They were born last night around 11 p.m. and this time I got to be there! Stella's due date was April 22, but yesterday she stayed around the goat shed instead of following the other goats out. At dusk I put her in the kidding stall and made frequent checks. At 10:30 I settled down to wait with her and in about half an hour she had twin doelings. Kidding was easy and she has taken to mothering like a fish in water.
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| First born |
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| Second born |
They are nearly identical except for a slight difference in the color of their markings. First born has lighter facial stripes and leg trim than her sister.
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| By this morning they were happily jumping around the kidding stall. |
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| I wasn't the only visitor. One of the ducks was very interested in meeting the new kids. |
So far my count is two bucklings and five doelings, with Luki still due on May 7. The proud papa of all but two of the little girls is Clark.
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| Papa Clark, aka California |
And his record is actually better than that. I sold Daphne's sister Helen last fall and bred her to Clark before she left. Her new owner said she recently had another set of quads - all girls!
I'm very thankful it's been such an easy and productive kidding season so far.
ok this is how out of touch I am, but whatever happened to Gruffy? Did he ever finally succeed at wooing anyone before he got turned into pie? ha. I'm so happy for you and all the new lady goats!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.5acresandadream.com/2015/01/rip-gruffy.html
Deleteoh thank you for the link, I totally missed that last year :( So Clark is the new Elvis!
DeleteOk, Renee beat me to it (thanks Renee, I've been super busy today!) Katy, sadly we lost Gruffy, and I've since switched to Kinders. I have to say that Clark can be a toot, but not as bad as Elvis was! LOL
DeleteSo far what a great kidding season for you! And way to go, Clark. (Super name for a buck!)
ReplyDeleteClark was the name his breeder gave him (his twin brother was Lewis :). I chose "California" for his papers. Clark fits though and I call him my "Supergoat" because he flew across country to get here. :)
DeleteThey are adorable!! I miss babies on our farm...Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteBaby critters make the farm!
DeleteSimply adorable!!
ReplyDeleteI agree! And happily, I was able to easily get some good photos. Sometimes it seems near impossible to get a good kid pic.
DeleteYAY! I think that you're going to have a hard time choosing who stays and goes!
ReplyDeleteThat's always hard, but I won't have to decide until Luki kids. I might keep one of the bucklings and at least one of Clark's daughters, to see how udders go.
Deleteglad to see you're having a stellar season thus far!
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of words! Stella made it stellar. :)
Deletewow! you are having a stunning lambing season...but i got to admit i am not surprised....that clark is one handsome devil and sounds like he did a good job - bahahahah!
ReplyDeletesending love! your friend,
kymber
He is a handsome guy, isn't he? I think he's my most photogenic goat. Always willing to look at the camera. :)
DeleteCongratulations lovely pair of twins love the colours and markings :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm just happy I can tell them apart! I need to know for their registration papers.
DeleteAnother set of beautiful kids! I notice they've all been early for you this year (I think?). Did you count using the standard goat's average gestation period or the miniature goat's average gestation period? (As you can guess, I'm wondering for the sake of my miniNubian, who might be due Thursday if she kids on the miniature date.)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, Artemesia's possibly due as early as that? It seems like only yesterday we were wondering if she'd even settled!
DeleteGood question about due dates. Most Kinder breeders use the 150 standard size gestation. However, some university (I forget which) analyzed something like 10 years worth of Pat Showalter's goat records and came up with an average Kinder gestation of 147.5 days, IOW, right in the middle! But yes, mine have all been early so far (3 to 5 days) except Daphne who kidded on her due date (counting 150 days.) Only once have I had a doe go over - a Nubian and then her kid was huge. Early is better!
How adorable!!!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteYay for you all!!! Adorable!
ReplyDeleteAnd every kidding so far has been easy peasy. That's the best part!
DeleteLove your new babies! You are getting quite a family! Nancy
ReplyDeleteWhat's really fun is that the kids (older ones) are starting to hang out and play together. It's so fun to watch them all race across the pasture.
DeleteWow, what a season! I can't believe how the two new babies are so incredibly identical!
ReplyDeleteI have an x-small dog collar for just such a case, but I couldn't find it when they were born! I had to look really closely to find a difference. #1's marking actually looked white when she was born and #2 light tan. That's been my identifier. :)
DeleteI love Stella's dots, but I like facial stripes, too! Yea girls! You can't beat a she-farm for value.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a great year for girls!
DeleteLeigh,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new babies. I love their coloring.
Thanks Sandy!
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