Emily and Madeleine kidded yesterday, and the third in the family trio, Morgan, followed suit uneventfully today with a set of twins - one buckling, one doeling. Here are some pictures of the newest additions.
I think we're done for now, but with the fence troubles we had in the spring, who knows?
Such adorable babies & so much variety of color! Congratulations on all the healthy new kids.
How's the tiny girl doing?
Thanks! The itty bitty is doing great! I've seen her shove sisters out of the way to eat, so I think she'll do ok. We're still keeping an eye on her, though. The runts always worry me. We have nipples and plenty of extra milk and are ready with bottles if they're needed. While they all will be staying with their dams full time, we will be training them all to take bottles, anyway. We don't plan to keep any of them, and having them on the bottle makes selling easier and faster.
Absolutely adorable!! Are they Kinders? Reason I ask is that someone on the Yahoo Kinder site was looking for Kinders in NC...
No, they aren't Kinders. They are all Nigerian Dwarf. That particular family group is stockier than our others. We tease Madeleine by calling her "Tank" because she is such a heavy, solid girl.
well I was not going to breed mine but now I may have too. since they are Nigerian dwarf I should breed with a small breed yes?
You should ONLY breed them to other nigerians. You could do a pygmy in a pinch, but I'd avoid that for a host of reasons - pygmy kidding problems, pygmy crosses are a dime-a-dozen, no utility often equals low value, low value often means poor homes etc. We all know there is exceptionally good homes in pet owners, but the average goat owner only has goats for 2 years. That means, they're likely to exchange hands once or several times in their life - the more inherently valuable, the higher their prospects are to landing in good homes. (also to note -registration increases this, disbudding increases this, herd management increases this, production and conformation increases this... ) My point is, Breeding just to have babies may not be adequate reason alone. Breed for improvement and utility, and the kids will be more valuable and have better outlooks for life. And while most kiddings go smooth, you'll have to have a plan for dystocia (kidding problems) or lack of maternal instincts - these are things you'll have to plan on fixing yourself. Baby goats are my favorite thing about owning goats, but there's a lot of lead-up to them that requires attention and consideration.
There just is nothing cuter than baby goats. Squeeze them LOTS because they do not stay so tiny very long...there are many on this forum wishing they could help you with the hugging.
i miss my nigerians so badly. the babies were the most fun part about having them. my friend described them as beanie babies with legs. so true. you have some great colors and patterns.