Mabie's Farm

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2012 Kidding Schedule

For information on goats for sale, go to our For Sale page - To read about the kiddings, see below

Quinn - Tecate     2 girls, 1 boy          1/21/12

Merry - Flash       2 girls, 1 boy          1/26/12

Airmid - Tecate    1 girl, 1 boy            1/27/12

Raven - Flash     1 girl, 2 boys*          1/28/12         *one boy passed away shortly after birth 

Kaitlyn - Flash    Miscarried due to poisoning after a wind storm :(

2012 Kidding Season

1/28/12 - Raven kids and the effects of the poisoning continue

Raven picked a nice warm afternoon to get serious.  I kept an eye on her from a distance since everytime I came close, she would move.  As I watched, I saw her give birth to a baby.  She very quickly gave birth to two more.  More triplets!  Raven let me approach and it was immediately evident there was a huge problem with the first born.  The other two were moving, but this kid looked dead.  I called to my son to assist with the other two kids.  As I quickly cleaned some of the goo off the first kid, I felt a strong heartbeat.  I immediately cleared the airway and used several techniques that have been successful in the past to get this kid breathing.  Despite over 10 minutes of trying, including mouth to muzzle resuscitation efforts, his heart stopped.  I tried over 5 minutes of CPR, but he was gone.  No matter what, he just refused to breathe.  I went back to help my son with the other two.  There was a gorgeous 6.9# splashy black boy with spots.  He looked a little weak, but otherwise looked like he would be fine.  The other kid was the smallest Nubian I have ever seen.  She is a solid black 3.9# doeling.  She was struggling.  Raven doted over her living son, but ignored her daughter.  Determined to get the boy off to a good start and to save the doeling, I milked Raven who gave over 2.5# of colostrum.  The boy ate heartily and promptly went to sleep.  He was strong enough in a few hours to be put in with the rest of the kids.  The little girl spent most of the day under constant observation in the house.  Just before dinner, she was finally able to stand by herself.  She is still a bit weak, but is showing a strong determination to survive.  Due to her size, she will live here on our farm until we are assured of her condition (6 month minimum).

1/27/12 - Airmid follows her mom's footsteps

Heaven forbid anyone in Autumn's line give birth at a human hour.  In the cold on the night is not an ideal time.  Airmid gave birth to 2 beautiful, dark brownish reddish kids with solid ears.  The 6.1# boy has a few small white splashes on him, while the 6.2# girl is solid.  Airmid is a first freshener and didn't give much indication that she was going to do anything at dinnertime, so I was surprised to see that she had kidded at the midnight feeding.  The kids had been left in their birthing goo and were soaking wet.  The temperature was rather cool (for California) and the kids were dangerously hypothermic.  We rushed them into the house where we dried and warmed them.  I went back out and checked mom as well as milked her.  Airmid did a great job and is doing well.  Her kids have warmed up and are now doing great too. 

1/26/12 - Merry refuses to be outdone by her sister

Merry has been talking to her kids for at least a week.  Apparently she was giving them great instructions for being born.  Though we were literally out to lunch, Merry kidded easily (we weren't gone that long!) at about 12 this afternoon.  We came home to three beautiful babies and a proud mother.  Merry had a 6.4# frosted brown girl (already quite the explorer - my son named her Laura Croft), a 6.4# spotted girl (named Do-Si), and a 5.6# boy (named Roosevelt) with splashes on his sides.  In all, slightly bigger than her sister, Quinn's, babies.  Mother and babies are doing great!

1/21/12 - Quinn regains her status of being first - and triplets!

Of course Caleb and I were heading to Goat Day at UC Davis when I received a text from my husband letting me know that Quinn was kidding.  Quinn was rather large this year, though has always twinned with no complications.  Chris said he'd keep me posted since we were 2 hours away.  At about 8 am, Quinn had a 5.7# brown girl (named Dutchess - everything needs to be her way).  8:15, another girl, brown with almost a complete white belt 5.9# (named Dot for the spot in her belt).  Lastly came the 6.5# boy at 8:25 (named Magellan for his exploring spirit).  He is gorgeous, with a complete white belt on a beautiful brown background.  As is common for boys when there is more than 2 babies, this guy did not follow his sisters' in the nice 'nose and toes' birthing position.  He was born in the breech position.  Quinn did a great job and has produced some wonderful, thick colostrum from her kids.  After the catastrophy of early December (after a huge windstorm, the goats in a small pasture - mostly the pregnant does, sufferred a poisoning incident which cost us Lavochkin and Kaitlyn's unborn kid) we were pleased that Quinn's kids were fine.

