Very bouncy for day old kids!
Figgie decided that she would have her babies today as well - she was mooching around this morning and so I gave her a little house all to herself next to ZsaZsa who you can see in the background.
She soon settled down and enjoyed having her own private hay rack. Look at the size of that udder! Makes a nice comfy cushion
She hung on for the whole day though and produced her babies just in time for tea - two boys, one white and one brown. So that answers the question of who the father was - looks like Bramling was a busy boy on the day of the Great Escape!
I always enjoy just sitting in the barn and watching the goats. This morning was quite warm and sunny and everyone seemed to be very lazy. There were piles of kids fast asleep and it's always nice to have a friend or two to snuggle up to:
Some of the milkers were strolling around the field, whilst others were just lounging around in the barn. Like the kids, they always like to find a friend as well:
Even the big old males were just chilling out - here's Max and Fremlin (looking particularly dopey with his ears down!!)
So, hopefully a quiet night ahead as Patsy isn't due until Wednesday and wasn't looking like she was intending to stay up all night. Just going back to check on those new arrivals and make sure that Figgie has given them another nice big bedtime feed.
A demain, mes amis ..
Lovely pic of Zsa Zsa.....
ReplyDeleteI did not used to be sentimental, having been brought up on a farm. However the thought of separating my Tammy from her babies after 4 days would be impossible for me. She still runs 500 metres when she hears a motherless lamb bleating in a far off field, and if her boy gets more than 10 metres away ... so much chuntering and panic. I am of course now fighting him for milk, he is breaking his contract of a side each!
How do you actually do it to minimise panic and stop the Mums hurting themselves seeking out their preciouses!
Richard
Hi Richard
ReplyDeleteHave been trying to post a reply to you for several days now - struggling with technology again at this end!!!
Yes, it can be difficult to separate them. Golden rule is that you never take the babies away from mum - you always take mum away from babies. We try and do it at milking time, so we lead mum away for milking and while she is in the parlour, we move the little people into a new pen. Sometimes we also dismantle the pen.
Goats, like humans, are all different. Some goats, particularly the older ones, just glance across to see if their babies are still there and then just rejoin the herd without too much noise. The younger goats and first time mums are often the most vocal and will stand and call to their babies when they can't see them. However, everything usually quietens down within a few hours.
We had an interesting one a couple of years ago ... We separated Bunnie from her new daughter Kitty as usual. They called to each other for a few hours and then all was quiet. Several MONTHS later, for no apparent reason, they started to call to each other again and, having rediscovered each other, then started to spend all their time together. They can always now be found curled up together and are pretty much inseparable. Interesting eh?!