Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Well, they were worth the wait weren't they?? Here are Onion's beautiful kids: Chestnut, a boy and Silver Birch, a girl, (guess who is who!!) born early afternoon today after a 'textbook' birth with absolutely no help needed from us at all. During our last night-time check (at round 2am) we noticed a whitish liquid coming from Onion and knew (hoped) this was the start. First thing this morning it was obvious she was starting the early stages of labour and after various pawings of the ground, lying down, pushing and a small amount of screaming (pygmy goats do let you know they are in pain) out popped these two. It is all such a relief and we do now think the dates were wrong and she was not in fact as overdue as we thought.
Chestnut and Silver Birch are both in great shape, they were on their feet within minutes and both suckling within three quarters of an hour. Onion is a great mum, she is nowhere near as anxious as Sage, but just as attentive and protective: all of which is good!! It is fascinating watching new mums bond with their young. There is a lot of 'talking' as well as licking and gentle nudging. Another interesting part of their behaviour is the instinct to protect their babies from predators, as in the wild goats are 'prey' animals and may get eaten by large cats and other carnivores. It is therefore very important that mum gets her young up and about as quickly as possible, hence all the licking dry and encouragement to drink milk so the kids have some energy.
Many goats also eat the 'afterbirth'. The afterbirth is all the nutrients and other parts that were used to keep the kids alive whilst inside the womb. It is expelled 'after the birth' and often is then eaten so there is no trace of it left to attract any predators. It is also quite nutritious for the mum. Once the kid starts pooing and weeing mums will often eat/drink this as well, again to avoid leaving any evidence of the fact there are young animals around. Baby animals are very vulnerable as they cannot run as fast as their parents, nor are they as aware of potential dangers. Of course in the safety of our barn we hope we won't have to deal with any predators but many farmers do have to be careful of Mr/Mrs Fox at lambing/kidding time. A large field full of lambs or young kids is very attractive to a fox, just as much (if not more) than our poultry paddock... So Ebony now has his first playmates: we look forward to videoing the fun and games in a few days!!