There’s something so special about freshly born baby goats.
They are so sweet, smell so good and haven’t discovered their naughty nature yet.
Yesterday was a busy day of homeschooling events, grocery shopping, and getting some food prep done. I kept looking out the kitchen window watching poor Luna get up and down, up and down.
She has been abnormally large this pregnancy, and she looks so uncomfortable that you can’t help but feel sorry for her! Her body was so weighed down that she even had trouble lifting her legs to walk. It was a tough one for her, this pregnancy.
She was due on the 19th of April, so when I felt her tail ligament disappear and her bag fill up on the 14th, I crossed my fingers for an early delivery.
At about 5:00pm, exactly the minute Kevin got home from work, Luna started pushing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was waiting for him; each day when Kevin comes home the first thing he does is head out to give the goats some pine needles and citrus leaves from our trees. It’s a simple thing, but they love it.
We grabbed towels, gloves, and the rest of our goat pregnancy kit and headed out to get ready for some baby goats! The first goat is usually the hardest, so I got ready to offer some help.
I had a bit of a panic moment when the first doeling’s head popped out, but stayed there for about 5 minutes. Luna pushed and pushed, but the shoulders were stuck on her hip bones. I reached my hand in there (thank goodness for small hands!) and was able to slip that shoulder into the canal and Baby #1 slipped out!
After that, the next two bucklings came out just fine, even though they were rather large! Finally, the last buckling runt came, and of course, he’s our favorite!
Because ‘Luna’ means ‘moon,’ the kids decided to name the kids different constellations. We haven’t settled on final names, but we’re tossing around names like Pegasus, Perseus, and Hercules. We’re also researching more constellations and diving into more space books to help us decide. (unschooling, anyone?)
It’s so fun to watch these new little baby goats experience life for the first time. This world can be a wonderful place and also an annoying place with harsh experiences. Little Hercules is just beginning to figure it out…
“What is THAT on my face?”
“BLECH!”
“MOM!”
“Okay, I’m good now.”
Four little baby Nubian goats. Exhausted and adorable.
my Nubian had 3 2 like her 1 like the buck and it was a boy i kept the girl beacuse they look like her and really kind the buck we gave to a farm that needed a buck
Yes, Chikelu my registered Nubian had 4 delivered a month early–the day after the vet was out and gave them all their shots. He later said Nubians don’t handle quads very well. I think perhaps all the hoopla of injections precipitated the early delivery. The kids did not survive. This doe likes multiples. Her previous kidding was 3. We decided to retire her. This year she had a mind of her own and is expecting in March. She was my best milker, giving me 9-12 lbs of milk a day (milking once a day). She suffered a detached ligament of one teat after her last kidding and would not let her kids use that teat. I needed to express a little milk out of that one each day untill that teat dried -another reason I retired her. Hoping for the best this March.
My Nubian has 5!!! I was shocked, never expected that.
My Nubian had twins on her first pregnancy, it was also my first time with goats, but all went well! A healthy bouncing boy and girl! I LOVE your website DaNelle!
That’s fantastic! So glad all went well and everyone is healthy. Thank you for sharing! Best of luck and Happy Goating! Thank you! -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I have Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat. One of my does has had quads before when someone else owned her. She is due again, and she is really large. I think she is going to have quads again. My question is this, can she feed and take care of that many? The other owner bottle feed one of the babies when she had quads. the first time. I work and I don’t have time to feed a new born kid. Do you think they will be okay?
Thank for your help.
Yes, they can do a very good job! The only thing you need to make sure of is that she doesn’t reject one. If there’s a smaller or weaker one, she’ll reject it.
I have a Nubian doe that was a quad and her first two sets of kids were both quads. She didn’t have any problems, but she’s a big, strong, healthy girl, though she does look so uncomfortable the last 6 wks. of pregnancy! Also, she does get pretty skinny afterwards, so make sure that you feed ’em plenty!
Totally agree!
Awww! They are adorable! We had Nubian crosses (not sure what they were crossed with) growing up, but I don’t think I remember any of our goats of any kind ever having quads!! Lots of triplets and twins….Once in a while a single, which I think were almost harder on the mom because they were so big. Ahhh…I miss my baby goat-delivering days! They are the cutest things ever – and you’re right – I still remember that yummy baby smell! 🙂
Rose.
They are SO adorable! I am living vicariously through you! Love all your goat adventures!
Haha, thanks! It’s an adventure, to be sure!
I’m new to goats and had my first babies born this year. Both my Nubian does had twins. The breeder I bought my does from said hers usually have twins or trips but will sometimes have quads. Last year she bred 14 does and got a total of 31 offspring so the average was twins. Her FFs that she breeds under a year old are more likely to have singles.
One year my friend’s herd had almost all triplets and quads. They went from having about 40 kids normally to almost 90!
Years ago we had an Alpine Nubian cross doe, who only had triplets twice. The rest of the time, she had quads! One time, she was literally down for a few days at the end. Not because she was ill, she just couldn’t walk anymore because of the weight. So we rolled her around, and kept her water and hay near. I think she went 11 days early, which was a little scary, but all was well! We only ever lost one buckling in all her kiddings, and that because we weren’t home to help her get to cleaning up all her babies. They came out one after the other, sometimes almost side by side! Your kids are very pretty BTW. I’ve never had much light coloring on my Nubians, it’s eye-catching!
Wow, so crazy! It definitely isn’t fun to watch!
Oh my goodness. They are too stinking cute! I want to cuddle one! <3
My Nubian had quads but the last one was still born. So glad yours are doing well. Adorbs!
Oh, so sad! Our last one was pretty small, but he’s doing okay?