New life on the farm!

When I returned from the barn a couple of days ago I commented on Facebook how very pregnant Daisy looked. We kept an eye on her for the rest of the day and saw her sides moving and altering shape; it was obvious the babies were turning. At one point she looked wider than she was tall or long, with a huge pyramid-shaped lump on her left! She kept away from the bustle of feeding, moved to quieter spots and laid out in the hay enjoying the sunshine rather than follow Petal, the caprine matriarch. Last year she gave us a pair of beautiful twins, one of which we kept to replace a doe that died. She had looked just as large last year. Yesterday she seemed reluctant to move far from the goat pen. They are able to come and go as they please by using a stile over the gate that the sheep are unable to navigate, their feed is not suitable for the sheep but, as Daisy seemed reluctant to navigate the stile I decided to put buckets of water in there for her.

This morning I walked into the barn, put feed in the old mare's private feeder and, as I turned to fill water buckets I was stopped in my tracks by a sound. All our animals are vocal around us but this was the sound of a new member of the family. A baby goat protesting the distance of its food source! Forget the buckets, I hurried to the other side of the barn to the goat pen and, sure enough there was a baby goat.....no, two baby goats..........oh wow, THREE baby goats! Daisy protested the presence of Jake, but it took him less than a second to spot the babies and back away without need of a command. He shows new mothers the utmost respect, whatever their breed. When Jake retreated, Daisy allowed me to check out her babies. Three absolutely beautiful boys.... all cleaned, dry and fed, already showing curiosity for their surroundings. 

I raced to the house to fetch both the camera and the Baby Lamb strength a vitamin A, D & E supplement that we use on all newborn lambs and kids. Wouldn't you know that this is one morning that Anita has gone to town to a funeral and will miss these first-born of 2012! 

Daisy is such a gentle, affectionate goat; her daughter, Hyacinth is equally affectionate and fond of people. She is a wonderful mother and has done us proud today. I doubt we will milk her this year, she will need all her energy to raise these three robust boys. Life is good!