Biggie and Smalls Hit the Scene

“I think she’s about ready to deliver,” said my husband looking at our goat, Ophelia, as she walked around her pen quietly maa-ing.  About two minutes later, deliver she did.  As a nurse, I have assisted at a fair amount of human births and let me tell you goats are quite a bit easier.  A few quick pushes, a warm fecund odor hit the air and a small, dark, wet bundle lay on the straw.  A few minutes more and a brother was born.  Ophelia went quickly to work licking them clean and urging them to stand up.  Being a prey animal means no lazing around and within an amazingly short time of being born they were standing up and wobbling about.

That night both kids eagerly nursed and with a feeling of contentment we all went to bed knowing we were on our way to goat cheese and yogurt.  The next morning came cold and rainy and it just got worse.  When I went out to the shed Ophelia was energetically licking and nuzzling one kid but was ignoring the other.

Each time he would come up to nurse she would stamp her back legs and walk away.  Her udder looked swollen and sore so I thought maybe it just plain hurt to nurse them both.  I massaged her udder and milked her but it was no go – she still would only nurse one kid.  With dread in my heart I put her in the milking stanchion and made her feed the little guy.  He wagged his tail and his whole body wriggled with joy as he gulped the milk down.  Four more times that day I repeated the process with Ophelia getting more upset at each go around.

The kids are now two weeks old and we are getting into a routine of sorts.  With treats and soft words Ophelia is getting used to the milking stanchion and is reluctantly letting the little one nurse.  Both kids are bouncing around and playfully butting heads.  Now that it looked like they were both going to make it, the time for names had come.  It was my teen daughter’s turn for these new additions; she took a quick look, tossed her head and said, “They are Biggie and Smalls.”

Related posts:

1. New Lives for Biggie and Smalls
2. Milky Tales, Part One
3. News from the Farmlet

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