Two More Miniature Dairy Goat Kids Born Today

Today we were surprised by the kidding of a first-timer out in the main goat yard with no advance notice. While going out to check the kids born yesterday, we heard a kid scream but it wasn't coming from the house where yesterday's kids were. It seemed to be from the goat shed. Looking out towards that way, I was sure I saw something little and white. We don't have any goats that color. I quickly shut the door to the goat house and slugged through the mud - in the wrong shoes I might add - to find Maddie furiously cleaning a newborn kid. What caught my eye though was another kid face down in the mucky hay on the outskirts of the shed, bottom stuck up in the air, and not moving. I grabbed it quickly and found it alive and breathing. Calling for reinforcements quickly, I stuffed it in my coat to try and warm it immediately. It had not been cleaned off at all.

We moved the momma doe and the two kids down to the barn out of the wind and rain to see what we had. The littlest one was a doe and the kid up and moving around was a buck. We brought down towels, heating pad, and portable heater along with supplies to tube feed the littlest if needed. When presenting Maddie with the kid she had originally ignored, she took no interest in licking it off at all, so we stepped in and got her cleaned off as well as some good rubbing to get her circulation moving. By placing her on a towel over the heating pad, it did a good job of warming up her extremeties which were very cold to the touch while we briskly rubbed her body and head to warm/dry her off. As she perked up, we moved her closer to Maddie who suddenly took interest in the kid. We think she was a little overwhelmed as a first-time mother and didn't know how to address the fact that she had two kids to deal with. Now that Maddie was open to accepting the kid, we felt that a major hurdle had been crossed.

With the doeling too weak to appear interested in nursing as her robust brother had been for the past hour, we went ahead and milked out some colostrum and tube fed her. The first kid we ever tube fed was Maddie which seemed coincidental of sorts. Sure enough after some warm milk in the tummy, the little one tried standing and shuffling along. She was pretty pathetic to watch but very determined. Once on her feet, Maddie stepped in and gave her a thorough going over.

Goat Princess stayed all afternoon to watch Maddie and her kids to be sure everyone stayed warm. After checking in on them just before dinner, Goat Princess reported that the little doe had been nursing on her own and walking pretty good. Excellent sign.

Tonight we moved the little family in with the other two does and their five kids who have been in the warmer goat house. Only concern of mine was that Maddie would get overwhelmed with the other does and kids, but after spending some time observing, everything looked great.

Tomorrow will be exciting to see how much more active these two kids will be and the fun they will have interacting with each other. Seven little kids together should be a riot!

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.

ACF Maddie - Miniature Toggenburg Doe

Weighing less than two pounds at birth, ACF Blue Mocha Madison's life is one of those you can call a miracle. She was born in March of 2007 along with two bucklings as the first freshening of our original miniature Toggenburg doe, HM Kari. She was the runt to her two five pounds brothers and needed extra care to get started. Too weak to stand to nurse, we resorted to tube feeding the first two days. Her mother was content as we were to keep her with the bucklings and was devoted to her, but she just seemed to have a hard time pulling together the strength she needed to nurse on her own. By the end of the second day, however, she was doing just fine. As this was a case of triplets with a first time doe, we almost hesitated keeping her on mom, but she was a determined little kid and got her fill at the udder.

Maddie never gained the stature of her brothers, but favors the Nigerian in her. At the county fair, she was shown in the 4H miniature dairy goat class and took first place. She repeated this the following year and moved up into two different championship classes.

During the fall of 2008, she was bred to the Nigerian buck we favored for this year, Ben. She surprised us with twins a few days sooner than expected. You can read our post about that experience here as well. We joke that she's a young mom and turns her kids over to her mother, Kari, to tend during the day. But in all actuality, she's doing a great job as a first time mom.

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)