March Madness…

I guess you can say March has indeed started off with a roar here at Laurel Haven. Not only did we have an inch of snow which is not a common site here in SC in the month of March, we have also had 3 kiddings in 4 days.
Our Star kidded with an adorable single doeling on the 1st. She did exceptional for a first timer. We are so proud of our baby girl. And her daughter is cute beyond words. On the 3rd Shamrock delivered triplets 2 does & 1 buckling. All three of those babies got their sire (Warrior‘s) moonspots. And then Cheyenne decided to give us triplets 2 does & 1 buck on the 4th. Big healthy beautiful babies!
So far the month of March has been good! Finally we are getting our does after a long buck year. Whether it is just the “luck of the Irish” or just that it is long overdue I am not complaining. We have had easy kiddings with healthy babies… and does at that! But we are far from done. March will be our busiest month of the year. We have several more does to kid. So more babies coming soon…

Stars single doeling...


Shamrocks triplets 2 does & 1 buck...


Cheyenne's triplets 2 does & 1 buck...
pictures coming soon!

Surprise x 3 Nocturne kidded!

First buckling born



Second buckling... resembles his sire.




The doeling is pure black not a single white hair, just like her dam.



This picture is a good comparision in size to her brother.


Well imagine my surprise to find Nocturne in labor weeks before her expected due date. I bought Nocturne as a bred doe and was given a due date of March 10th. So that was the date we were planning on. Friday morning when I went to feed the does I noticed Nocturne wasn't eating like she should be. So I got her a couple horse treats (all the goats LOVE these) and she quickly ate them down. So I thought nothing more of it. Later that afternoon I went down to check on the kids and she was standing in front of the barn door. I had to sort of push her out of the way to get into the pen. I went over and played with the kids for a bit did a couple little chores, scratched some does, and when I was leaving, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, something hanging from Nocturne. I rushed over to her, looked at her backend and sure enough she was streaming with birthing fluid. I was thinking "this can't be right she is not due yet." And then I started to worry what if something is wrong... is she too early? But there was nothing to do about it now, other than deliver impending babies. So I get her into the kidding pen, gather my kidding supplies, and an hour later I am delivering babies.
She had triplets! Two bucks and a doe and did excellent for a first timer. While the first two bucks born were of normal size and seemed healthy and alert, the doeling was extremely tiny and very weak. My first thoughts when I saw her was "oh no she is too small she will not survive." But of course I had to give her that chance. So I left mom clean her off for a moment to bond, and then wrapped her up and give her to my daughter to try and warm up while I tend to the boys. After the boys have had their cords dipped, and nursed from mom on their own, I turn all my attentions on the doeling. I try to get her to nurse from her dam, but she is just too weak. Still can't stand or nurse. So it is time for drastic measures so off to the house she goes. We tended to her all day, getting her warm, stimulation, meds, feeding her colostrum with a syringe, until finally she starts suckling and trying to stand. She kept improving until 24 hours later she was standing on her own, and drinking from her dam with some assistance. By Sunday morning, she is down there with her family and fighting her brothers off for her place on the teat. And she has no problems getting it either. She pushes those boys right off for her turn. And Nocturne is the most loving mother. She makes sure the doe gets her share. I watched her pull her buckling off to make room for the doe to get in there because the doeling was screaming for her turn. She may be tiny but she has a strong set of lungs.
So all is well and all babies are thriving at this time. I don't know why she is a third of her brothers size... but she is by far the tinest kid yet to be born here and survive. I am going to say survive, because I have high hopes that she has turned the corner and is going to be fine. If you would have seen her at birth and then see her now just 2 days old, you would be amazed at the turn around she has made. She is one that at birth I gave her about a 25% chance. She has since proven me wrong. She has a zest for life, and never gave up. She may be premee in size but is above normal in mind & spirit. This little one is a fighter!

Eowyn Kidded!!!

Eowyn finally decided to give up those babies on day 149. She had twin doelings, so the wait was well worth it. It was a very easy kidding as always from our Eowyn. She delivers babies as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. We are thankful she once again delivered with ease. Thank you Eowyn we love you for this.
She is a very devoted momma, and is resting with her new daughters at this very moment. A well deserved rest for them all. The doelings are beautiful. One is a buckskin from either Eowyn or Calah as they both carry that gene, the other doeling is a black with much white throughout. She resembles Calah's maternal gandsire Mozart in color pattern. They are both just adorable and we are more than thrilled to get twin does!!!

A day in the big woods...

