The 2018 baby Nigerian Dwarf goats began arriving Easter morning! We anxiously anticipate kidding season each spring, both with apprehension and excitement. Excitement about the birth of new Nigerian Dwarf goat kids, and apprehension over whether everyone will arrive without issues.
First 2018 Baby Nigerian Dwarf Goat Arrivals:
On Easter Sunday morning (4/1/18 at about 6:00 AM – 148 days), 3*M Bramblestone Amethyst *D decided it was time. She delivered two bucklings and one doeling. They were all in the correct orientation for easy births, and it happened very quickly.
The first two to arrive were both bucks and are very similar in appearance – light golden brown in coloration (they remind me of their sire – Old Mountain Farm Springloaded). The first to arrive weighed 3.8 lbs., had a white patch on the top of his head, and we believe he’s polled! The registration letter this year is K, so the photo below is him (K1). We’re thinking of naming him Bramblestone Gold Dust.
K1 – Bramblestone Gold Dust?
The second to arrive was a 3.9 lb. buckling with similar coloration as K1 but he’s horned. He’s K2 and we’re thinking of naming him Bramblestone Copper. The third to arrive was a 2.3 lb. doeling who we believe is also horned. She’s a chamoisee with lots of white overlay and we haven’t really decided on a name for her, but since she’s Amethyst’s daughter we’re looking for a precious stone or metal that would fit her. Here are K2 and K3 together:
K2 – Bramblestone Copper? & K3 – Bramblestone ?
Here’s the happy family all together – we’re always so relieved when everyone arrives healthy!
Amethyst & 2018 Goat Kids
The second 2018 Baby Nigerian Dwarf Goat Arrivals:
Again on Easter Sunday (4/1/18 at about 8:30 PM – 144 days), Bramblestone Sun Tea 4*D also decided it was time. She had a polled buckling (K4), doeling (K5), buckling (K6), and polled doeling (K7) – Quads! Everyone was in the correct presentation so everything went quickly and smoothly.
Sun Tea’s Quadruplets
The first K4 buckling looks a lot like his sire (*B CH Bramblestone Celtic Quinn) and was 2.9 lbs when born (he’s the one nursing in the photo above. The second K5 doeling was 2.4 lbs. and looks a lot like her dam – she’s the one at the very top of the picture. The third K6 buckling was also 2.4 lbs. and is below Sun’s nose in the picture above. The final K7 doeling was 1.9 lbs. and is partially hidden behind Sun’s head in the picture.
Sun is doing an excellent job of handling the quads and doesn’t seem to be having any problem feeding all of them at this point. They’re all healthy and doing well. We’ll be trying to figure out names (different types of tea) and getting better pictures of each of them. We’re also waiting on four more goats to freshen this week! The kidding schedule is here: 2018 Bramblestone Farm Nigerian Dwarf Kidding Schedule. Here they are sleeping at about 20 hours old:
It’s awesome having baby goats in the barn again, they’re so joyful and so much fun!! This is the other thing we received Easter evening – SNOW
Lesa the babies are beautiful!! I was up watching last night!! Good job!! I was also tuned in today to see Tara have her babies. Was on pins and needles!! How exciting!
Hi Wendy, yes we have been having exciting times helping to deliver babies – 10 so far. Five boys and five girls. We’re expecting two more does to freshen this week. Tara had a polled buckling and a doeling – they are both doing well but she’s a little unwilling to take care of them yet. Sometimes it takes first fresheners awhile to catch on.
You guys must be exhausted! Looking forward to seeing all the babies and keeping my fingers crossed that I get that call from you??
<3 Our kidding season is under way as well— we have kikos and kiko-crosses, though I personally would love to have Nigerians. (Shared family farm here) — So far, we've had a set of quads and 16 sets of triplets from 21 deliveries… crazy! What a wonderful time of year it is!
I rejoice with you for all your beautiful new babies. So many thanks for sharing the news and pictures! I’m a goat and chicken lady in Northern California, so live too far to visit in person, but am always eager to read your newsletter. Many thanks for the interesting and helpful articles. Wishing you a happy Spring on your busy farm. Being part of the birth and renewal of the season is miraculous!!
Much love
Thank you Eveline – Northern California sounds like a wonderful place to be a goat and chicken lady!
Lesa,
How can you tell at birth if the kids are polled? I am hoping for polled kids this year and need to know how to tell between horned and polled at birth.
Thanks!
Anita at The Farm at Green Gables
Hi Anita, It’s not always easy to tell if the kids are polled, but horned kids usually have hair swirls located where their horns are going to break through the surface of the skull. Especially for the bucks, you can often feel the horn buds under the swirls even when they’re born. Their heads are usually shaped differently too – the polled kids have heads that are more rounded or “egg” shaped than their horned siblings. So, the egg-shaped upper head and lack of hair swirls are a good indicator that you’ve got a polled kid. That’s a good question and topic for a blog post, so I’ll try to get some good pictures demonstrating the differences and write a post on the topic in the next couple of weeks.
As always, thank you Lesa for your prompt response to my question. This will be another new learning experience for me as I bred both of my does to my polled buck this year. My first freshener doe is due next week and my other doe in a few more weeks. I rejoice with you over your healthy kids! What a gift! They are gorgeous! Love that Gold Dust!