February 11, 2017

Kidding Has Commenced!

Yesterday morning Jessie was acting a little strange. She was standing off by herself, not paying attention to anything around her. It was five days before her due date, so I figured I'd better finish get the kidding stall ready.

Sure enough, at about 11:18 she started to push. Five minutes later a little buckling was born.


Thirty minutes later she had a little girl.


Within the half hour they could find their way to a meal.


At about an hour old they were dried off.

Little Man is looking just like his mom.

Little Lady is solid black

Jessie is a good mom.

Settling down after an exciting day of being born.

It's always a relief when things go so well.

This morning ...


Less than 24 hours old and already tasting everything.

There's another goat out there!

The little doe has been harder to get good pictures of; partly because the kidding stall is so small, and partly because she's so dark with no markings; it makes it hard to see her features.  And the flash reflects in a way that I'm not entirely pleased with. I find the best photos are taken at goat level from a distance with the zoom; the proportions are more accurate. Getting an unobstructed non-blurry pose is another challenge!

There's not another color hair on her anywhere.

Her coat is soft as velvet!

The "red eye" flash effect in baby goats is
blue. She doesn't really have blue eyes!

Even though it's difficult to photograph I love her color.

My next due date is February 18, although Kinders are often early. Hopefully it will be enough time for Jessie's little ones to be steady on their feet and ready for any kind of action.


Kidding Has Commenced! © Feb 2017 by Leigh

22 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Good job, Jessie! (And Leigh!) I'm not totally sure I've ever seen a goat so totally black as your new little doe. I really like the coloring of Jessie and the little male, too. Fingers crossed for you to have a smooth sailing with the rest of your kidding season.

Leigh said...

This is the second all black goat I've had, the first being Jessie's first kid April, by the same sire. One of Jessie's brothers was black but had a frosted nose and ears. Daddy has a lot of black in his line too. Still, I was told all black is pretty rare. One thing they all had in common was the velvety fur.

Rain said...

Oh, they are beautiful. Leigh, I've been told by someone that having goats is very difficult...that they require multiple daily milking (even with new kids), that they are messy, "nasty" and extremely loud. I just don't get that vibe from your posts about your goats. Can you comment about that? I've mentioned often that I'm saving to buy my homestead by 2019 (ooh, the date is getting that much closer!!) and one of my goals is to have goats once we get all settled in and prepared. This person gave me horror stories.

Leigh said...

Rain, I'd be happy to comment on that! It's exciting to be getting closer to making a dream come true, isn't it?

Like everything else in life, if one has a good experience with something, then it's great. If one has a bad experience with it, then it's horrible. Since all of this is coming from one person, I'd say that for whatever reason, they had a bad experience. Without knowing their whole story and how well they prepared for goats, plus something about how they cared for them and the goats themselves, it's hard to know exactly why this person had a bad time with them.

It starts with proper preparation. Goats need good fences, and they need good shelter - they hate having to be out in rain or snow. They need proper nutrition. Goats are fussy eaters (contrary to a common misconception) and they have very high mineral needs. Almost all of the health problems they have are mineral and diet related.

Then there are breed characteristics. In general, Nubians are indeed loud and demanding. They are the drama queens of the goat world and act like it. It's one of the reasons we no longer have Nubians. Our Kiko buck was quite wild and I didn't trust him. I've had other Kiko folks say the same thing. (So we no longer have Kikos). In general the miniature breeds (Nigerian Dwarfs and Pygmies) are very friendly and most people love them. I have found the Kinders to have inherited that wonderful Pygmy personality. (Check out my Goat Tales from Critter Tales to read about my trial-by-fire-learning with goats and why I now take it all in stride. :)

However, there are always exceptions to all of these generalities, which is where individual personality comes in. Just like people, some individuals are bullies. Some are more aggressive, or loud, or demanding. I don't keep loud, aggressive bully goats, so these get culled. They end up in the freezer or sold with full disclosure. Oftentimes, they seem to be happier someplace else! I only keep the ones that have personalities I like and get along fairly well. There is still the pecking order, of course, and the goat on the bottom always gets pushed around (and the goat on the top always gets first dibs on everything), but that's just the way things are.

Moral of the story --- get Kinders! They are the perfect homestead goat: mid-size, dual-purpose, excellent producers (produce milk more like standard-size goats than minis), do well on less feed than standards, and have great personalities. Email me for more info! < /sales pitch for Kinders > LOL

Sam I Am...... said...