2011 Kidding Season

2011 Foster Kid - Twinkle (aka Twinkie Dink)

We don't normally take in other animals, though a call from an acquaintance during bad weather after the death of two beloved pets caught us at a weak moment.  The kid was a Boer cross (meat goat) who was born on March 1st (same day as Autumn's kid, Dumpling).  She was a twin, but was considerably smaller than her brother.  The mother rejected her and her owner could care less.  She was left to die in a mud puddle.  My friends were horrified and asked the owner if they could take her then.  He agreed the next day and they brought her home.  They had no facilities for goats, but would do what they could to save her.  After contacting me, I agreed to take Twinkle in.  When I picked her up later that day, she was not very lively and didn't look very good (my friends did a good job cleaning her up and helping her).

I weighed her when we arrived home to get a base line on her status.  She weighed less than 4#.  She was weak, had massive diarrhea, and not a very big appetite.  I needed to keep her in isolation and was concerned that she wouldn't make it.  The weather was cold and rainy all month.  She did have a bit of an attitude which I feel really helped pull her through.

At one month, she was already over 15#.  She had been introduced to a few of the kids and really bonded with Dumpling.  Twinkle was considerably shorter than my Nubian kids and learned that jumping over the crowd didn't work.  Twinkle would duck her head and walk under all the other kids.  We did feed her and Dumpling separate from the rest of the herd to give her a better chance.  After eating, she looked like an over-stuffed marshmallow.  She loved attention, but did not care to be picked up.  When picked up, she would squirm and fuss, demanding her independence. She has quite a personality and loved to steal the show.

Though we would love to keep everyone, we know our limitations and wish to give the best care possible to those that stay here.  Another friend of mine was looking for a goat as a pet, to live with their two older sheep.  The family came to see her and instantly fell in love.  Twinkle went home with them in June, just in time for an unusual cold spell.  We were all a bit concerned how she would fair the first night.  Not to fear, she found the warmest place of all... between the sheeps.  Twinkle now has a wonderful family.  She has been licked by a dog, sniffed by a horse, and has two mobile wool blankets to keep her warm.  Twinkle may have had a rough beginning, but in the end she really scored.  Her brother and other former herd mates will soon be dinner, while she will enjoy a leisurly life as the center of attention.  I enjoy hearing her updates and am forever thankful for the friends that took the time to save her and the friends that are her permanent family.  The name she came with was appropriate, Twinkle.  In many ways she became a twinkle of hope after loosing Anise and Biscut, then loosing Goliath.  It was a hard spring for both of us, and she had enough strength to pull us through.

2011 Kidding Season

3/1/11 - Autumn

At least Autumn picked a nicer day than Quinn.  She did wait until the sun went down, though it was only 7:30 pm.  Luckily I had gotten out of class early and was home just as she kidded.  The birth was wonderfully uncomplicated.  Autumn usually twins, though has also had triplets in the past.  So, we were a little surprised by a single birth.  Concerned we may have missed one, we checked the pasture, then sat with Autumn until she passed her afterbirth.  We then weighed and fed a beautiful 7.4# spotted girl that looks just like mom.  

2/14/11 - Quinn

Quinn picked the rainest, coldest day that we've had for awhile.  We've had unseasonably warm weather, except for Valentine's Day.  As we were cleaning up in the milking parlor, we noticed Quinn acting slightly different than usual.   We went to check on her and she was just starting to produce a bubble.  We moved her into the kidding pen where she quickly got to work producing a VERY tall black and tan boy.  As we helped Quinn clean of this guy, she quietly gave birth to a slightly spotted brown boy.  Both kids were over 8# at birth.  They are very good eaters and are quickly learning to catch up with the older kids.  Quinn is doing well and has assumed her rightful place as first in the milking parlor.

1/31/11 - Raven

Raven was the one we were worrying about.  Her milk had been in for over a week.  Her udder was so full that we decided to milk her on 1/30 to relieve some of the pressure and test for possible infection.  We knew we'd need to save colostrum from one of the other does to ensure her babies would also have a good start.  After 6.8 pounds of milk, there was no infection and Raven looked far more comfortable.  We considered having her ultrasounded because we still didn't have any kids!  When we went out for the evening feeding on the 31st, Raven was finally kidding.  She quickly produced a little brown buckling and a solid black buckling.  Another good kidding during a human hour of the day.  3 does down, 2 to go.

1/31/11 - Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn was the next to kid.  We went out to feed Merry's kids when Caleb made a crack about Kaitlyn being next.  She was laying quietly with the herd near the kid corral.  Right after Caleb's comment, Kaitlyn began pushing.  We rushed out to her in time to catch a gorgeous solid black girl.  This performance was quickly followed by a very splashy little girl.  Another smooth kidding with mom and babies doing great! 

