# MellonFriend's 2022 Kidding Thread



## MellonFriend

I can't believe it's already time to start my kidding thread. Time has _flown_! 😄

This will be my second kidding season as well as both of my does' second freshening. First up is Bella, she's all dried up now and her due date is January 18th. Only two months to go! 😲😁






























I feel like she is bigger this year than she was last year. I'm betting three for her this time instead of two.

Here's Prim. Here due date is February 4th. She'll be dried up next week.





























I'm waiting until she is also three months to go to give my guess for her, but so far I'm thinking only two. Same as last year.

And here is Cullen. He is the buck they are both bred to. These will be his first offspring.


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## Dandy Hill Farm

They all look extremely healthy and happy!! 😍 

Bella does look big for three months preggo, Prim looks pretty big too. Looks like they'll both have at least twins, but I won't be surprised if they both had triplets! It will be very exciting to see how Cullen's kids compare to Phantom's.😁

Do you have any plans for retaining kids?

Hope both does have a smooth pregnancy and delivery to healthy kids!😊


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## Goatastic43

Oh yay! Was looking forward to your thread! Prim looks like a totally different goat! Is Bella a Nigerian? She doesn’t really look like a Kinder compared to your others. She’s pretty though!


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## Jubillee

Whoo hoo!! Both girls are looking lovely and full of babies! Can't wait to see them! <3


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## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> They all look extremely healthy and happy!! 😍
> 
> Bella does look big for three months preggo, Prim looks pretty big too. Looks like they'll both have at least twins, but I won't be surprised if they both had triplets! It will be very exciting to see how Cullen's kids compare to Phantom's.😁
> 
> Do you have any plans for retaining kids?
> 
> Hope both does have a smooth pregnancy and delivery to healthy kids!😊


Thanks, Dandy! Healthy and happy is what I aim for! I do not plan on retaining any kids this year. I firmly warned my family not to get attatched to anything. I don't have that problem, but my the rest of my family does! 😏 



Goatastic43 said:


> Oh yay! Was looking forward to your thread! Prim looks like a totally different goat! Is Bella a Nigerian? She doesn’t really look like a Kinder compared to your others. She’s pretty though!


Bella is a full blooded kinder too. She is just a bit lighter boned than the others. 🙂


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## Dandy Hill Farm

MellonFriend said:


> Thanks, Dandy! Healthy and happy is what I aim for! I do not plan on retaining any kids this year. I firmly warned my family not to get attatched to anything. I don't have that problem, but my the rest of my family does! 😏


You're welcome! What!? How can you resist all the cute little kids you'll be having?!? Just wait until your does kid, I'm sure you'll change your mind then....that or your family will talk you into keeping one or two. Haha! 😅 I totally get it. You just can't keep 'em all. I also remember you mentioning that you found an awesome breeder, so you have to save some space for those babies.😃


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## MadHouse

Yay, here they are! They all look great! 
It is so exciting!!
Wishing for smooth deliveries!


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## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> You're welcome! What!? How can you resist all the cute little kids you'll be having?!? Just wait until your does kid, I'm sure you'll change your mind then....that or your family will talk you into keeping one or two. Haha! 😅 I totally get it. You just can't keep 'em all. I also remember you mentioning that you found an awesome breeder, so you have to save some space for those babies.😃


My plans for the future is to add a buck, keep a buckling out of Murphy and Cullen, and then keep a doeling out of Prim and the buckling I purchase. So there will be babies kept in the future, but not this year. I'm sure of it. 😁 I think four does would probably serve all our milk, butter, and cheese needs. That's the goal, complete dairy independence! 😙


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## Dandy Hill Farm

MellonFriend said:


> My plans for the future is to add a buck, keep a buckling out of Murphy and Cullen, and then keep a doeling out of Prim and the buckling I purchase. So there will be babies kept in the future, but not this year. I'm sure of it. 😁 I think four does would probably serve all our milk, butter, and cheese needs. That's the goal, complete dairy independence! 😙


Sounds like an awesome plan to me!! 🥰


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## Moers kiko boars

Awwww they are so cute! Your Buckling is adorable! I hope you get as many as you want, and all healthy! Be sure and show off each one with pictures! I cant wait to see wee kinders!


