This year we bred all of our Nubian does to a boer buck. We will be offering several doe kids for sale in the coming months. These does will fit well in a commercial herd. They are being raised by their dams, all of whom have strong mothering instincts and produce lots of rich milk. Please call for more information.

Yesterday Amy had three Nubian/Boer kids, all boys. They are the first of this year's crossbred kids. Polly should be the next to kid early in May.

Although I tend to think of all this year's kids as "special." it is time to finally wean Amy's three doelings and find them homes. One is black, one is brown with spots, and one is black with spots. This is their "baby picture." I will have current pictures up in the For Sale album as soon as I can get some photographic assistance around here!
Mother Amy is a small Nubian, a "strawberry roan" in equine terminology. She is a wonderful mother and still stops for the babies to nurse even though they are nearly as big as she is! Amy is sweet and cooperative and hops right up on the stand to be milked. I believe her daughters will follow in her footsteps and probably produce many little spotted doelings for their new owners. I will try to get new pictures up soon. In the meantime, call for more information if you would like one of these girls or perhaps all three!

The Poor Dirt Farmer is even poorer now that she has returned from a week's vacation on Sanibel Island, Florida. So now it is time to start finding a home for "the mob." This morning I put three moms and one yearling out in a pasture which needs some manicuring and left all 12 kids with Polly. Oddly no one had separation issues, so none of my neighbors had to call animal control to report abuse or cruelty! Six of these "little suckers" are does; there are two spotted does and three spotted wethers if you are into color. All four remaining moms have triplets (I sold Abby and her two doe kids). I would like to sell one kid from each set of triplets to lighten the load on the moms, so four will be ready to go at 2 months of age. A deposit will hold the others should you wish to leave them with mom a bit longer. Email or call for an appointment to come see "the mob" up close and personal.

We had a near disaster here at OTW Farm yesterday. Polly had her babies Saturday night, and I made sure the weakest, a girl, was nursing before I went to bed. Next morning one of the boys looked kinda peaked, but I had a brunch date so....

When I got home he was definitely in distress, so I milked some colostrum into a bottle and fed him a couple of ounces. When I checked him an hour later he was lying in a goat fetal position and shivering, so I brought him inside, wrapped him in a towel, and held him to try to warm him up.

It wasn't working, so I got out the heating pad and sandwiched him between me and the pad. When he finally stopped shivering, I gave him some more milk and two-tenths of a cc of B-Complex. After a final feeding around 10:00 I wrapped him in a towel, put him in a plastic tub, and put the tub close to my freestanding gas stove, which I left on low all night.

All was silent at 4:30 a.m. when I woke up. I finally got the courage to go see if he was still alive, and HE WAS! He is back with his mom and brother and sister, at least for the day. I hope I can get both my bottle babies back on their moms, but I do enjoy being their mom for a little while.

On the evening of her 153rd day of gestation (in other words, at the very latest possible time), Polly gave birth to triplets, two boys and one girl, all black. They are all strong and Polly is being the great mother she always is. And it's only 9:12, so I am going to get some sleep tonight and go to brunch with friends tomorrow. Yeah!

Hildy produced two girls and one boy this afternoon while I was out running errands. They have been a sneaky bunch this year. Usually they let me know when they want to withdraw to their kidding pens, but not this year. It was breakfast as usual, the chewing of cud, no sign of contractions. Anyway, everyone is snug in their respective pens and it is raining again. Polly is due sometime between now and Sunday.

So while I was catching my breath Amy produced a third "bubble" containing yet another head. I helped her with this third little doe. Yes, that's right, three little does, one black, one brown, and one spotted! Treated her navel and then went to get some warm molasses water for Amy. All three are up and two have nursed. Good job, Amy.

Troy came this morning to help clean out the chicken pen and one stall in the horse/goat barn. After checking the three remaining does for signs of labor, I locked them out in the adjacent pasture 12 feet away from where we were working. We were done by noon, and as I was walking Troy out to his truck, I glanced up at the pasture to see how everyone was doing. There were two little kids lying on the dirt! No one had uttered a sound. I ran into the barn for a towel and carried one little doe into the kidding pen. Then I went back for the second little doe and Amy, the mom. I treated navels with iodine immediately since they had been lying in the dirt. Emergency over.

Angel was in labor last night at 9:30 when I made my last rounds. I confined her in the kidding pen and assembled my kidding equipment: towels, iodine, kid saver. At 11:00 she had not started pushing so I came in and watched Bill Maher (sorry if this disappoints anyone). When I went back out at midnight there were two wet little boys lying in a puddle, and mom wasn't paying any attention to them. I put them near her and dried off their backs, leaving something for Angel to clean to help with imprinting. I checked Angel and decided she probably had another kid to deliver, which she did at 12:30 a.m. It seems she had decided to have all three before she cleaned them, which was not a good plan. This particular line has a tendency towards poor mothering skills. Anyway, what I assume was the first born was cold, weak and listless. Soon the other two were up and active and he wasn't. So I milked some colostrum into a cup and used a 10 cc syringe to get about 20 ccs into him. Then I put a small towel around him to help him retain some heat. This morning all three are up and active. I am glad they are all boys because I'm not sure I want to perpetuate this line. Here is a picture of the threesome.

Last night at 9:30 p.m. Abby had two doe kids, one brown, one black. I was on my way to the barn for one last check before bed when I heard her pushing. I got there just in time to lead her into a clean kidding pen. She needed no assistance and both kids were feeding by 11:00. One down, four to go. Angel is due tomorrow. This will be her first kidding at two years of age.