Early summer is a busy busy time on a smallholding. One of the things that happens is the arrival of kids and over the course of a few weeks we keep a check on the expectant mothers at regular intervals during the day. In previous years it's been easy to see when a goat is in labour, but I always missed the births by minutes, usually finding the kids as they were being licked clean. This year I was thrilled to witness the birth of Willows two kids and as usual she needed no intervention at all. She had a doe and then a big buck.
For some reason known only to herself she rejected the little doe. For the first few days we had to milk Willow and although we tried feeding the kid by bottle, she preferred to drink straight from the bucket. Once she was quick on her feet she fed straight from her Mum by employing some clever tactics. When the buck went to suckle she would run up between Mums hind legs and suckle too, in secret! I even saw her lie on her back once to wangle her way in. Its sad she has been rejected by her Mum, but she plays and sleeps with her brother and another adult doe has taken kindly to her too.
So sweet! That's one tough doe. Do keep us informed on her progress.
I'm so happy to have found your site again. I love it!
Posted by: katrien | January 29, 2010 at 02:29 AM