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## Rancho Draco

Oh how exciting! They are both looking big already! They may just be stretched out from having kids before but I hope you have lots of healthy babies and mamas running around soon! ❤


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## GoofyGoat

Awwww! The girls look great! I can’t wait to see this years kids. Yay a kidding thread to stalk 😁🤗🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐


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## toth boer goats

Looking good.


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## Lil Boogie

More pics?..............plzzz


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## MellonFriend

Lil Boogie said:


> More pics?..............plzzz


Well... I was going to get you some new ones, but today I was busy running errands and tomorrow I have to cook Thanksgiving all day, so I probably won't have time, and then the day after that is Thanksgiving, so here are some pictures that I took for the first post that didn't make the cut. 🙂






























Look at all those cute butts. 😋









Bonus picture of my Anatolian, Mason.


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## Dandy Hill Farm

What?!? How did those not make the cut??😋 I always enjoy and look forward to seeing your beautiful pictures. 🥰 Mason is sooo regal looking!! Love him! 🤩

Good luck cooking tomorrow! I'm helping my grandma do the same. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 😘


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## Rancho Draco

Beautiful goats and pup! 
Happy Thanksgiving and may you have smooth sailing in all your cooking!


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## MadHouse

They look so good!
Beautiful pictures!
Thanks for accommodating us, and happy Thanksgiving!


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## Goatastic43

Aw yes, the butt pics…..goats are so helpful at getting good photos 

Beautiful girls, I love the one with Prim’s tongue sticking out! Have a great Thanksgiving!


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## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Well... I was going to get you some new ones, but today I was busy running errands and tomorrow I have to cook Thanksgiving all day, so I probably won't have time, and then the day after that is Thanksgiving, so here are some pictures that I took for the first post that didn't make the cut. 🙂
> View attachment 216063
> View attachment 216064
> View attachment 216065
> View attachment 216066
> 
> 
> Look at all those cute butts. 😋
> View attachment 216067
> 
> 
> Bonus picture of my Anatolian, Mason.
> View attachment 216070


What gorgeous girls!! And Mason of course lol. Thank you for the pics and good luck with the cooking! Happy Thanksgiving❤❤❤❤❤❤


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## Moers kiko boars

Awww so cute! All look healthy & happy! 
Happy Thanksgiving!


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## FizzyGoats

They all looks so amazing! Great pics, even the butts pic. 

I’ll be watching closely because even though my girls won’t be bred for quite some time, I’m determined not to keep any of the babies when the time comes. I’ll need inspiration that it can be done. Lol.


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## MellonFriend

Thanks everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you too! 🦃🥧🥘


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## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Thanks everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you too! 🦃🥧🥘


Thank you!!!❤❤❤😘😆


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## MellonFriend

Prim has two months to go! She definitely doesn't look bigger to me at this point than last year. I'm going to guess two for her. 























I think she looks a little low on selenium. I've noticed she tends to get that crooked tail when that happens. Also, all of the does are suddenly acting really itchy, so some injectable ivermectin might be in everyone's future. 

Bella's really looking big. I'm solidly thinking she is going to have three.









They all got switched back to their main pasture and are really enjoying the fresh grass.


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## Rancho Draco

They are looking good! We got snow last night and I think this round will be here to stay. Already ready for green pastures again!


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## MellonFriend

Woah, snow!? That's crazy! It's been great this year that they've been off of this pasture because usually once leaf drop ends that's about the end of their forage, but now they have all this grass to eat! They are hardly even eating any hay right now.


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## Tanya

They all lòok good


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## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> Woah, snow!? That's crazy! It's been great this year that they've been off of this pasture because usually once leaf drop ends that's about the end of their forage, but now they have all this grass to eat! They are hardly even eating any hay right now.