They are just precious! Cuteness overload for sure! So glad everything went well! What do you use your goats for? Congratulations to 5 Acres!

Rain said...

Lol great sales pitch, I'm sold ;)...I did read about the Nigerian Dwarves and how sweet of a temperament they have. I honestly don't know what kind of goat my acquaintance has, but I do know the poor thing lives alone in a an old barn and nutrition might be questionable based on what I've been told. It's a little sad to me actually. I've lived with dogs my whole life and I'm sure the rule applies that goats (as do all animals) feel your emotions in the way you treat them and act towards them, just like dogs, so it's possible this goat is reacting to the impatient treatment she gets. Drama queen is what this person referred to the goat as actually! Thanks so much for your input. After talking with her I was thinking twice about goats, but it's always been a dream of mine. Preparation is priority for me, I can't just jump into things, especially when it involves critters! Not only will I need your Goat Tales, I'll likely need your Chicken Tales too. Thanks again. :)

Leigh said...

"The poor thing lives alone," THAT'S the problem! Goats are herd animals and miserable without another of their own species. That goat is probably lonely not to mention insecure and scared. Her misbehavior and hollering are her only way to communicate her need. Goats are very social animals and need their own kind. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that if that goat had another goat, it would be night-and-day difference!

Good for you for making preparation a priority. It's so easy to let our excitement get us in over our heads. Read everything you can about goats, ask questions, do your homework. It will still be a learning experience, but at least you'll have your groundwork. :)

Rain said...

I mentioned delicately to her that perhaps a goat needs a buddy...my suggestion wasn't received very well unfortunately. But I do hope she follows through on finding a new owner for it. I'll be bugging you for more information as things get closer, you can bet on it lol ;)

Leigh said...

Thank you! The number one reason we have goats is milk. But we do eat meat, and prefer to grow our own to know it's well taken care of and humanely killed. Then too, I like having the registered Kinders because there is a high demand for this breed so the extras are very easy to sell and for a decent price. Sales from last year's goats (and pigs) footed our feed bill this winter.

Leigh said...

Well, I'm not surprised she doesn't want another goat considering this experience has been so difficult. If she doesn't want to do that, she definitely needs to find a new owner for it.

And bug away! I'm always happy to help others reach their homesteading dreams. :)

Goatldi said...

Cuteness abounds! Gotta love kids and kidding season is so exciting. I have a black doe in my barn now and have had multiple black does in my lines. Aren't genetics the bomb? Twist and her sister Ginger are a solid black doe and a solid red doe. They are out of a blond and white dam and a black sire. Twist yearling does are solid black and solid red by a solid black buck. Can't wait to see more wee ones pop up on your post since my kid fix isn't until early April here. Big congrats!

Leigh said...

Thanks! Genetics are so fascinating! I'm kind of hoping for some spots this year as I didn't get any last year. But the blacks are really sharp looking and I love having a lot of color in my herd.

Dawn said...

Congrats on the cuties, I hope your kidding seasons continues to be trouble free

Farmer Barb said...

So wonderful!!

IanH said...

Congratulations! Another successful year starts

Harry Flashman said...

I hope it stays warm for the little goats. It seems early for mom's to be having their babies, but maybe we are through with cold for this winter.

Mrs Shoes said...

Pretty much baby anything melts me - kids, so adorable!

On your front yesterday, you & Dan inspire me! To inspire Mr Shoes, that is. We have an old mobile home across the yard that is our sort of guest house, but has no water or heat so only works as bedrooms in summer. I'd like to rip it down as far as necessary & rebuild so it could be lived in year round (in anticipation of Mr Shoes older brother & his wife someday coming to live here on the farm). In the meantime, our older kids use it as a playhouse, nobody under 18 allowed, so the little kids aren't bothering them all the time.
Mr Shoes said he didn't think it was worth the bother, so much work, I disagree strongly & keep showing him how Dan & you are doing so much; he has a hard time arguing results. haha

Leigh said...

Me too!

Leigh said...

:)

Leigh said...

Thanks! I kind of like having them all due close together. Gets that part done and the kids can grow up and play together.

Leigh said...

Yes, that's a concern for me too. Being able to close up my new barn really helps there. Even when the outside temp in in the 20s it's usually above freezing in there. Plus I've got a whole bunch of baby goat coats all knitted up and at the ready! Warm spell now though, so everyone is comfy.

Leigh said...

Have to agree about results. :) We do spend a lot of time discussing options and weighing each in terms of time and money. Ask Mr. Shoes if he thinks it would be more feasible to build something new. :)