The girl's umbilical cord was short and shriveled. I dipped the boy's cord again and managed to get Tigerlily to lick his belly when I put my hand there. She did eventually chew off the cord and seemed to take more interest in her buckling after that, but she was still far more enamored with me than with either of her kids. I was very discouraged. I had to hold Tigerlily so the boy could nurse. Once I was sure both kids were fed, I beat a hasty retreat and locked them in the shed together. I hoped maybe she'd bond to them again if they were isolated. I had Phil go out and care for them as much as possible so as to try and break Tigerlily's bond to me. Poor Tigerlily. She's big, beautiful, athletic, and very uniquely colored. She's the only offspring we have from Finn. But boy is she high maintenance!
We named the boy Major Tom Sawyer. I was for Major or Major Tom because he was so big and chunky. Phil thought Tom Sawyer because he's Finn's grandson and this is one Phil might keep so it would be fun to have a Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer pair. The little girl we named Ziggy, and it suits her perfectly. She's the cutest little thing, and she was so small and lightweight at birth that she felt like a bundle of dandelion fluff.
The crazy thing is that within 24 hours, Tigerlily did a complete about-face. She adopted Tom and rejected Ziggy and that is how it stayed. She feeds Tom on her own and takes very good care of him. She won't feed Ziggy unless Phil or I hold her down, and sometimes she even bites Ziggy's tail and tries to pull her off the udder. I'm about fed up with this crazy doe and I'm starting to wonder if she's even worth keeping. She eventually stopped crying after me as if I was her kid and now she runs from me because she knows I'll make her feed Ziggy. On the plus side, Tigerlily has never tried to harm Ziggy. She just runs away from her like a she's a devil baby or something. It's bizarre but I'm happy that at least Ziggy is safe with her mother.
Tigerlily was our last doe to give birth and she held out until May 29th (four days late!), so Phil and I had a nice little anniversary surprise. I wasn't too worried about Tigerlily going overdue because I felt sure she was carrying two kids. If she looked like she was carrying a large single I'd have induced like I did with Snowball last year, but two kids are usually small enough for a big doe like Tigerlily to handle even if she goes over.
At 3:30 a.m. on May 29th, I peeked at the goat-o-scope and saw two kids toddling in the straw on unsteady legs. Tigerlily had cleaned them off very thoroughly and was behaving like the perfect doting mother. I was thrilled! Both kids were dry so I figured they were born about two hours earlier. Phil and I watched them through the camera for about half an hour. They looked strong and healthy and Tigerlily appeared to be feeding them. However, I do like to dunk umbilical cords so Phil and I headed out around 4:00 a.m. to take care of that little chore and offer Tigerlily some fresh water and grain. She seemed enamored with her new family and I couldn't have been more thrilled. Tigerlily has a rough history of lost pregnancies, and she only half accepted Snowball last year and never would feed her on her own.
"Hey guys, look what I did!"
We had a 10 lb. boy and a little 6 lb. girl. Both were two-tone chamoisee and the girl had a beautiful blaze face with the cutest pink nose.
Tigerlily was thrilled with both her kids but she seemed especially taken with the little girl. Keep that in mind because things changed dramatically in the next 24 hours.
Proof positive that Tigerlily did in fact voluntarily feed her daughter in the beginning!
Cupcake was very interested in the new arrivals. In fact, Cupcake is always very interested in everything having to do with our herd dynamics and is one of the sweetest and friendliest goats I’ve ever seen. She greets everybody and never picks a fight or acts pushy. She is almost universally liked by every goat in our herd despite her low status on the “goatem pole.”
Phil and I returned to bed after about 20 minutes but we continued to watch the new family through the goat-o-scope. After about 15 minutes of watching on the camera we began to worry. Tigerlily was no longer nuzzling her kids and now was not feeding them. When they walked toward her udder she jumped and ran away from them. The warm glow of seeing her finally have kids that she loved disappeared as we watched her attempts to stay as far from them as possible. Luckily she wasn't savaging them. She didn't seem aggressive at all, but she definitely didn't want them anywhere near her udder. This seemed odd because she'd fed them quite happily only half an hour earlier and had even nudged them toward her udder. Her udder was not tight or inflamed. She just didn't want to feed these kids and I couldn't help but think that Tigerlily, in the brief time we were there, had transferred her maternal attachment to me. Once she saw me, these kids were no longer "hers".
By daytime, Tigerlily was reluctantly interested in the girl but the boy had been rejected. His sodden umbilical cord was still wet and dragging because she refused to lick it any more after I left. Usually by morning the mamas have trimmed it short and sucked it dry. The girl's umbilical cord was short and shriveled. I dipped the boy's cord again and managed to get Tigerlily to lick his belly when I put my hand there. She did eventually chew off the cord and seemed to take more interest in her buckling after that, but she was still far more enamored with me than with either of her kids. I was very discouraged. I had to hold Tigerlily so the boy could nurse. Once I was sure both kids were fed, I beat a hasty retreat and locked them in the shed together. I hoped maybe she'd bond to them again if they were isolated. I had Phil go out and care for them as much as possible so as to try and break Tigerlily's bond to me. Poor Tigerlily. She's big, beautiful, athletic, and very uniquely colored. She's the only offspring we have from Finn. But boy is she high maintenance!
We named the boy Major Tom Sawyer. I was for Major or Major Tom because he was so big and chunky. Phil thought Tom Sawyer because he's Finn's grandson and this is one Phil might keep so it would be fun to have a Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer pair. The little girl we named Ziggy, and it suits her perfectly. She's the cutest little thing, and she was so small and lightweight at birth that she felt like a bundle of dandelion fluff.
The crazy thing is that within 24 hours, Tigerlily did a complete about-face. She adopted Tom and rejected Ziggy and that is how it stayed. She feeds Tom on her own and takes very good care of him. She won't feed Ziggy unless Phil or I hold her down, and sometimes she even bites Ziggy's tail and tries to pull her off the udder. I'm about fed up with this crazy doe and I'm starting to wonder if she's even worth keeping. She eventually stopped crying after me as if I was her kid and now she runs from me because she knows I'll make her feed Ziggy. On the plus side, Tigerlily has never tried to harm Ziggy. She just runs away from her like a she's a devil baby or something. It's bizarre but I'm happy that at least Ziggy is safe with her mother.