Ragdollcatlady's Just a Little Patch of Weeds Farm journal

[babsbag]

I just had an Alpine that was bred to Flash gift me with a Mini and a LaMancha. Evidently SHE wasn't afraid of the dating scene at all. My bucks didn't break loose so the little hussy went on night visit. Her mother should have kept a better eye on her.

Supposedly the hormones produced while a doe is pregnant helps them grow. Does Bellini look any bigger? Other than fatter...

 

[ragdollcatlady]

She isn't much bigger than she was before. Cosmo is still smaller, but close to her size. I wish I had a scale to weigh everyone, but they look barely bigger than the nigerians, size wise, and they are shorter and smaller than the nubians that are around the same age and were quads. The last time I was able to weigh them, they were around 80 lbs. I hope they are over 100 at least. But that would be too big for my boys to pick up.

I do like the personalities of la manchas... but I LOVE long ears and roman noses!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Kid watch update:
Bries udder is looking like a "real" udder! Her tail is down as well!

Rigs tail is down! I have been touching her back and shoulders when she is busy eating to try and get her used to it. She doesn't care for it but doesn't flinch and jump in panic so we are making progress.

Out observing the herd this evening. Cosmo squatted to pee and I thought "Wow. Those lady bits look kinda elongated...almost like she is getting ready to kid." So I literally got on my hands and knees on my side of the fence and peeked under her.... She is building an udder! I have to double check the calendar... It looks like she was bred the same day as Bellini and also to Armani so she would be due April 30th too.

I am making corned beef and cabbage! Happy St Patricks day everyone! Any reason to celebrate and have good food with my family is a really good one!

 

[babsbag]

Guess Cosmo was just being discreet when she was with her beau; sneaky little girl. More kids !!!!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

We have kids!

Yesterday we did some hooves and goat maintenance. I saw Brie staying up in one of the shelters while everyone else was back grazing. She is a nubian and while not on the same caliber as a boer, they are eating machines. So I knew we were close. Took a few minutes to throw down some DE and a fresh top layer of bedding for her just in case. Ran some errands and came home to start dinner. I went out to check on her and she was just chillin in the same spot. I took a peek behind her and she had a bubble presenting!!! DS1 was coming outside right then, so I hollered for some towels.

We have 2 blue eyed mini nubians! The first is a tiny doe, second is a solid little buck! I don't have time to post pics, but I will try to later today!

 

[norseofcourse]

Awwww, congrats!

 

[Latestarter]

That's awesome! Congrats! yes, yes... we need pictures!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

After the kids were born, last night, I was anxious about mom passing the placenta, but my human family needed to be fed. I went back out to check on everyone about 1/2 hour later to find mom had dropped the placenta on the little girl! She was wet and a little chilly so I grabbed the kids and ran inside. I asked one of my boys to take the buck back out to mom and just wait out there for me. I got the doe cleaned up again. So much for the shower I just took before dinner! I took her back out to mom. It wasn't particularly cold out there so I didn't want to put her under a heat lamp unless I absolutely had to. If I needed the heat lamp, then the kids would have stayed inside. Good news was that mom passed the placenta, everyone was fed and this morning, the kids were up and had already eaten all the colostrum by the time we tried to milk. Brie is a FF so all things considered, she did pretty good. For not really wanting them to nurse at first, by the time I finally left her alone last night, the kids were passed out asleep and she was talking to them.

Did I mention that the little girl has a chocolate moonspot on her neck and a couple tiny spots on her side? (Don't tell anyone...but I think I am keeping her!!!Shhhh.... It's a secret!!!!)

For Baileys kids...we weighed them yesterday and Ghost Rider is 27 lbs and the other one is 19 lbs. For 17 days old, that means ADG is .88 lb for Ghost Rider and .64 lb for the little one!!! Pretty respectable numbers if I do say so myself!!!

Look at this face!!!

 

[babsbag]

The nubians are adorable How is it that we can have this good sized pen for them and they drop the placenta on their kid? I have 2 acres for the goats and I had one drop her KID in the water bucket. HOW DO THEY DO THIS ???

Keeping a goat, now there's a new idea.

And yes .88 ADG is excellent; and .64 is good too. Maybe now I can stop feeling guilty over how small Bellini and Cosmo are since Bailey and Rocky seem to be giving good kids. Very happy for you.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I am blown away with the weights on these boer babies! Poor Bailey! No wonder she is the first to ask for her breakfast and again the first to ask for dinner. First she delivers 20 lbs of babies then she puts 1.5 lbs on those kids combined a day! I don't know how much milk it takes or how much hay and grain it takes to convert into that much weight, but she is earning every bite! I love my big mama goat! Today, she saw us unloading hay from the trailer and was telling us to just drop a whole bale right there in front of her, so we fed early.... then of course, once dinner time was actually here, everyone was convinced that they were all going to waste away if they didn't eat immediately, so we double dinnered today! I will recheck the kids weights in a few days, but I also had a hard time believing DS3s baby goat was gaining as fast as he is and yet he is 70 lbs already!

If Bellini and Cosmo kid OK with minis this year, I may try and breed them to a boer this fall....just not sure my boys would be good, as big as they are.

I can't wait to see what Rigs has up her sleeve! She is built like a tank so I am hoping for some square kids out of her! She is shut tight, but her udder looks like it is filling in nicely.

After Rigs, we are going to be waiting on StinkerBelle and Spellbound (due April 5)..... They are filling their udders and sitting like dogs on their haunches cause their bellies take up all the space!

A few pics from this afternoon

Reese (left), Bellini (front), Spell (sitting in the back), Jane (far right)

StinkerBelle

Spellbound (left), Calico Pony (center front), Cosmo (center back), Jane (right)

Briar Rose (left), Little Italy (right) These 2 are sisters, same parents, different years. Side by side they look incredible similar!

Colby