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20 Mar
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Boots, the domineering doe of the herd, started the 2022 kidding season with twin boys (bucklings). She is salty, sassy, and a well seasoned mother who is attentive and always very vocal with her kids. From the moment they are on the ground, she is incessantly bellering, yelling, and calling to them. She is "that" mom!
I didn't think to check the girls on Friday morning like I regularily do during kidding season; I thought that they were all 2+ weeks until we started with baby patrol.
That day I was anxiously awaiting a raw material delivery of 55 gallon drums and boxes of goodies on a semi truck, not the arrival of new baby goats.
I was hurrying my way down the hill to get to soap packed for farmers market when I was stopped in my tracks by the sound of baby goats coming from the barn. They make a signature chirp/squeak when newborn. My first thought was, "Baby goats!" followed by "BABY GOATS??" Then the sounds escalated to a distressing "MAAAAAAA," which typically indicates a kid in trouble. I raced the rest of the way to the barn, splashing in the mud, ignoring that fact that I didn't have on my barn boots.
For the most part, Boots, the champion mother that she is, had them licked off. I beat a fast track back to the house to get a towel to finish drying them. The wind wasn't warm coming through the barn, and cold, wet babies are not a good thing. As I finished fluffing them, she was busy licking on my towel and arm, diligent momma that she is. Maybe that was her "thank you."
Boots' boys are just as noisy as she is. They haven't stopped squeaking, MAAAA-ing, and being generally talkative since they were welcomed into this world. How do if I know they're fine? I just walk into the barn and listen; if it's quiet, I do a double check to make sure that they're snuggled up and snoozing, or getting some grub from mom. If there's a full blown conversation going between mom and the kiddos, I know that the babies are just fine.
It was an unexpected but happy start to the 2022 kidding season; here's to nine more birthing experiences in the next few weeks!