Kids and MORE Goat kids

Six have delivered so far. Two more to go this month and then Jenga and Martha will deliver this summer.

Ingrid led the 2nd wave of births with two, a male and female. The female has the cutest little tiny ears, typical of La Mancha goats. Grace was the next to deliver. Mari did the early morning barn check last Sunday and as she walked in she heard the tiny voice of newly born kids. She had triplets, but we missed it all. When we arrived, only two had survived the birth, but are those boys cute. Abigail, who has looked ready for several weeks, delivered two vibrant boy kids on Wednesday. One of which has little neck tags, just like her.

Marlene is yet to deliver and Owari will join the pack at the end of April.

Here are a few more photos of the new kids...and check out the slideshow for others.

And the names....Much gratitude to all of the suggestions that have been pouring in. Space is the theme and for the goat kids we have been choosing names that begin with the same letter as their mama doe.

So the newest names:
Ingrid has:
Ivins, female - named for Martha Ivins an astronaut from Baltimore
Indus, male - a constellation in the southern sky, for Indian

Grace's kids, both male:
Galaxy, very light in color just like Grace
Gemini - is a brown and light mix with some brown spots. The third kid that didn't make it looked just like Gemini, twins.

Abigail, both male..
names haven't been chosens...oh what should they be?

Kids and more kids

3 Goats have kidded, 3 days in a row. It was quite a holiday weekend. Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Molly, Betsy & Sophia did a great job and didn't seem to mind the crowd that gathered to witness the births. What a learning opportunity for young and old. They seem to have taken a few days off, but we have 4 more to go in this round and then Owari at the end of the month.

Names: Space is the theme and suggestions have been rolling in. Thanks for all of the ideas. With more goats and pregnant sows in the mix, we will need plenty.

Introducing:
Meteor & Mir (Molly's twin girls)
Meteor is the dark brown doeling on the left; Mir is the oatmeal colored one





Bootes & Betelgeuse (Betsy's twins - girl & boy)














Bootes, a constellation also known as the Oxherd, is on the left with his black boots and Betelgeuse is on the right in front of Betsy, their doe.

Spock - Sophia's boy.

More photos are in the slideshow - see the right hand box and you can click on it or visit our picasa album for larger views of the photos.

Kids have arrived

We have been waiting (somewhat patiently) for our goats to start kidding. Finally they have. Molly was the first and she had twin doelings (girls). It was smooth as could be.

Lily, our guest, was the first to spot Molly in labor. Two little hooves confirmed Lily's observation. The dark brown doeling emerged looking strong. And though she is Molly's first kid ever, both Molly and the little one did all the right things. Molly dried her off (see video) and vocalized. The doeling found her own voice and worked at learning to stand.

We were thrilled that a twin sister followed, this time the doeling was the color of oatmeal. The second birth went just as smoothly. Within one hour of being born, each were successfully milking. And as we look out at the Saturday morning sunrise it looks like another great day for kidding! Grace? Betsy? Abigail? Ingrid?

Lily, who had been on her way to get her books in the barn loft guest house at the time of her discovery declared "Now I don't have to do a science project! This is it."

2010: A Space Odyssey

No, we are not reviewing movies now. Instead we are announcing our 2010 naming theme. Space.

Anything Space related, nominations are already coming in, so feel free to submit some. A few of the early suggestions include:

• Comet
• Polaris
• Hubble
• Ursa
• Orion
• Twinkly

"A daring romp through the solar system and a worthy successor to 2001," was Carl Sagan's quote on the movie. Here, we are just making a daring romp through the agricultural system.

Use the comment tool to contribute your ideas below for spacey names for lambs, kids and piglets in 2010! Thanks in advance for your ideas!