Yeah it's been snowing off and on for the past month and a half now but it keeps getting warm and melting off. The weatherman says the high for tomorrow is 13 degrees🥶


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## MellonFriend

Eek! I don't envy you. 😱 We're looking at getting some unseasonably warm temperatures here. Highs in the 70s lows in the 50s. It will probably turn ridiculously cold right when the does are due. 😣


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## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> Eek! I don't envy you. 😱 We're looking at getting some unseasonably warm temperatures here. Highs in the 70s lows in the 50s. It will probably turn ridiculously cold right when the does are due. 😣


That's always how it goes. Doe code! Last year Serenity waited until two days after her due date so that she could have her kids while it was snowing in the middle of April. It was 50 degrees on her due date which is when Brownie, ever the sensible girl, had her kids. That had me laughing. I was out in the barn all day for Serenity and Brownie was the one who kidded. I swear I'll never get the upper hand on these goats.


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## Tanya

No one ever does


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## MadHouse

They look so good! 🥰
I think triplets for Bella too.
I envy you for your grass!


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## FizzyGoats

They look so good! And poor Bella really has the pregnant bulge thing going already. My goats completely ignore the green grass still available and eat dried leaves from the ground (though pick and choose which ones), nuts, moss, and tree bark. They also eat hay all day. I think you’re doing something right that I’m not. Or your goats are just smarter than mine. 

I can’t wait to see the babies!


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## Lil Boogie

@MellonFriend those is some big mama's........!!. Are you breeding Murphy next year? Your gonna breed her to Cullen right?


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## toth boer goats

They look great.


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## MellonFriend

FizzyGoats said:


> They look so good! And poor Bella really has the pregnant bulge thing going already. My goats completely ignore the green grass still available and eat dried leaves from the ground (though pick and choose which ones), nuts, moss, and tree bark. They also eat hay all day. I think you’re doing something right that I’m not. Or your goats are just smarter than mine.
> 
> I can’t wait to see the babies!


Well, my girls were just on a pasture that was nothing but dried leaves, so I think they are really happy to eat something green! Last year after being on this pasture all year they didn't touch the grass much after the leaves fell.



Lil Boogie said:


> @MellonFriend those is some big mama's........!!. Are you breeding Murphy next year? Your gonna breed her to Cullen right?


Yes, the plan is to breed Murphy to Cullen next fall. It will be so exciting to see her babies!


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## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Well, my girls were just on a pasture that was nothing but dried leaves, so I think they are really happy to eat something green! Last year after being on this pasture all year they didn't touch the grass much after the leaves fell.
> 
> 
> Yes, the plan is to breed Murphy to Cullen next fall. It will be so exciting to see her babies!


They should definitely make some pretty babies!!


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## Jubillee

They look fantastic! Can't wait to see who they are hiding in there!!


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## toth boer goats




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## MellonFriend

Bella's officially one month to go today! I think her udder has started filling. She's going to get her CD/t Booster today and her pregnancy pedicure. I'm set that she's got three cooking in there!























I also have some exciting barn renoviation news, but I'll launch those pictures later when I have a bit more time. Stay tuned! 😁


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## K.B.

Ooooo fun!


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Getting close!! Bella is pretty big. Trips would be fun! Do you have any pictures of Bella, from last year, when she was this far along to compare too? Can't wait to see and hear more about your barn renovation!! 😁


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## MellonFriend

If you go to my thread from last year, you can see a comparison. In person I think she looks bigger than she did last year. Post number 53 and 74 if it doesn't take you right there. MellonFriend's First Ever Kidding Thread 2021 See what you think. 🙂


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## Rancho Draco

Getting close! I can't really see much difference in the pictures but I feel like pictures just don't capture how they look very well.


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Hmm, I agree with @Rancho Draco. She doesn't look much bigger compared to the other pictures, but pictures can be deceiving and goats are always full of surprises so it's definitely a possibility that Bella has triplets cooking! 😃


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## Rancho Draco

I hope she does have triplets for you! I would love for all of my does to have twins or triplets. Quads is too many and I feel like its just rude for them to have to go through pregnancy and kidding and then only have one.