All of our December babies are doing very well. They are all thriving and growing by leaps and bounds. They have reached the age that it was time for them to go out and explore the big world. Being so warm out the other day, I left them all out of their goat yard to roam free around our woodland property to do some exploring. All 7 kids pretty much stuck together as they went to discover what was around the next tree. The momma's decided to stray off from the kids to go munch on a large bail of hay we have wrapped under a tarp. All except one that is, Hopi stayed with the kids for the whole outing. It was like she was appointed the designated "babysitter" for the day. But she had a wonderful time entertaining the kids. She pounced, ran, hopped, and leaped, and as she did each so would the kids. It was so enjoyable watching her play with the kids that I had a smile glued to my face for the entire hour. I called her "Aunt Hopi" and it fit her well for the day. She treated each kid as if they were her own. If one would stray off to far and start to cry out because it thought it was lost, she would quickly run over and comfort that baby and gently nudge it back to the group. Then they would all start running off in the same direction together. They explored downed tree stumps, rock piles, and bushes. It was a new learning experience for each kid. In one instance, a big hawk came around and started getting lower and lower casting his dark shadow over the area where the kids were now browsing. Aunt Hopi immediately went into action and rounded up all the kids and stood over them until the hawk got the idea that there would be "no free lunch here today" so moved on. Of course I was in full alert mode at this point ready to take action and rescue kids if need be, but I quickly realized that would not be necessary as I saw each kid standing under Hopi for safety until the threat was gone. What a wonderful doe Hopi is. It was a beautiful site indeed watching her with the kids on their adventure in the big woods. The way she cared for each one like her own. I have to wonder now if another doe will be appointed to watch the kids on their next outing or if it will always be Hopi that volunteers for the position... I will have to wait until another lovely day here at Laurel Haven when I let them out again to discover the answer. I will be sure to keep you all posted when that happens. But I wanted to share our "adventure in the big woods" with you all. And the caring compassion our doe Hopi, "Aunt Hopi" that is, showed towards all 7 babies. What wonderful animals these goats are. I have always known they were a special breed of animal, but when I watch with my own eyes events like this, it is so rewarding to have my herd that I have. The goats have taught me so much, and gave so much back that I would have never thought possible before I ever owned a goat. Anyone that owns these Nigerian Dwarf goats knows what I am trying to say... they are a special breed of compassionate, intelligent, unique animals. I could not imagine my life without now.

Morning Glory kidded!

Morning Glory kidded with twin bucklings! Both boys have blue eyes. One is a dark buckskin in color and the other is a Cou Clair. Both are very nice bucklings, and conformationally correct. I am very pleased with Zen's boys. And Morning Glory had the easiest kidding of the season. I am so proud of her, she made my job too easy. The one buckling is very laid back while his brother is like a little jumping bean and rarely stands still.

Well I get a break from birthing out does for a good month and will be able to just sit back and enjoy babies for awhile. That will be great as I am in need of a break. We do not have another kidding for about a month and then Eowyn is due in late January. So more babies coming soon!!!

Sister Kidded!

After years and years of failed kiddings with Sister she finally delivered a beautiful daughter. Actually she had triplet does but only the first one was born alive. The other two were very small and stillborn. While this is very sad and breaks our heart that we lost two of the three, we are just blessed to even have one. For some reason Sister just isn't meant to carry babies. I am thinking it is something genetic that is making her miscarriage, and reabsorb her babies. But luckily we did get one darling little doe from her. And I mean little, as she is the smallest kid of the season. I am still up in the air of whether to ever breed her again. I do not wan to put her through this every season, as we may have just been fortunate to even have this one. I just don't know as there was clearly something amiss about this delivery as the babies were almost to small to even survive. But one is and she is lovely. Of course she will be retained to replace Sister should we decide to retire her now after blessing us with her daughter. What a beautiful doeling she is too. Actually she was the flashiest of the 3. So we were clearly blessed with the prettiest of them all. And believe me, we are more than honored to have her here with us. Thank you Sister for this wonderful gift!

Hopi Kidded!

Hopi kidded with a buck/doe twins on Wednesday. She was very overdue at day 153 and we were very concerned. When she went into labor we knew something just wasn't right. After a hard labor she finally delivered a doeling. But then her labor continued for hours afterwards. I finally had to assist and went in to disover why she had gone past her duedate as she did, it was a dead buckling that was holding everything up. We are just thankful at this point that Hopi is doing okay after having such a hard time with this delivery and that we have 1 baby for her to love. And this little doeling is adorable. She has the sweetest face you ever did see and to add some flash she has lots of moonspots. What a sweetheart she is and her momma adores her.

Warpaint kidded!

Oh I do beleive we are having a "Buck Year" here at Laurel Haven... as Warpaint kidded last night with twin bucks! They are adorable and have moonspots. One boy is identical to his momma but I do beleive has even more moonspots than she does. The other boy is unique in coloring and also sports several random gray moonspots.
It was far from an easy kidding, as Warpaint labored hard and long. she finally became exhausted, so I had to go in and help things along. But we were successful in bringing into this world, two beautiful bouncing boys! Momma and sons are doing very well today and the boys even got to go outside for a bit as it was in the 60's today. They were loving their day in the sun!

