Kidding 2012

I am really pleased to be able to write that kidding this year has been significantly better than previous years! The British Alpines began to kid at the end of January with Mabel taking the lead. She had a single female kid which was really good news; it was much better for a girl of her great age to have just the one large kid & she has not disappointed. Her sister Dilys was next, again with a single female kid....this is her first kid at the age of nine & she did not have any help, a true star! We continued with the Alpines, Hafina had a male & a female with really lovely markings followed by her sister the next day, Hafwen who unfortunately had two males. Next, we had an Anglo nubian kid for her first time....Monach Danaa. She had a male & female but the male has since died which was sad as he did seem a really healthy kid but that is just the way it goes at times. Strudel, who is our boar/saanen x had a male & female but the female was still born which is a disappointment as we really want a female from her simply to provide her with a companion as she is always bullied by the others. Her little boy is very sweet but any boys we do not need will be raised for meat so it does not pay to get attached to them. Next to kid was Snowdrop ( Monach Avena!) who had a single female who is actually stunning; she is the image of her mother. However, Snowdrop rejected her because by this time she had stolen Danaa"s kids. Disastor!! Danaa did accept her her own kids plus Snowdrops in the end even though Snowdrop had fed all of her collostrum to Danaa"s kids.....not a good situation but we came through ok; we did have to listen to Snowdrop moaning for quite a while though as she wanted Danaa"s babies! The final goat to kid really was an accident.....Bronte(BA) with Chicory(AN). She is only just 12 months old herself but she has had two kids, one male & one female. The female has become a bit of a celebrity appearing on Facebook! We kept her in the house for a while where she received alot of attention because mum was really too young to know what to do with her. Bronte did feed her little boy for a few days but then got fed up & so he then joined some of the others on bottles. I am pleased though because the little girl has a new home to go to where she will always remain center of attention! We now have eight bottles to do, four times a day so we are a little busy at present! The next goat to kid will be Madelaine the pygmy who is due in May.
A few pics will now follow but i have more to add so keep checking for updates!