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## MellonFriend

Two or three is fine with me! I certainly don't mind if she only has two. Less mouths to feed that way. I'm sticking with my guns and guessing three still. Maybe they are all just wee little ones. 😏


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## Jubillee

Well her udder is bigger this time around. I agree sometimes it's hard to tell with pics. I see them so huge and take a pic and think, boy that doesn't seem huge haha. Woo hoo so exciting!!

Bug has 30 days left now and her udder has picked up. She started filling some though like 3 weeks ago. She had trips last year and I think the same this year.


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## Lil Boogie

I'm saying 3! @MellonFriend I bet two girls and one boy! Fingers crossed😍


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## FizzyGoats

Bella looks big and shiny and like she’s cooking up some beautiful babies in there. Not too much longer now.


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## MadHouse

How exciting! Good luck with both of them!


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## MellonFriend

So this past week I helped my dad renovate the inside of my barn. My barn was two 10x10 stalls with my goats living on the left side and my anatolians sleeping on the right side at night. The anatolians do not need all that space to sleep so we knock down part of the wall, cut out the supports inside, and built a divider so that the does could have half of the other stall to live in too. I'll be able to put a cattle panel across the new opening to divide it off as a kidding pen.

Here's the before
Does' side









Dog's side









Here's after.
Does' side









Dogs' side


















Look at that gate! We've never made something so good looking.









I'm over the moon with how well this project turned out! It only took us a little under a week to complete and cost under $150 dollars. We repurposed the boards we took off the divider wall to put up on the new wall. This is going to be so functional for me. I am so happy! 😍


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## Rancho Draco

First off, that looks beautiful! I love when a project looks nice.
More importantly, that will be really nice to have that extra space!


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Wow!! It looks amazing!! You and your dad did a fantastic job! I'm sure the extra space is SO nice!! 😍


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## MadHouse

Wow, beautiful job! I’m happy for you!


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## Jessica84

Gosh I won’t be letting my goats see those pictures lol I want them to think all goats have car ports lol looks great!!! Very nice and clean!


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## Goatastic43

Great job renovating the barn! I really hope she gives you three!


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## K.B.

Looks awesome


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## Lil Boogie

Looks great!!!! Y'all did an awesome job!!


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## MellonFriend

Thanks everyone! I really don't know how it worked out so well. We generally make some sort of critical error that makes us end up having to fudge something, but not this time! I don't need any Christmas presents now. I'm happy if all I get is this!


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## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Thanks everyone! I really don't know how it worked out so well. We generally make some sort of critical error that makes us end up having to fudge something, but not this time! I don't need any Christmas presents now. I'm happy if all I get is this!


Very happy for ya😁


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## ksalvagno

Really nice!


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## GoofyGoat

Looks amazing! Job Very well done, you should be proud of yourself.
The girls will be in goatee heaven come kidding time.


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## FizzyGoats

MellonFriend said:


> So this past week I helped my dad renovate the inside of my barn. My barn was two 10x10 stalls with my goats living on the left side and my anatolians sleeping on the right side at night. The anatolians do not need all that space to sleep so we knock down part of the wall, cut out the supports inside, and built a divider so that the does could have half of the other stall to live in too. I'll be able to put a cattle panel across the new opening to divide it off as a kidding pen.
> 
> Here's the before
> Does' side
> View attachment 217700
> 
> 
> Dog's side
> View attachment 217701
> 
> 
> Here's after.
> Does' side
> View attachment 217702
> 
> 
> Dogs' side
> View attachment 217703
> 
> 
> View attachment 217704
> 
> 
> Look at that gate! We've never made something so good looking.
> View attachment 217705
> 
> 
> I'm over the moon with how well this project turned out! It only took us a little under a week to complete and cost under $150 dollars. We repurposed the boards we took off the divider wall to put up on the new wall. This is going to be so functional for me. I am so happy!


Wow! That looks amazing. It looks professionally done. I am impressed. 



Jessica84 said:


> Gosh I won’t be letting my goats see those pictures lol I want them to think all goats have car ports lol looks great!!! Very nice and clean!


