First Alpine Kids of the Year

And, the first buck kid of the year! My Gretchen had these two late yesterday afternoon. The sweet little doe is lying down but I can already tell that she is an Adventuress. She has managed to wiggle through the panel and end up in the cow lot twice before she was 2 hours old. I locked them in a stall to make sure she didn't venture too far from her mama.


                                  

The "boarding babies" are doing really well on their lambar feeder. They are drinking the cow milk and helping reduce the milk going to the house. Cheese making has slowed down but I needed the break. I think that is all about to change.

This morning, I noticed that one of my Saanen does, Zelda, was in early labor. She is an experienced mother so I didn't worry too much about her. That was a painful error in judgement. I went off to do other things and by the time I got back a round to check on her, the kids were dead. The buck was just a monster and must have died during delivery. The slow labor caused the second kid, a doe, not to make it either.

So now I have a goat to milk, too. In the past, she has been a very heavy milker. Hopefully, I will get enough to mix the milk for these kids on the lambar and get back to making a little cheese.

The main project for today is to get an outside pen cleaned and repaired enough to move these little guys outside at least during the nice days. They need more room to run around and the fresh air.