Our New Kids

Some of our goats finally kidded. The whole family witnessed the birth of one goat. She delivered three kids. For homeschooling, biology does not get any better. The kids where amazed at how a baby comes out. However, they where also disgusted when she starts to lick them clean. It was a big ordeal that day. It was 0 degrees outside, and we were so afraid they would freeze to death. We found the mother goat in labor. We decided to drag her across the property and bring her to our sun porch. After they were all delivered, we took them all to a cozy room in one of our barns. Later that day, the kids went to check on the other goats and another one had delivered four kids. One died shortly after being born. We also moved her to the same room. There is still another pregnant goat left. She was very upset to see her friends go. So, we put her in the room too! After a few days, we moved them all back to their big barn and pasture. Unfortunately, another kid died. He was very small at birth and just was not strong enough. He was my favorite and was the cutest one. As the week progressed, we noticed that one goat had a very hard udder and she looked in pain. The kids and I loaded her up in the back of the van and took her to the vet. He said she had an infection and needed medicine. He said she would need help feeding her babies. We have had to bottle feed some of them to help her out. They are so friendly because of this and the kids love to go in the pasture to play with them. It has been a month now and there is still a third goat to deliver. The goats are nice, but they are not dairy goats. Therefore, there is not enough for us to milk them. They are meat goats. We are not much for eating goats. We prefer sheep for eating. I suppose we will keep a few as pets and then sell the rest. It has been a wonderful experience raising these animals.