1/26/11 - Merry

Merry kicked off our season on an incredibly busy day.  I was away at a training and my husband was at work.  Our son was home with his grandparents and so he attended the birth.  Merry was Caleb's first goat.  She has always kidded without complications, so I was not too worried.  I made sure the vet's number was handy, just in case.  At about 2 pm, Merry easily kidded a beautiful brown boy and a spotted little girl.  The girl looks a lot like her paternal grandmother, Autumn.  Mom, kids, and Caleb did very well.  Caleb milked out his goat and got the kids all settled in.

2010 Kidding Season

5/1/10 Autumn finally has a girl!

For the last three years, Autumn has produced some of the most handsome boys that were either red like their uncle, Zeus, or spotted like their mother.  I have waited for more than three years to retain a girl.  We retained Flash last year as we were concerned that if anything happened to Autumn we would loose her line in the herd.  Autumn spent the last two days with her front feet up on the food bin.  She would stretch and stare into space, promising to kid at any moment...  I have a few sleepless nights in anticipation.  I was worried when we left for part of the day (my husband graduated from college :) !).  When we arrived home, Autumn was just licking dry her little boy.  The girl was already on the ground and licked dry.  Autumn did a fabulous job and all went well.  She has had some kidding problems in the past, but not this time.  We are delighted that mom and babies are doing great!  The buckling weighed 7.85# and his little sister weighed 5.6#.  Both are eating great.  Autumn produced over 35 ounces colostrum for her kids.  Our kidding season is now over.

1/4/2010 Quinn finally kids!

Quinn finally kidded today.  She was very nice and waited for me to get back from a work errand, giving birth early this afternoon.  Unlike our other ladies, Quinn prefered to kid in the secondary shelter that we have set up when we split up the pastures.  When I noticed she was MIA as we went to feed the other kids, I called her and she peeked her head out from the other shelter.  I checked, we fed the kids, and I then went and sat with her.  Quinn is a little different from out other girls who are lovey to everyone.  Quinn enjoys my company, and at times, barely tolerates others.  As she began to push, my husband and son quietly entered the enclosure.  This was a special moment as Quinn normally waits until the very early hours of the morning and gives birth quietly, by herself.  As is traditional for her, she didn't make a sound as she worked to push out an 8.5# tricolor doeling with white ticking.  She insistantly helped clean off the baby before settling down and pushing out a 7.7# tricolor sister.  Quinn is a very good mother and quietly nickered to her babies as she cleaned them off.  Mom is doing great.

1/3/2010

Kaitlyn was showing signs last night that she might kid.  This morning we milked yesterday's moms and fed the hungry little babies.  As we were going to feed the rest of the herd, Kaitlyn was stringing goo.  She did give me time to eat a very quick breakfast before getting serious.  She seemed to be struggling a bit, though the baby's presentation seemed to be fine.  The front hooves were big, but we've had lots of leggy, big footed babies.  When the nose emerged, I announced that she was having a yearling!  I helped by preventing the baby from sliding back in when she took a short break and she eventually delivered a beautifully frosted 10.45# buckling.  Surely this could be the only one.  As we dried off Goliath, milked some colostrum from Kaitlyn, then weighed and tied off the umbilical to this new arrival, my son announced that tthere was another baby!  This one came into the world rather quickly.  In fact, Kaitlyn seemed to barely noticed.  The second baby was also a boy.  He is 6.95# that is mostly black with a few small white patches and a white blaze.  Goliath is a gentle giant, while his brother is inquisitive.  Mom, Kaitlyn, is doing well after that ordeal! 

Goliath at 1 day old with Raven's girl in the background.

1/2/2010

Merry started off the morning at a respectable 10:15am.  (I am NOT a morning person)  She was not interested in going out in the pasture with the rest of the herd.  She stayed in the shelter, quietly nickering to her babies.  As I can closer, she gave birth to a beautiful 8.65# buckling.  A few minutes later, she gave birth to a carbon copy 6.2# doeling.  Merry did a great job and made it look easy!  She produced wonderful colostrum and her udder is well in production to feed these feisty two.

1/2/2010 (part 2) 

Since Merry made it look so easy, Raven decided to kid just a couple of hours later.  Merry's kids had to wait a little bit for lunch as Raven quickly brought a black doeling with solid black ears and a tricolor buckling into the world.  Like Merry, Raven had no complications during the delivery.  I was merely there to help dry off the kids and feed them. 

Boy - 2 days old