New Life and New Beginnings! Baby Goats are the CUTEST!!!

NEW LIFE BLESSINGS! Fancy Too's Kidding!

There are many things in life that make me smile but nothing that makes me cry happy tears like a baby goat being born! It will never get old, and I will never grow tired of the wonderful experience. I think that is especially true now after the tragedy of losing four of our precious goats this summer.
(IF you want to read about that here are the links... first post , second post , third post )

We really needed this blessing in our lives at this time! Our Nubian doe Fany Too was due to kid and we were waiting, not so patiently! I thought her first mating was when she was bred but she was two weeks late yesterday morning so I was now thinking that she had another week left. So imagine my surprise when she comes out of her stall with a tight udder and a gooey, swollen vulva! "Uh oh girl! Oh no you don't, back in that stall. You are not going to have those babies out in the pasture! You will stay in today and get lots of extra love and attention!"

I knew that even though she was showing signs of early labor that it could be all day and night possibly before I saw any kids being born. So I fed my two little ones and put their boots on and said "Lets go garden!" Our Garden is right outside tha barn so I could listen for her and poke my head in to check the progress. The boys and I pulled weeds, picked peppers and green beans and fed the chickens. Hours passed by quickly as our weed pile grew and grew. I would go in and check every so often, looking for signs that active labor was setting in. It was almost time for Daddy to be home from work when something changed!

She had become very tense and I could tell she was in pain. She yawned and pressed her head against the wall repetively, which are classic signs of pain in goats. So I went in for a closer look and to really get a good idea where she was at. It was definately progressing! The goo was evident and the contractions seemed much stronger and closer together! Luckily, Ryan got home just in time to take the boys so I could stay with her as she began active labor with her first push...

Soon the bubble was in view and I was looking for two hooves and a nose, the perfect position for a goat to deliver in. And soon I saw just that!

She was pushing and bellowing so hard! She was really quite dramatic for my normally quiet goat! I was starting to wonder if baby was too big when she finally delivered a beautiful baby girl! Oh the tears of joy!

Not even two minutes after I got this one on the teat she delivered the second one in one good push! It was a handsome boy! So we had a doeling and a buckling and I was in love at first sight!

Finally, we had something good happen after a summer of tragedies! My heart was full of happiness! And yet somehow it brought up all the pain and loss and I began sobbing! It was no longer happy tears but letting go tears... I was letting out the extreme emotional baggage and jusy ugly crying now. When I was done, I looked up through tear filled eyes and I saw two beautiful babies wobbling on their new legs, searching for a teat and I knew... Right there and then I pledged to put everything I had into making these two the happiest, healthiest kids the world has ever seen!

So I wiped away the tears and helped those precious babies find the teats and made sure they had enough to eat and were dry and warm enough before I went to eat my own dinner!

This little buckling we have named Juniper!