🤣 I feel the same way. My goats need to believe their pallet barn is a palace. I can’t have them seeing the fancy digs other goats have.


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## toth boer goats

That is awesome.


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## MellonFriend

Here's some big bellies for you!


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## FizzyGoats

How do they look so much bigger in videos than photos? Beautiful girls. They look almost ready to pop.


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## Lil Boogie

Aww! They lookin big!!!


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## Jubillee

Wow that is a beautiful space!! I love it, such a great job. My girls said they were jealous haha. 

Looking so good and getting so big! <3


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## Moers kiko boars

I love your new addition. Your barn is beautiful! I dont dare show my girls that, they will think they are slumming in my barn. Yours is really nice! Good job!


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Your girls sure do look a lot bigger in the video!! They also look AMAZING and full of adorable kids! 😘


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## Rancho Draco

They look quite a bit bigger in video! I'm going to join the, "I dare not show my goats that" train. You have such a beautiful barn.


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## Goatastic43

Pretty girls! How exciting! Can’t wait for kiddos!


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## MellonFriend

Aww thank you guys, I guess I feel like the barn probably looks better over the internet than it does in real life. Functionality is what counts and until very recently, it was a leetle small. I'd take functional over pretty any day, but mine now just happens to be both.😀


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## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Aww thank you guys, I guess I feel like the barn probably looks better over the internet than it does in real life. Functionality is what counts and until very recently, it was a leetle small. I'd take functional over pretty any day, but mine now just happens to be both.😀


Now im jealous lol..


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## MellonFriend

I'm sorry! 😂 I was actually trying to make everyone _not_ jealous. I guess I failed at that.🤪 I was going to say "I'm sure you guys have very functional barns", but I thought that might not come across right. 😝😅


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## Moers kiko boars

Oh mine is functional, just ugly. But I built from wooden pallets and free sheet metal. And some old barn tin. So mine is UGLY, but works just fine in crummy weather for birthing. Its actually hidden behind the hubby's huge bldg. Hmmmmn I gotta work on changeing that..lol 😂🤣


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## Jessica84

Mine just simply does the job lol it’s not pretty, it’s kinda a pain sometimes being so narrow but it keeps them dry and I can throw stalls up for kids. So I deal  
I was actually saving up for a mare motel I was going to enclose and turn into a awesome barn but, well, a new truck became a priority about 10 years earlier then I had planned lol


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## MellonFriend

At the end of the day functional is all that really matters!😃


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## toth boer goats

☝


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## K.B.

MellonFriend said:


> At the end of the day functional is all that really matters!


So true! Looks very nice I'm jealous ... can't wait to see the kids


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## MellonFriend

K.B. said:


> So true! Looks very nice I'm jealous ... can't wait to see the kids


And I'm jealous that you have babies to play with already! 😄 How's that little cutie, Onyx doing?


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## K.B.

She's is doing great almost as big as Ella who is 1 month older   she's got some legs on her! She jumps on Sapphire it's so cute


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## Rancho Draco

How are the girls doing?


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## MellonFriend

They are doing great! I was just thinking I needed to get some new pictures. Bella's looking huge and starting to be the first one to bed and last to get up. 😌 My small digital camera just died so I've got to get out the big camera to get some photos which is more of a hassle, but I won't let you down! I'll try to get some later. 😁


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## Rancho Draco

Yay! Bella just had two weeks left, right? I know she is getting really close.


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## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Yay! Bella just had two weeks left, right? I know she is getting really close.


Today is day 134 for her and last year she went on day 147 so yeah, probably just under two weeks. Those babies are getting on towards done! 😚


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## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Today is day 134 for her and last year she went on day 147 so yeah, probably just under two weeks. Those babies are getting on towards done! 😚


I'm so excited 😍


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## MellonFriend

Her udder is filling very nicely. It definitely looks fuller than it did last year. I'm sticking with my guess of three. She looks bigger than she did last year. Also you can see she's got a crooked tail going like I said on @brigieboo 's thread. She's been getting replamin every other week for the past two months so I switched it up and gave ger some sel gel plus a vitamin e capsule last Friday. Gonna probably start her on wheat germ oil in case it's a vitamin thing, but maybe it's just her ligs loosening up.






















