Kidding, again?!?

 Well, kidding season has started!  It has been a bit of a rough start.  First, it appeared #6 was in labor for about 3 days.  In retrospect, she was clearly in 'false labor' but none-the-less, we were expected baby goats on Easter!  Two days later, she had two big boys in the field.  We put them in the 'nursery pen' overnight as it was cold that night.

Mama #6 posing with one of her boys

#6 with her day-old twin boys

 They've done well.  In  except for the fact that the grass in the field is quite high and we seem to 'lose' one every now and then.

Aren't they cute?

Mama #36 was next to kid.  As a first time mom, we were extra careful.  She was placed in the nursery pen and delivered uneventfully.  (It happened faster than we thought...so we missed it!)  Unfortunately, though she made attempts at cleaning them off and caring for them, they were weak and never nursed.  We bottle-fed them colostrum and her milk but neither of them survived for very long.  This may have been for the best as they both had something abnormal under their jaw (suspected either thyroid or thymus) which may or may not have had long-term consequences.

Mama #36 with her twin girls

There are a few more that appear to be next to kid.  Fortunately, the weather is supposed to be warm and dry this week so we shall see!

Spring time is here at last!  The grass is growing.  The mama goat's bellies are growing.  Kidding is just around the corner.  That's when it gets really exciting on the farm.  We're hoping that the warmer weather will keep down the number of bottle babies we have this year.

A few weeks ago, we started getting ready by vaccinating everyone for the year.  The goal is to vaccinate mama's  4 weeks before they kid so that the babies will be protected by the mom's immunity until they are 4 weeks old which is when they can get their first vaccination.

This year we had cousins visit and them help round-up the goats. 
( Here they are supervising the vaccine administration process.) Photo courtesy Annabelle.

As for the other farm life...  Charlie eventually discovered the hen house.  Just as we were contemplating on how to get rid of him as he was causing a bit of a ruckus, he disappeared.  He was last seen headed toward some of the woods.  Interestingly, we've been missing a black hen since then.  The kids are convinced they ran off together and are living 'in the wild' raising chicks.  Who knows, right?

Today is Easter Sunday.  Last year, our kidding started Christmas day... we think that number #6 may be getting.  Nothing like a holiday to start of the kidding season... here we goooo!