New additions to the goat family
Newborn kids, only just standing, about 1 hour old.
After a pregnancy of around 4 months, our grumpy Saanen goat Marigold had two male kids, named Pheelix and Phanjo by my 11-year old.
Marigold was behaving a bit different that morning, so Tom put her in the resource paddock, so she could graze freely and find herself a comfy spot should she give birth. We all had to go out that morning, and when I came back I heard some very familiar “kid” bleating. For those of you not familiar with goats, they are aptly named “kids”, since their bleat resembles a child’s cry.
Being licked clean by mum, the babies are crying for milk and keen to find the teat
I followed the sound, and saw Marigold licking one clean, with the other one still fully covered, meaning they had come into the world very recently. Marigold’s senses seemed heightened; she tended to be very defensive of the little ones, even to March flies, which were annoying her severely! She licked both kids clean; this is nurturing and bonding for both mum and kid, and it gives the mum much needed nutrition to prepare for the feeding she needs to do!
Found it! First suckle…
The kids look a lot like their dad, an Anglo Nubian called Angus. The funny thing is, Marigold doesn’t even like Angus, and usually beats him up… I guess she only let him come close once… but that was enough!
Having 2 more goats will require more goat paddocks. Another one to add to the ever increasing list of jobs to do!
Standing on wobbly legs, first standing at around 1 hour old…
Author: Zaia Kendall
Zaia grew up in a family of musicians in Holland, and has a background in top sport (snow skiing) and web development and design. She co-founded the PRI Luganville and PRI Sunshine Coast Inc (now PermEco Inc.) with Tom, and runs the “invisible structures”, like finances, business administration, website design and maintenance, writes articles and records and edits videos. She assists Tom in running the Kendall Permaculture Farm and supervising other volunteers. She is an active member of several musical projects and bands, involved in community music and runs percussion and marimba workshops, is the percussion leader for the Woodford Folk Festival People’s Orchestra and composes as well as plays music. She is passionate about community music and loves seeing people discover that they can play!
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