Reproductive Mis-Management

We have goats.  This habit was started by Jim, about 10 years ago, when he was in middle school.  He decided to get 4 boer meat goats.  Goats have kids that are hilarious.  Goats mow lawn where people prefer not to go which is helpful in keeping us looking respectable.  In fall, goats ignore fences so the dog has a great time getting them in routinely.  Then there is the term "horney old goat", which is where this story starts.  Last summer the goat males (bucks) were left in the herd too long with all those special parts still operational.  The gestation for female goats is 5 mo., so when we got back from our Christmas vacation we heard that Jim had found a set of goat twins that had been born.  Hmmm, shouldn't be a surprise...definately a warning sign of things to come. He moved them to a different building, hung the heat lamp and all was good. The next morning there was another single kid.  Generally kids are to be born in May when the weather is warmer.  This little one was flat out, cold, actually stiff and barely breathing.  What is amazing is you can bring in a barely breathing goat kid, warm them in a pail of warm water for 10 minutes, dry them and lay them on a zip lock bag of warm water and 2 hrs later they are chasing down their mom to eat. That was it until last night at about 6 when Bruce checked the barn.  Sure enough, another set of twins.  These had just arrived so he grabbed them and put them in our recycling tote in the bathroom to dry and warm up while we milked.  Two hours later we return to screaming goats looking for mom.  Put them together again in the smaller building with heat lamps.  Sure enough, when Bruce went down to get that mom there was another set of twins! Sunday a goat had kidded outside while we were gone and of course that one died.  That goat  instantly started taking care of the first kid as though it was hers, so after bringing them in to warm, Bruce gave her one and the actual mom one.  It was midnight before Bruce got to bed but all the goats were warm and eating well.  This morning Bruce again checked the barn.  TWINS again!  He grabbed them and they came in to be warmed.  The smallest one was stiff so she got put in warm water etc, and then put in the tote and both were covered with towels.  We return 2 hrs later and they are standing in the tote screaming like goat kids do.  Because one of these twins is so small we decide to put them in an empty stall in our barn where the temperature is a little warmer and they won't be crowded out from under a heat lamp.  Bruce put a fence in, I took the kids out and when Bruce went to get the mom, sure enough, there was yet ANOTHER set of twins!  Since it was warmer today and they were large and strong they went straight under a heat lamp in a separate pen so the mom could do the day care.  Bruce just left. The barn hasn't been checked since 11 because Bruce was a speaker at the beginning grazing class at the local technical college this afternoon.  So far, so good.  Eventually I will know how to add pictures but at this point I will add some fun goat facts.  Twins are very common if the doe's are healthy and have good nutrition.  We have had a couple sets of triplets over the years.  That gets a little trickier since goats only have 2 teats but good moms do just fine.  A 3 day old goat is already jumping and trying to spin.  They are also riding each other as if they are breeding. You can feel the horn buds within days of birth.  The moms know which kids are theirs by the smell of their butts and poop!  OH GOOD GRIEF....Bruce just called. Triplets!!!!  To be continued tomorrow.......