Kids!

"Jen!  It's GO TIME!"  Brian said, as he came running into the bedroom one morning.  I immediately knew exactly what he meant.  I felt a surge of adrenaline pulse through my body and hopped out of bed, stumbling to put my warmest clothes on as quickly as possible.

When we arrived downstairs to the kidding area, we were greeted by a wonderful sight.

Wilma had given birth to two healthy kids while we were sleeping!  During his daily morning maternity check, Brian caught a glimpse of the second kid slipping into the hay.  We were lucky that we found the kids so soon after birth.  It is essential to ensure they are warm, not wet and shivering, and even more importantly, that they nurse within the first hour of life.  The colostrum produced by their mama is essential to survival.  We set to the task of food and warmth immediately.

Not much intervention was required, both kids got to nursing with minor prodding from us.  They also seemed to enjoy wearing Arthur's coats!  Now that we knew the kids were warm and well fed, time for the next most important thing.  Gender check!  When trying to start a goat dairy, you can imagine we hope for girls that will provide us lots of milk and more future kids.  I held my breath as I looked under their wiggling tails.  First kid, a boy.  Second one, a girl!  Brian and I thought about it for a minute and then came up with their names.  Welcome Poppy and Napoleon to our animal family!

In the few weeks since their birth, Poppy (or Pop-Star, as I like to call her) and Napoleon (Napster, for short) have been thriving.  They are running, jumping and playing, just like baby goats are supposed to do!  Wilma is an excellent mother and has also become our number one milker.  She has a sweet temperament and produces lots and lots of milk each day, enough for us and her babies.

When everything goes according to plan, kidding season is the best time of year!

Cameron Paul

We have a new member of the family and this time it's not a critter!  Cameron Paul Moss was born January 23rd, 2012 and weighed 7lbs 10oz.  We brought him home to the farm a few days later and have had fun introducing him to all the animals (even though he has slept through most of their encounters...)  Gretel and Bea were extremely curious about him and the goats were hoping he had some grain stashed in his pockets.

Hard to believe that Cam will be six weeks old tomorrow.  Everybody has warned me how fast time flies as soon as you have children and I already understand what they mean.

In the near future, we will be welcoming another addition (or two!) to the family.  Wilma is pregnant and is due to deliver any day.  She and Wendy initially had some headbutting matches but have worked out a peaceful agreement and now spend their afternoons grazing in harmony.

Daffodil is no longer a baby and has finally been weaned off Wendy.  She hangs out with the dogs and little goats for now, but will spend more time with the other Saanens when she is older and either pregnant or being milked and needs extra nourishment with grain and alfalfa.   

Some of you may be wondering how Arthur has been dealing with having competition in the house.  We certainly had concerns about Arthur's behavior towards a baby considering his tendency to be affectionately overprotective but our worries have not yet come to fruition.  Arthur largely ignores Cam except for when he cries.  This video explains it all.

Hopefully our next blog will be to introduce our new healthy Saanen kids, but for now, we are keeping busy with baby Cam and the rest of our crew!