2010 Goat Kids

HM Kari's 2010 triplets

For other links about Kari, click here.

Five Kids Born Today

Today was a busy day here.

Kari started off April Fool's Day by delivering a doe kid quite suddenly. Her due date was yesterday, but her udder was not filled to over-capacity as we usually use as a sign as to when kidding will begin. Within a short while, she delivered two buck kids right after another...all alive and healthy...a good thing around here. We were surprised that only one of the kids took on the gypsy markings of their tri-color Nigerian sire.



Within a few hours it was obvious that Wroxy was going to deliver. We had suspected her from the night before even though her official due date wasn't until tomorrow. Wroxy delivered her kids easily as well with both being doelings. Once again, we were surprised by the lack of color but they are beautiful just as they are.



We are anxious for the five little kids to get strong on their feet so they can be introduced to Corona, Vega's doe kid, who has been anxiously awaiting a 'playmate' for some time now.

Check the sidebar post to the right for a slideshow of the kids and their moms.

Goat Kids Due This Week

This should prove to be an exciting week around Abernethy Creek Farm. We have a total of three does due to kid this week. There are two miniature dairy does - 50/50 full sized dairy with Nigerian - that are due. Kari freshened last year with quads and Wroxy with triplets. We also have another first freshener miniature dairy doe - 25/75 full sized dairy with Nigerian - who is smaller than the 1st generation miniature does. We are anxious to see the size of her kids. We're anticipating that they will resemble good-sized, full term Nigerian dairy goat kids. Pictures will be up as soon as we can get them once those kids are here.

Kari's Quad Kids - Day Two - 3rd Video

Well if two videos aren't enough, here's a third:

Kari's Quads Video - Day Two - 2nd Video

Video clip of Kari's Quads - Day Two

First Kids of the Year are Here!

Well, Kari our mini-Toggenburg just delivered four kids this morning right on her due date. There are two bucklings and two doelings weighing around 4 lbs. each. Kidding went easy for the doe and quick being her second freshening. So far everyone looks healthy and strong. Our oldest daughter was at an early a.m. FFA meeting so Megan was the midwife this time around and did a great job.

Cut and paste link below to view video of the birth:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-31489220763991882&hl=en

Cut and past link below to access photos on Shutterfly:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BZtG7lw0bMWEr&notag=1

Kari & Maddie

Hey! This is Megan again. Here are some pics of my goats, Kari & Maddie. Maddie is Kari's daughter, born March 22nd, 2007. Kari was born on April 28th 2005. Kari and Maddie are Miniature Toggenburgs. Kari and Maddie's real names are "Hay Munchers Fudge Bayou Kari" and "ACF Blue Mocha Madison".

This is Kari... (above)

And this is Maddie... (above)

HM Kari - Miniature Toggenburg Dairy Goat Doe

Kari is quite a miniature Toggenburg dairy goat. Besides being an excellent mother, she is a two-time Overall Grand Champion Miniature Dairy goat for the miniature class of dairy goats at the Clackamas County fair. She tracks great coloring of the Toggenburg line in that she is mocha brown with white points and a striped face. Although she is 50% Nigerian Dwarf dairy goat, she did not pick up much in the way of Nigerian coat patterns.

Here's a bit of her history. In 2005 we were introduced to her as a week old kid by our friends at a youth goat show. My middle daughter was able to bottle feed her and instantly fell in love with her as she would fall asleep on her lap after feeding. Once my husband found the doeling was for sale, he gave permission for Goat Princess to purchase her. She would be the first goat kid we had the opportunity to raise. Goat Princess wanted to make sure she had company, so she set up a bed next to the dog crate she was staying in and spent the night beside her.

Kari as a newly disbudded bottle-baby doeling

Depending on how you look at it, that was good and bad. Kari immediately became bonded to her human 'mom'. After the first night though, we knew she needed to be treated somewhat like a goat. We set up an empty stock tank in the garage as a temporary home for her until we could relocate our horned pygmy wether. Kari would follow Goat Princess around the house and outside. She would wait by the door and bleat when it was potty time.

About the age of three weeks old, we were able to move her outside along with an Oberhasli doeling, Vega, that Camo Queen had purchased. Vega came along with her mom Savannah on a temporary basis so that Vega would have her own milk and Kari could be bottle fed from milking Savannah. As Vega had her mom, Kari turned to our pygmy doe for comfort, eventually using her as a spring board for her playful antics.

 

Kari in her favorite napping spot.

Kari's successful show career began that year at the Clackamas County Fair where she placed in the top five goats for the first two years. After being bred and successfully delivering triplets (2 bucks, 1 doe), her udder proved so wonderful that she placed as Overall Grand Champion Miniature dairy goat doe much to Goat Princess' delight.

Kari and her first set of triplet kids.

Stall card photo for 2007.

Grand Champion miniature dairy goat doe 2007.

Ribbon disply from Clackamas County Fair.

The following fall she was once again bred to Medallion, the same Nigerian buck she was originally bred to, and produced quads (2 bucks, 2 does) in 2008. Proving herself again, she raised all four on her udder with no supplementation at all, even regulating those little kids so that they each received their fair share of milk. She returned to County Fair again to reclaim her title leaving Goat Princess pretty impressed with her favorite dairy goat.

Kari at County Fair 2008.

Kari at County Fair 2008.

The following year Kari was bred to a different Nigerian buck, one with a little more color, and kidded with triplets (2 bucks, 1 doe) in 2009. Another trip to the county fair that summer, and she came home with Reserve Champion Miniature dairy goat doe, only to lose her title to our other doe PDF Wroxy (in fairness to Kari, it was our fault for allowing her udder to overfill its capacity which resulted in a stilted gait so that the judge was not able effectively judge her way of going).

Kari at County Fair 2009.

That fall Kari was bred to our own Nigerian buck, Geronimo, kidding yet another set of triplets in 2010 -- Grenadine, Chartreuce, and Carol -- three pretty precious doelings in our opinion.