The Grand Finale

I have spared everyone a day-by-day update on each goat kidding. So here are the last two: Lola and Leah (Cookie and Prissy are due later).

First up (Friday, January 13). Lola is the “queen” of milking, so we are so excited to get two females from her, and they are even named: Diamond (because of her pretty spots) and Ruby because she is just as precious. Yes, all of the new kids are precious, but having the best milker (a papered Alpine mother and a purebred, papered Nubian sire) kid with two girls (75% Nubian and 25% Alpine) makes Kristel nearly jump for joy. She said Lola went above and beyond her expectations. She’s a wonderful, easy milker with gallons of milk that tastes wonderful (not like Velvet’s Toggenburg milk). I believe that Nubians and Alpines produce the best-tasting milk, and Lola is proof of this. Check out these pictures and cute video. Then scroll down for the next goat in the Grand Finale, Leah.

Next Up (January 14, Saturday): Leah

Leah is the twin to Rachel >> (50% Toggenburg, 25% Alpine, and 25% Nubian) and looks just like an Alpine. She had a little accident the same day that Chocolate Chip broke her foot and had to be put down. Her back left foot is crooked and she walked with a limp for a long time. Then she turned scraggly and we worried that her accident caused one of the kids to be a still birth.

We should not have feared. During a driving rainstorm Saturday morning, just as Kristel and I were going to head for town on errands, she told me Leah was pushing. With the Saturday morning excursion now “on hold,” we hardly did a thing while Leah produced these two beauties, a buckling (on the left) and a doeling (on the right). And for a first-time mama, she knows her business. The kids are happy, dry, and good nursers. Who would have guessed?

A Fun Family Portrait

Here are the first goats of the season, the “minions.” Actually, they are the Nigerian Dwarf goats and they are adorable. I caught them while they were all lined up: three from Coconut and three from Mango (these are Ellie’s goats). Scroll down for a fun video short of the kids playing king of the hay bale. We had to put two more goats in with the minions because she had to bring the pregnant horses inside. Yes, the rain/weather is that bad. And guess what? All of the 4 mamas (Lolo, Grace, and two minions) and their 9 kids are getting along wonderfully well. The other minions (Sprinkles and Cupcake) are in the huge horse trailer, and Velvet, Rachel, and Leah are out in the goat barn in the goat pasture.

Playing King of the Hay Bale