This morning when I went out to the barn, I discovered Mitzy with two new kids. While I had known that her time was approaching, I had not yet moved her into the maternity pasture which meant a quick shuffle was in order. Sarah was grateful to be released from confinement to the maternity stall, where she had been waiting since before BullyJoe was born because she had showed signs of labor some days ago. Mitzy allowed me to usher her and her new kids two stalls over and into the maternity suite, where she discovered that new motherhood grants goats here royal treatment. Now with her own water, grain, and hay she can browse to her heart's content without needing to compete with other hungry goats for feed.
And while she's confined to an enclosure with no other goats in it, this enclosure includes the broody hen Kimberly and the troubled young rooster Prince Eric. Poor Eric has been the victim of several attacks by PrettyBoy to the point where he is definitely looking the worse for wear. During the daytime when most of the goats are loosed to browse the woods and the alpaca mommas and their crias tend to stay out in the pasture, Mitzy will still have a chicken or two for company.
The new kids have been named. The doeling is Josie--a name provided by a friend in New England. The buckling is Jack since we've been going with names that start with the same letter or the same sound for the multiple births. Josie and Jack, welcome!
No comments:
Post a Comment