First Arrival: Sade's Baby Goats

The time is FINALLY here! We welcomed our first baby goats yesterday! In years past we have always kidded in April and May, but this year our buck's schedule was pretty full so we waited until January to breed the girls which meant that our kidding dates are in June this year. Our first doe to kid was Sade. Sade is four years old and this was Sade's second birth, as her breeding didn't take last year. Last time she kidded she had two does (girls) and we kept both of them in our herd. Lucy is due this month for the first time, while it appears Ethyl didn't spend quite enough time with the buck and will have to wait one more year to have her first kids. Sade's due date was on Friday but she didn't show any signs of labor until Saturday when I went to check her before bed and her ligaments had gone soft and she had some noticeable discharge. So, we moved her to our private labor and delivery stall for the night, called Kate to see if she wanted to come spend the night and help kid and woke up every two hours throughout the night to check on her. At 7:00AM when farmer Ross went to feed the goats and check on her again, there were still no babies. Worried that being away from the herd may be making it difficult for her to relax we let her go out in the pasture with the rest of the goats to relax in the shade under the big tree. I spent about an hour with her out in the field observing her to see if I could tell how far along in labor she was. She was definitely distancing herself from the rest of the herd, was restless and having contractions, but not yet pushing. Finally, after a while I decided to go in the house and start my morning chores. After a while I went back out to check on her and before I got to the pasture, I noticed a new, tiny black lump laying on the ground so I turned around to get the rest of the humans so we could all welcome the little ones together. Just like the birth before, Sade waited until she had a little privacy to deliver her babies, so I have yet to actually see her deliver, but she does a great job all by herself so I can't complain. As soon as they were on the ground she was busy cleaning them off and encouraging them to eat. Both kids are strong and healthy and started eating right away. The little white one is a buck (boy) and the little black one is a doe (girl). Deyton is in love with them and so far the little white one has taken to following her around as he is particularly curious. Sade is doing very well and is a very protective mama. Keep following along as we will be kidding the whole month of June and will very soon have lots of baby goats frolicking through our fields!

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