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| Our first homebred Kinder babies. The white one is the little girl. Firstborn at top, white with gray moonspots. |
Yesterday Helen seemed preoccupied so I knew her time was near. She started pushing at 5 p.m. but after about an hour I was getting worried because nothing had presented. That's too long, so I went to the house to scrub up. When I got back out I could hear Helen bawling and Dan called to come quickly. In a few more pushes we had a nose! She seemed to stall out there and the next few contractions brought no further progress. She very tight and I wondered if that as the problem. Without legs, however, there was no way to help it out. I didn't even know if there was enough room for me to get fingers in to feel for feet without her tearing. I finally found the feet but one seemed to be caught under her pelvis and the other on membrane (birth sac? umbilical cord?). I fished them out, pulled him out with the next contractions, and the other three followed in less than 15 minutes. The doeling was the last. She looks just like their daddy.
This morning when I had better light I checked them all over, gave them their selenium / E, and weighted them. I also got photos!
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| Firstborn, a buckling. White and gray with black trim. |
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| The other side |
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| Second born, a buckling. He has a smattering of light brown spots |
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| The other side |
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| 3rd born, also a buckling. Solid black with frosted ears. His coat is like velvet! Not sure if that's typical for blacks, but Clark's is the same way. |
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| Last but not least, the doeling. |
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| She has a black stripe down her back, which you can see in one of yesterday's newborn shots. |
Helen's udder was very full by the time she delivered, and I made sure each kid got a tummy full of colostrum. I weighed them so I can keep track of weight gain and make sure each kid is getting enough. It was too dark to do that last night, so the first weigh-in was this morning.
#1 - 4 pounds 15 ounces
#2 - 4 pounds 15 ounces
#3 - 4 pounds 14 ounces
#4 - 4 pounds 10 ounces
It's not uncommon for the does to be lighter weight at birth than the bucks, but she seems to be holding her own. I will continue to monitor that.
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| Sleeping pile! |
I was amazed at how quickly they were on their feet. This morning they're starting to get hoppy, but still topple over quite a bit. Helen is an amazing mom, very attentive. She didn't look that big, so I never dreamed she was carrying so many.
So all's well that ends well. Now I have three weeks to recover before Daphne is due.
51 comments:
Congratulations! It's such a tough decision to know when is the right time to intervene. Great job Helen!
Wonderful. Congratulations all round :)
Congratulations! Wow, quads! This makes me smile.
Congrats on the quads!
I can only imagine how hoppy things will get there! Congratulations on growing the herd! Now, what to do with all those BOYS? Hmmm...maybe some blue eyed girls might like to make their acquaintance...
Congratulations, Leigh! I'll bet you were happy that Dan was home to assist and lend support on this birth. Boy howdy, your mama goat was carrying a lot of weight in babies! The little ones certainly look healthy and in good shape. Feel free to post lots more pictures! :o)
By the way, are these guys polled?
Oh how I love baby goats.
Good job, all of you!
What do you use to weigh them? I only have my kitchen digital scale which should work. Don't really want to spend money on a larger scale right now.
Great pics.
Congratulations how wonderful 4 gorgeous little babies :-)
Wow! Congratulations! So much excitement, and they all look adorable!
They are so adorable! You are so lucky to have 4 healthy little beauties.
Wow! That's four good sized babies!
Well, that just increased your herd! It's always a blessing to have strong, healthy babies and a good mom. Congratulations!
Fern
Yaaay for baby Kinders!!! That first buckling is a looker for sure! I'm glad they are all well and settling in. I've got less than 2 weeks to go for my ladies, and I CAN'T WAIT! LOL
Leigh,
Congratulations 4 babies!!!!
Good thing you were able to help Helen out with her first delivery, and then the others followed.
You're going to have your hands full with these babies, and more babies are coming in 3 weeks :-)
Babies are so much fun. I wonder if the apartment complex I'm in would let me have a goat! It would be less than 25 pounds full grown and less that 25 inches at the shoulders! LOL
I was just thinking that you must be busy with something because your online activity wasn't what I was used to. Congrats! The babies are adorable all look strong and healthy.
Wow! Momma didn't look as if she were carrying that many... I wonder what all Daphne is smuggling. ;)
Good thing you are making lots of little coats! What adorable kids!!! Congratulations!
So wonderful! So glad they are doing well. Congrats on the kinders!
Awww! They are so cute!