Strawberry Kidded!!!

At 11:00 am this morning, Strawberry blessed us with a single buckling. He is healthy and gorgeous! He resembles his sire with the exception of having several moonspots including one large one on his face.
Both momma and son are doing great. It was an extremely easy birth, and Strawberry did wonderful. Strawberry wanted to give birth outside, as when we left her out this morning to feed with the herd, she had other plans. She drifted away from the rest and went down into the woods. We followed her and found her lying down starting to labor. So we brought her back up to the kidding barn where she quickly began to proceed into delivery. Within moments we were blessed with this gorgeous boy!
Now we are excited to see what is upcoming from the other does due to kid at any moment. Lets hope for some doelings!!!

The Doe's Secret Code of Honor

I have been getting lots of phone calls and emails the past few days about my upcoming kiddings so I thought it was time for an update.
No, we do not have babies yet. I thought for sure last night was going to be the night for Strawberry, but after spending most of the night with her waiting for things to progress, she woke up this morning, feeling very good. Wanted to browse, and mingle with the herd. So that was just false hope. My does usually average about day 144 for birthing, this season they are holding out and going past that magical 145 day mark. I guess that is good as that just means healthier kids the longer they are inside of momma. But my, the anticipation is killing me.
At the moment I have 3 does in the "maternity barn" Hopi, Strawberry and Warpaint as all 3 are showing sign of being ready. What they are waiting on is beyond me. I guess they are waiting on that moment when I leave the property to do some much needed Christmas shopping. As for the past week I have put my life on hold for them. I have not left the farm in 3 days. Not even to make a quick trip to the grocery store. I do think the does are enjoying themselves, watching me pace around the barn, checking monitors to make sure they are working, feeling ligaments to see how far along they may be, and of course they like that extra handful of feed I offer with each check. They are living up to "The Doe's Secret Code of Honor" (see below) Maybe they are prolonging it due to all the "special" treatment they have been recieving over the past few days. They had better kid soon as my next group of does to kid is coming up early next week. I will have my handsful if everyone decides to give birth around the same time.
Well they can't keep those babies from me much longer as their days are running out... Hopi is already at day 147, Strawberry on day 146, and while Warpaint is only on day 141, she seems to be the closest in my opinion.
I will be sure to let everyone know as soon as the babies are born. I know some of you are as excited as I am to see the kids from this season. All I can tell you is the same thing I have been telling my self... it can't be much longer.


The Doe's Secret Code of Honor

The doe's secret code of honor is as old as goats themselves and is ultimately the species best kept secret. No doe shall ever kid before its time. (Its time being determined by the following factors):

1- No kid shall be born until total chaos has been reached by all involved. Your owner's house must be a wreck, their
family hungry and desperate for clean clothes, and their social life nonexistent.

2- "Midwives" must reach the babbling fool status before you kid out. Bloodshot eyes, tangled hair and the inability toform a sentence mean the time is getting close.

3- For every bell, beeper, camera or whistle they attach
to you, kidding must be delayed by at least one day for each an audio monitor, one good yell per hour will keep things interesting.

4- If you hear the words, "She's nowhere near ready.
She'll be fine while we're away for the weekend," Wait until they load the car, then begin pushing!

5- Owner stress must be at an all time high! If you are in the care of someone else, ten to fifteen phone calls a day is a sign you're getting close.

6- When you hear the words "I can't take it anymore!"
wait at least three more days.

7 -You must keep this waiting game interesting. False
alarms are mandatory! Little teasers such as looking at your
stomach, pushing your food around in the bucket and then walking away from it, and nesting, are always good for a rise. Be creative and find new things to do to keep the adrenaline pumping in those who wait.

8- The honor of all goats is now in your hands. Use this time to avenge all of your barn mates. Think about your friend who had to wear that silly costume in front of those people. Hang onto that baby for another day. OH, they made him do tricks too! Three more days seems fair. Late feedings, the dreaded diet, bad haircuts, those awful wormings can also be avenged at this time.

9- If you have fulfilled all of the above and are still not sure when to have the kids, listen to the weather forecast on
the radio that has been so generously provided by those who wait. Severe storm warning is what you're waiting for. In the heart of the storm jump into action! The power could go out and you could have the last laugh. You have a good chance of those who wait missing the whole thing while searching
for a flashlight that works!

10- Make the most of your interrupted nights. Beg for food each time someone comes into the barn to check you. Your barn mates will love you as the extra goodies fall their way too.

Remember, this code of honor was designed to remind
man of how truly special goats are. Do your best to reward those who wait with a beautiful doeling to carry on the Doe Code of Honor for the next generation of those who wait!