Look how big that little Murphy is getting. They grow up so fast. 😢😄

Also Bella is totally developing a beard. It's only noticeable when she puffs up, but it's more obvious than it was last year. The beard is real, people.


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Ohhh, I'm sooo excited to see what and how many miss Bella has!! She's getting really close!! 😍😁🐐🐐🐐


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## MadHouse

Man, this is soo exciting!! Less than 2 weeks to kidding time, a beautiful big udder AND a beard!!! Go Bella!!


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## GoofyGoat

Almost there😁
Theyre looking great! Arwen is beautiful as ever too 🥰😉


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## Jubillee

Come on Bella, now be a good girl and go on the earlier side like you did before! We want to see who you are hiding! And little Murphy  so big!


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## Rancho Draco

Cuties! Brownie grows a small beard. I thought I had read somewhere that goats don't shed their beards but Brownie sheds hers when she grows in her winter coat.


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## Goatastic43

Oh her udder is looking good! Can’t wait for the kiddos! Murphy is so cute! Bella’s lil beard is adorable!


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## Jessica84

Oh man! The last month is such a hard wait and the last two weeks is almost unbearable on the wait!! So close! But just not yet! Lol everyone looks really good. I’m sure the last two weeks a long wait for them too


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## MellonFriend

Really this year for me the time is flying. It seems like I haven't had to wait long at all. I guess since last year the does kidded in March it feels like I'm getting babies two months early! 😅



Rancho Draco said:


> Cuties! Brownie grows a small beard. I thought I had read somewhere that goats don't shed their beards but Brownie sheds hers when she grows in her winter coat.


Bella seems like she has a more pronounced beard in the winter than in the summer too. Last year it wasn't this big though, so maybe as she gets older it will get fuller. I believe her mother had a beard so I'm hoping she'll develop one too.


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## Rancho Draco

Her beard grows back in over winter but for whatever reason she sheds it every fall. I'll have to take a picture of it. She grows just a whispy little thing. Its barely enough to call a beard


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## Goatastic43

Wait, don’t all does have beards? All our ours do. I always thought they all had beards. Snowflake’s beard is almost as long as her little legs!


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## Rancho Draco

😂 Brownie is my only goat with a beard. My buck barely even had a beard.


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## Goatastic43

Rancho Draco said:


> Brownie is my only goat with a beard. My buck barely even had a beard.


Huh, very interesting! I wonder if it has anything to do with them being part Nubian. I know Nubians normally have shorter fur than Nigerians.


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## Rancho Draco

I got a picture of Brownie's beard this morning. It will get a little bit longer but this is about as big as it gets.


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## MellonFriend

I love it! 🧔😄


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## toth boer goats




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## Moers kiko boars

Ok...this is different. Usually we are talking udders, girly parts, baby bunps...now we are on the other end with beards? We are ate up arent we?¿¿¿🤪😂🤣🥰🙃


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## Goatastic43

Here’s Snowflake’s beard!


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## Moers kiko boars

Thats a beautiful picture. Love the beard.


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## Rancho Draco

That is one impressive beard!


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## Dandy Hill Farm

I honestly just thought that it was normal for all goaties to have beards, guess not though!! Tilly and Sugar both have fairly long and thick beards (not as impressive as Snowflake's though) and I recently noticed that Lucy is getting a lil' beard too (she's 14 months)! It's barely there, but oh so cute! Dottie is still a bit too young for one, but I know she'll grow one soon!
Here's Sugar showing of her goatee! It's half black, half white, and I'm pretty sure Tilly bit off half of the black side before this picture was taken. After Tilly rudely bit off only half of Sugar's beard, it looked pretty ridiculous so I evened it up for her. 💇‍♀️ Don't worry Sug, I got your back. 😉😂


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## MellonFriend

Moers kiko boars said:


> Ok...this is different. Usually we are talking udders, girly parts, baby bunps...now we are on the other end with beards? We are ate up arent we?¿¿¿🤪😂🤣🥰🙃


This must be a rare symptom of the doe code. 🤪


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## FizzyGoats

I’m surprised the other goats don’t chew the beards off. Mine seem to enjoy giving my hair a good trim if they get the opportunity. 

