Baby Goats Galore!

Over the past week and a half, 8 baby goats were born, which brings the Davis and Feather/Currie combined herd up to 14 goats. Lily had twin girls last Tuesday: a chocolatey brown one named Cocoa and a white one named Sugar. They both have long floppy Nubian ears like their mother and wattles like their father, Pete Townsend, who is an Alpine goat.

Hoppy delivered triplets 2 days later: two boys and a girl. We haven't decided what to name them yet. Peter, Paul, and Mary is one of our ideas for names. Please, feel free to give us suggestions! One of Hoppy's boys is dark brown and weighed 2 lbs more than his siblings at birth. The other boy is medium brown with a cream-colored face. The girl is dark brown and polka dotted with black spots all over and a big white spot on her head, which is just adorable.

Hoppy wasn't cleaning her babies very well, so we had poopy butt issues just like last year. I guess Hoppy just isn't a butt-licker. So, Terra, Ellen, and I decided to shave their backsides (with Jeff's razor - don't tell him, though). Luckily, the kids were very tolerant of this process. And no more poopy butts to clean!
This morning, Zella also gave birth to triplets: 2 girls and a boy. The boy is white and the girls are brown. One of the girls has weak hind legs, which is probably the result of a selenium deficiency. We live in a selenium-deficient area, so all the kids have been given a supplement. Hopefully, the weak kid will get stronger soon.

We have started putting up fences at The Haven, and we are working on plans for a barn, so we can have more space for our expanding herd. We are fencing out a section in front of the house first, so we can clear more land there for gardening. Also, we can't wait to be able to look out our windows and watch baby goats frolicking. Someday, we will have a front porch, where we can sit and watch our animals. :-)

-Annie