That was great news to read this morning! I was thinking the same as Renee, because Daphne's got to have at least 5 if Helen was the small one.
They all look very healthy, so you must've got the nutrition balance right. I was thinking it was a shame you only got one girl out of four possibilities. Then I thought, perhaps if you don't castrate, they could make good trades/sales for anyone else interested in breeding kinders.
Anyway, glad you guys were there to help with #1, or it could have ended badly for the rest, and poor Helen. These are your first lot of quads aren't they?
Thank you everyone! Everyone is doing well and we're truly thrilled. For those who asked questions:
Barb, I'll probably sell the boys, or trade perhaps. If any are left, well we'll see. And no, they are not polled. They will be disbudded.
Mama Pea, more pictures soon!
Karen, I have a non-digital clock face kitchen scale, but I think a digital scale would work too depending on how much weight it could take. Mine has a removeable pan which I replaced with a cardboard "tray", like the kind they display vegetable cans in at Aldi. I put a towel on that and zero (tare) out the weight. It works well enough for my purposes.
Chris, yes, it pays to be present, just in case! Do you remember Ziggy, my Nigerian Dwarf doe? She gave me quads one year and triplets the next. One of the quads was stillborn however, so I'm glad all these made it. Just have to make sure everyone is getting enough to eat.
They are beautiful!
that is so exciting having quads and they are all so cute..
Wow, wow, wow and wow!
Beautiful! Congrats! I love the little guy with the frosted ears.
Wow. They are gorgeous! How proud you must be for this homegrown stock. Well done and enjoy those babies!
-Jaime
Oh they are so precious!! I just love this time of year, seeing everyone's new babies!
They are adorable! I have never commented, but I visit your blog every day and really enjoy your loving ways with your critters and interesting information. I live in an apartment, but enjoy learning about your life. Blessings to the little ones.
Wonderful! I am very interested in kinder goats. They seem to be hard to find. I am wondering, is it pronounce long "i" as in finder, or short "i" as in tinder? Do you have resources for learning more about this breed? Thanks!
Ugh... im feeling uncomfortable just imagining all that inside. She must have been bursting with all those legs. Seriously that's 16 legs potentially kicking around in there. Congrats to all.
Congrats! Such a cool thing!
Beautiful animals. It's well that you are ready with the goat coats.
Congratulations on 5 he additions!
Man that is a lot of babies to care for, lucky she has you on hand to lend a hand. I hope they all do well. There is nothing cuter than bouncy kids.
What beautiful babies, well done,
Rosezeeta
Oh, they're wonderful! I'm glad mama and all the babies are doing well. Congrats!
Praise the Lord for a safe and healthy delivery (and relatively uneventful, compared to some)! They're all so adorable, and look strong and healthy.
Congratulations!!! I know this has been your goal for a very long time!!! They are wonderful!
Stephanie
http://batemanhomestead.weebly.com/
Wow, what an eventful kidding! I love the little black ones, I have one I named "Little Bit of Velvet" Congrats!
Quadruple congrats!
Wonderful! Congratulations on your first litter (or whatever the correct name is for four babies!)!
OMGOMGOMG! They are so CUTE! What a sweet little doeling and I adore Mr Black Velvet too although the other bucklings are just as cute. The first buckling and the doeling remind me of cookies and cream! I wish I could pick them up and snuggle them. I'm not usually in such raptures of cutesy but they are so adorable! Well done Ms Helen and well done to you too Leigh.
Wow, this is so exciting!! They are beautiful, love the different colors and markings. Congratulations!
Congratulations! I am glad that they are all okay. They will keep you entertained for awhile! Nancy
Magical!
So cute. But now you need another goat coat!
Oh my goodness are they cute!! But four!! I bet that was a serious suprise!! Well at least they are all doing well so far!
WOW! Poor Mom with that many babes!!! Cuteness x 4 :)
Hi Leigh - Catching up on comments here. Quads!! Wow!! I knew that triplets are not uncommon with goats, but quads must be a rare thing! They are cute and I'm glad they all seem to be healthy so far.
OK, I've gotten very much behind in thanking everyone for their congratulations and wonderful comments. All appreciated!
One thing I'd like to mention is the question of quads. Twins are common for standard breeds with triplets not too rare. Nigerian Dwarfs and Kinders can frequently have quadruplets, and Kinders often give birth to quints! Whether or not the dam can feed them all is a matter of her milking genetics. So far so good here. All four remain active, healthy, and gaining weight. :)
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