Sunday, March 1, 2009

I remember why I love them

I got a huge surprise this morning when I went out to feed. Sweet, one of my angora goats was delivering a baby. I knew by the size of the nose sticking out that it had to be a buck. That was not the surprise. I thought the No Size's Father, who had been in with them was sterile. All of the goats looked really skinny, so I placed a new buck in with them. Since the buck was Sweet's kid from last year, I put her in with last year's does. When she delivered, I realized that the other does could also be pregnant. I went in and checked for udders and all but one has them. She had a broken horn, so I put her in with the buck a lot later. She likely is pregnant, just not as far along. I am very excited because I had resigned myself to no white kid mohair this year - unless a color carrier produced white. They are all so skinny, that I find it hard to believe. I assume that most will only have one baby. That will be fine this year, since I can't afford for my feed bill to grow any larger.
This is Bisbee. I found Sweet delivering him this morning. Babies curl up and sleep in the sun when their bellies are full.
This is Bisbee shortly after birth. He had not found the teats yet. The curled up belly is a sure sign that a baby is hungry.
This is Casa. Her twin sister is darker and is named Grande. (If you have not figured it out yet, my theme this year is Arizona cities and towns.) These are Swiss' kids. She timed her delivery well. I had no sooner gotten Bisbee and Sweet into a pen, when I noticed that she was in labor. I moved them into the big shed with Mousketeer, the Rambouillet/Columbia cross (also referred to as a natural colored sheep.) The color of the kids' ears tells you about what color their first fleece will be.
Grande has a gorgeous chocolate color. They both are descendants of Barbara and Cinnamon, so they will have fine fleeces and gorgeous color.
This is Ajo. I was going to dock his tail and castrate him before letting them out, but I can't find my elastrator. It will show up when I least expect it. Anyhow, he is getting a short reprieve. If anyone is looking for an intact ram - let me know now!




3 comments:

KiniaCat Crafts said...

Congratulations on your various surprises and blessings!

Anonymous said...

Aw - adorable! Great photos. And I love that you're naming them after Arizona cities since there are so many cool city names in that state!

woolies said...

ooooooh babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to come visit.
:0)