Supp Family Blog: Spring is here!

And so is Buckwheat, Ruger, Remington, Daisy and Lady Eleanor (Ellie for short). In case you're wondering who these names belong to, they belong to a batch of kids! Goat kids, of course.

We stayed up in Maine in April from the 3rd to the 13th. Three out of Arielle's five goats were pregnant. Two of them were due on Thursday the 9th, and one of them was due on Saturday the 11th.

Touche was due on Thursday, and she was very much on schedule! Arielle and Mrs. H assisted her, and she had a varied audience; from grandparents to a 3-month old!
Touche had Buckwheat and Spring, a buck and a due. Both of them are very fluffy! Buckwheat is more of a cuddler, while Spring certainly lives up to her name. She is one of the most energetic and adventurous kids.

Buckwheat soon after his arrival:

He has such a pink nose!

Spring just after her arrival:

Touche was a very good mamma goat, and licked off both her kids until they were both fluffed up.

Wales and Showgirl both had their kids on Saturday. The H's were using three stalls in the barn for the goats; Touche and her kids were in one stall, Tatty and Meggy (the two goats that weren't pregnant) were in another stall, and Wales and Showgirl were in the same stall.

Wales had her babies first. She had triplets!

Ruger was the first one. He was about the funniest looking kid that we or the H's had ever seen! He was weighed in at about 13 pounds, setting the record for the largest kid in their herd.

Daisy came next, and she was, in contrast, the smallest kid in this year's batch!

And then came Remington, who was a medium size kid.

And little while after the triplets were born, Ellie arrived! She is a really pretty little goat. She has a very independent personality, so we call her 'Independent Ellie' .

Arielle uses the goat milk for her soap (and the H's use it for drinking, cooking etc.) so the kids didn't nurse from their mothers for very long. The kids were separated from their mothers a day or two after birth. They still drank the milk from their mothers via bottle feeding. Bottle feeding gets the kids used to being around people, making them friendly, and they also follow people, so we can take them on walks!
For the first few days the kids got fed every 4 hours, with the amount of milk slowly being increased. Now the kids get fed 4 times a day, but soon it'll be shortened to 3 times.

Buckwheat and Spring: