Priscilla's Babies are Here Too!!!

Priscilla's babies are here!!!

 

Priscilla's triplets, 1 day old

 

Priscilla decided to make me wait this year for her babies and delivered a day late. She was originally due on January 21st.  She ended up delivering on January 22nd, just like Whimsey.

 

So we went from no babies to 5 babies in one day.

 

Whimsey had her babies a little before 8:00 on the morning.  After helping her clean up the babies, make sure they are doing well and nursing and making sure Whimsey was okay I finally got back up to the house around 1:30 in the afternoon.  I was able to have some lunch and do the dishes.

 

I thought it was best at 3:00pm to check on Whimsey & her babies once more before the kids got home from school.  As I'm heading down to the barn I hear a loud cry.  Of course I take off running the rest of the way and when I got down there I looked through the window and there was Priscilla cleaning off all 3 of her babies.

 

I thought I was shocked that morning, I was even more shocked to see 3 healthy babies all doing well and a big pile of SPOTS.

 

This was our first year breeding with Welker, our spotted buck, so we didn't know what his babies would look like.  I was so happy and excited to see all the spots and colors Priscilla & Welker's babies had.

 

Here are the babies they day they were born.

 

 

Priscilla's baby girl already looking to nurse at just hours old

Priscilla's baby girl just hours old

Priscilla's baby boy just hours old

 

They are all doing well now.  Priscilla's brown with white splash girl, who we named Daisy, was the strongest. She stood and nursed first and is super independent.  She was also the first to venture outside of the barn.

 

Priscilla's other girl, Itty Bitty is the black with white spots and is belted, is doing great.  We named her Itty Bitty because she is just that, a tiny girl.  She is little but she has lots of spunk and loves to play with her brother & sister and the other babies.  We did have to help her get her ears to fold the right way, I think its from being squished inside her mama, but that worked out fine and they now fold the way they were suppose to.

 

Priscilla's brown with moonspots boy, who we named Duncan, is just a sweetie.  He too loves to go outside.  Usually he and Daisy will run outside and then back into the barn.  They both love to play together.

 

This is not Priscilla's first time having babies so I have no worry about her being a good mama.  She is wonderful with her babies, very protective, watches them great and makes sure all of the get to nurse.

 

Daisy, 4 days old

Itty Bitty, 6 days old

Duncan, 4 days old

 

I'm sure we will find great homes for these babies and if not I guess I'll just have to keep them :)

 

 



Whimsey's Babies are Here!!

Whimsey with her boys a few hours after giving birth

 

Whimsey was due on January 19th and she ended up having her babies on the 22nd.  I was able to be present during the births last year and wanted to be again this year so once her due date arrived I made sure to check on her every few hours even through the night.

 

The night of January 21st she did fine through the middle of the night.  I did notice that she had some discharge but she wasn't doing any of the usual things goats do before giving birth, like "digging" or "nesting" on the ground or stretching.

 

So the morning of January 22nd, I checked her at 6:15am and saw no changes in her so off I went to drive the kids to school.  Once I came back I went down to do the morning chores of feeding all the animals.

 

I always look in the window to see where everyone is before I open the door and there she was with both babies on the barn floor and her being a great mama cleaning them up.

 

I was in SHOCK, LOL.

 

I helped her clean the off and moved mama and babies into the birthing pen so she could be alone with them to learn how to be a mother, since this was her first time, and to bond with her babies.

 

This was when I found out what she had,  2 BOYS.

 

Whimsey's boys only a few hours old

 

Whimsey is a natural at being a mother and loves her babies and takes very good care of them.  The boys are doing so well.  They love attention and being held.  They really like just snuggling with someone while being held.

 

They are already running and jumping around in the barn.  They have only taken a few steps outside of the barn, they are a little weary of the outside world still.

 

Whimsey's Boy #1 who we name Allen

Whimsey's Boy #2 who we name Sam

 

I really hope we can find wonderful homes for these two sweet boys.

 

We can't forget to mention that Brady is the sire (daddy) to these handsome boys.

 

 

 

WOW, Time is Flying - 9 Months old now

Chuck & Tbone turned 9 months old a couple of weeks ago.

 

They are growing so fast. They are becoming big boys!!!

 

Jamie feeding the boys.

 

See in the picture how big they are?  Feeding them makes me a little nervous because once they see you coming with the bucket they get excited and try to beat you to the trough.

We measured them on the 15th, when they turned 9 months old.

Chuck  630lbs
Tbone  530lbs

Chuck & Tbone eating breakfast

 

Tbone eating

Chuck eating

 

I was really hoping one of them would be ready by spring but i don't think so since Jamie wants them to be at least 1000lbs before we send one of them off to the butcher.

 

I guess we will just have to wait and see.  I will be measuring them again in April since that will be when they turn a year old.

 

 



Wow!! They have Grown!!

Lil Pig and Big Pig are now 6 months old and my have they grown!!

 

Jamie with the girls, 6 months old.

 

The girls are doing so well.  They are super friendly and love to have someone give them rubs.  I am doing much better and not afraid with these two pigs as I know what I can expect from them this time.

 

They really love people.  They go crazy running around anytime they see us coming down to the barns.

 

The past month we have been feeding them soaked corn and I'm sure that is helping with their growth.  The funniest thing with these two girls though are they LOVE to eat hay.  We keep putting hay in their pen for their bedding and to help with the mud because it has been raining for a week straight here and they keep eating it.

 

The girls waiting for breakfast

The girls eating breakfast

 

Lil Pig now weighs 155lbs

Big Pig weighs 185lbs

 

We are hoping they will be ready to go to the butcher by April.  We will be keeping the meat from both of these girls for our family.

 

Here are some other cute pics of them.

Lil Pig being curious of the camera

Big Pig eating

Lil Pig wondering what I am doing

Big Pig saying hello

 

The girls wondering if I'm gonna give them some hay

Of course I am!! They love it :)



So Very Proud!!!

Hailey & Drew

 

Report cards are in and Drew & Hailey both got all A's!!!!

 

Hailey's grades:

 

Reading             97

English              95

Social Studies   94

Math                 95

Science             93

 

 

Andrew's grades:

 

Reading          100+

English               95

Social Studies     98

Math                   93

Science               97

 

We are so proud of them.  You know what that means?  They had to go to DQ and get their free meal :)

Turning 5

 

Lou & Bryce turned 5 last week on Monday January 7th.

This is what they did for their birthday, LOL.

Lou & Bryce sleeping on the couch

These days, now that it is chillier they like to relax by the wood stove or burrow under a blanket for an all day nap.

Bryce on the lookout

The pups have very different personalities and are set in their ways.  Bryce will sit on the back of the couch, as in the picture above, when not sleeping or warming my lap.  He loves to look outside and keep "watch".  He always lets us know when anything is in the yard, even the tiniest birds.

Lou relaxing

Lou on the other hand just wants to cuddle with someone. He prefers my lap but if I'm not available he will sit and cuddle with the next person who has a free lap.



Lou - 5 years old


Bryce - 5 years old

 

Lou & Bryce

 

Aren't they just so sweet?