Honey Kidded!!

Honey kidded this morning around 10am! This is the doe that I did not want to breed so soon, but she had other plans, I guess. Hate it when those accidental breedings happen. I feel bad because I like to give them a rest before kidding again, but oh well, there's nothing to be done about that now. . . . She'll get a good, long break after this kidding.

She had two does and a buck! One doe is a reddish gold with a little white, one doe is a lovely chocolate chamoisee with some white, and the buck is a lighter chocolate chammy with some white too.

They weren't all fluffy when I took these pics. . . . they were about 2 hours old. Honey was a "pro" at kidding (as is her usual!) I came out to feed and she was the only doe not around so I rushed to find her and she was in the barn with her three little ones peeking out from behind her. Their faces were all clean and lungs definitely clear! Very vocal little babies. ;) Bodies were still a little damp so I dried them off and took them into the "big barn" with a heat lamp and they snuggled down in the straw. Made sure all were nursing and left them alone for a bit. We might keep one of the does, but we'll see how they develop.

So Cool! :)

I thought this was the coolest article from a magazine I read on a regular basis. It's amazing to think about all the wonderful creation! The design evident in nature is so incredibly awesome!


"If you have ever watched a sheep, goat, or cow give birth you have probable marveled at how quickly the newborn gets to its feet and finds it way to the udder for milk. All mammals feed their young on milk. But in the case of young ruminants, such as lambs, kids, and calves, there is another, unseen marvel.

Consider: Cows (and goats) have a four-chambered stomach for the multiple processes needed to digest grass and forage but newborns feed on only milk, which does not need all those processes for digestion. So when a newborn suckles, a special bypass tunnel opens to allow the milk to go directly to the last chamber. If milk were to find its way into the first chamber, the rumen, the calf (or goat!) would suffer because the rumen is where hard-to-digest food is broken down by bacterial fermentation. Fermenting milk produces gases that the newborns cannot eliminate. However, when young ruminants drink milk, whether from a teat or a bucket, a reflex action snaps the entryway to the rumen. Remarkably, something different happens when a newborn drinks water. It needs plenty of water in its rumen so that bacteria and microbes there can mulitply, ready for when the youngster begins to live on forage. Although milk goes directly to the stomach's final chamber, plain water enters the rumen. The small ruminants amazing bypass is for milk only!"

~ excerpt from Awake! magazine 10/08 pg. 13