I can’t wait to see the babies! It’s not long now.


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## toth boer goats




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## MellonFriend

I got my warming barrel all set up the other day. It's got two doors so does can't block the babies from getting out.🙂
We'll see if I end up using the light at all, it might not be very cold at all.


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## Cedarwinds Farm

Woo-hoo! You're getting so close. I can't wait to see your cute babies!


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## Lil Boogie

Betsy is getting a beard and she's not even a year old! Scarlett is 3 and just NOW getting a tiny beard!🤪


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## Jessica84

Good job on the barrel! Very nice! Even without the light it should keep them snuggly warm.


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## Jubillee

Goatastic43 said:


> Wait, don’t all does have beards? All our ours do. I always thought they all had beards. Snowflake’s beard is almost as long as her little legs!


Most of our Nubians do not. One doe has a little whisp. 2 of our mini does do and one doesnt. I assumed the other two do, due to the ND in them.


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

My Nubian bucks have all had beards so far, but the does do not.


----------



## MellonFriend

Prim was exactly one month to go on Tuesday, but I've been so busy that I only got around to taking her pictures today. I think her udder is starting to fill slightly.
























Bella's one week to go on Saturday to day 147 (the day she went on last year). She got her maternity hair cut today which I sorta botched.🥴 I should have had a guard on the clipper. At least her udder looks nice. She's starting to get very uncomfortable.









Murph is wondering why I keep taking pictures of her mom's butt.🤭


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Such lovely girls!!

I'm don't know if Bella's going to hold on to her hostages for another week....I have a feeling she'll go before then. I've also heard that does will usually deliver sooner with trips. 😏



MellonFriend said:


> Murph is wondering why I keep taking pictures of her mom's butt.🤭


Well Murphy, you see, ummm......._how do I say this_.....us goat people, are weird enough to be obsessed with taking pictures of your guys' rear ends, while pregnant, and then sharing them with all our "weird" goat friends. Guess what that means? One day, you'll be pregnant just like your momma and Mellon will be taking pictures of your back end...sorry, that's just how life as a goat is. 🙃


----------



## Rancho Draco

Looking good! I think I see filling there for Prim. They're both looking big! I have to get new pictures of Brownie. She really ballooned out a couple days ago. 

Oh Murphy... Some day we'll do the same to you! 😆


----------



## ksalvagno

Pretty girls! Good luck!


----------



## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> I'm don't know if Bella's going to hold on to her hostages for another week....I have a feeling she'll go before then. I've also heard that does will usually deliver sooner with trips. 😏


Oh boy, then I better get on with that soap I need to make before she kids! 😝



Rancho Draco said:


> Looking good! I think I see filling there for Prim. They're both looking big! I have to get new pictures of Brownie. She really ballooned out a couple days ago.


Yes! Need more pictures of Brownie! 😄

I'm really torn about how many I'm guessing for Prim. I was saying no more than two, but now I'm not so sure. 🤔 My family doesn't think she looks very big, but comparing last year's pictures with this year I think she looks bigger than last year. Maybe she's just more stretched out this year than she was last. My gut tells me she's only having two! 🤷‍♀️


----------



## MadHouse

They are both looking great!
Bella sure is big and her udder looks pretty full!
Can’t wait to see what they will have!!


----------



## Lil Boogie

What a beautiful hair cut, Bella!!!! Wonder what she's got hiding in there🤩🤩🤩🤩


----------



## MadHouse

Looking at both does’ pictures again, I think both Prim and Bella have triplets.


----------



## Moers kiko boars

@MadHouse I agree....those girls look Full.


----------



## HoosierShadow

I'm thinking triplets as well from the pics. They are both beautiful! I can't wait to see what they have! Great job on the barrel, I absolutely love using barrels with or without a light.


