Habanera's kids

It is depressing to watch a doe grieve over a lost kid. It is impossible to believe that animals don't have feelings and memories. Habanera had twins today - a buck and a doe. They were very different in size making me wonder, if she got pregnant at two different times. The doe is really small and doing well. She is drinking from her mom all by herself now, but is still not cleaned up by her mother, so I did not include a photo.

I took the buck to the vet this afternoon. She took one look at him and said he would be dead shortly. Such a short life. Anyhow, Habanera knows that she had two babies and is mourning for the one that is missing and ignoring the one that she still has. I wonder why the moms always clean and do for the bucks first. I have discovered that does let the doelings die, while they clean a buckling. If a doe has twins, she can switch from one to the other, or just pick one. Habanera totally ignored the doeling after it was born, which makes me think the buck was too big and causing her a lot of pain in delivery. I am going to name the doe, "Cocoa." She is pure black and definitely the tiniest kid I have seen so far.

By the way, Latte and Holly (mentioned in earlier postings) are drama queens. These other mothers are not giving me any warning. I let them out of the pens, since it appears that the mothers are voluntarily going into the shed to have their babies. I am leaving the door to the large shed open, so others can go in. I put a heat lamp in for the kid and she has already found it and gone to sleep under it. I think I will go to sleep also!