Triplet TROUBLES!!!!!

0626170802b.jpg
Penny

I have this goat that gave birth to triplets last year, and she had 3 adorable triplets again this year.  Triplets would be very nice if it were any other goat besides PENNY!! First of all, Penny is half Boer, which is a meat breed. That means  she does not have much milk! She is not the friendliest goat either. Needless to say, I have had some ”Triplet Troubles”

20170327_165838
Strong, handsome buckling, “King”

Last year Penny had triplets: a buck and two does. The buck was a very strong and handsome boy, but, the two doelings were the tiniest little kids I ever saw!!! For three days they could not even stand! Normally, kids are up and nursing within hours of birth.  We think this delay was due to their tiny size, and also their  super song spindly  legs!! Those were a gift from their Nubian dad.

It being a particularly cold February, it was below freezing so I instantly brought the two doelings into the warm basement and bottle fed them with some of Penny’s milk and

0219171831.jpg
In the basement

another goat’s milk.  The buck stayed with Penny since he was so strong and healthy.  Later, because he took all of the little colostrum Penny had, I decided to unite him with his sisters in the house and bottle feed him too.

Once they were finally able to stand, and jumping out of their box, I moved them into a cozy stall with all the other bottle babies. By then they were eating all the extra milk on the homestead!

As they grew, the does developed this odd habit: after feeding where they were magnetically drawn to each other and got stuck “kissing” for at least 30 seconds before

20170327_165049
”kissing’

they would let go!  Afterwards they were perfectly normal.  It was the strangest thing- I am glad they outgrew it! Well, they grew into fine, pretty goats, except they were always just a little smaller than the other goats. But they were in no wise less cute! A family bought them for pets, and they lived happily ever after in their new home.

 

~ Jean

Leave a comment

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