----------



## Goatastic43

Look at those cute lil baby bumps! I’ll guess twins for Prim and trips for Bella!


----------



## MellonFriend

Oh man triplets for both! ? That would be craaaayzeee! 😱🤯😆 At this point I'm just loosing my mind guessing, so I'm out! I have no clue. 🤪 I will not give in to the wiles of the doe code! Or maybe it's already got me...😳😄


----------



## Rancho Draco

Pretty sure it's all part of the doe code! I drive myself crazy all through labor wondering if there's any more in there until it's all finally over. I have to say I would not want myself as a midwife. I'm such a worrywart😆. My poor does. They're so good for putting up with me all the time.


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Pretty sure it's all part of the doe code! I drive myself crazy all through labor wondering if there's any more in there until it's all finally over. I have to say I would not want myself as a midwife. I'm such a worrywart😆. My poor does. They're so good for putting up with me all the time.


Oh my gosh I am such a worrywart too. The WHOLE time Bella was in labor last time, I was in silent terror. Once the kids were coming, it wasn't so bad, but the endless waiting for true labor to commence was torturous! "Is this normal" is the only thing I could think. I'm hopefull I'll be a bit better this year since I've now seen two births. 😅


----------



## MellonFriend

People, we are getting close. 😬 Bella's ligs a loosening up significantly, her udder is looking quite full, and don't even get me started on the size of her belly. 😱 She's acting quite uncomfortable when she lays down and she's reached her zenith of crankiness. Poor Prim keeps getting beat up for standing too close to her. It's like Bella blames Prim for the way she's feeling.🙄 We've got lots of cold weather coming up this week so it should be textbook doe code kidding weather. I think she'll wait a few more days, but I'm predicting kids by the end of the week!


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

Exciting!


----------



## GoofyGoat

Oh my, she’s looking like she’s warming up to pop soon 🤗🤗🤗😁😁😁🥰🥰
Shes really blossomed, yay...I’m excited for you!


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Oh poor heavily pregnant Bella!! She looks very uncomfortable, bless her heart. Hang in there for just a few more days, girl! 😘💕


----------



## K9Queen

Goodness gracious she looks ready to pop! Poor girl  she’s ready to be done being pregnant


----------



## Rancho Draco

Oooh exciting!! I just can't wait to see her kids! I have 5 weeks to go for my girls and it is going to be the slowest 5 weeks ever. I'm usually not this worked up over kids getting here but seeing everyone else's has both helped and hindered my patience.


----------



## MadHouse

Oh my dogs, Bella! You need to get on it, lady! Get those kids out, before your belly starts dragging the ground. 😂 
Good luck, hope all goes well!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

She has a WIDE LOAD! Bless her heart! Happy Kidding!!💝💕💝💕


----------



## Goatastic43

Poor girl! She’s huge! Can’t wait for air plane ears!!!️


----------



## Jubillee

Rancho Draco said:


> Oooh exciting!! I just can't wait to see her kids! I have 5 weeks to go for my girls and it is going to be the slowest 5 weeks ever. I'm usually not this worked up over kids getting here but seeing everyone else's has both helped and hindered my patience.


Yes, being on here does not help the patience LOL.


----------



## Jubillee

COme on Prim, pick the most beautiful calm day! Can't wait to see babies!


----------



## toth boer goats

Big and beautiful.


----------



## Lil Boogie

Owww babies, soon? Yes please!🤩


----------



## K9Queen

How are things? Is she looking any closer?


----------



## MellonFriend

K9Queen said:


> How are things? Is she looking any closer?


She's about the same. Udder's looking a bit fuller, but that's about it. I think we won't see babies today at least and my gut says not tomorrow either. 🙃 Thanks for checking in.😊


----------



## MellonFriend

Look at the forecast for Sunday. We've got snow predicted with accumulations of up to eight inches. She'll probably wait 'til then.🥶😒👎


----------



## GoofyGoat

MellonFriend said:


> Look at the forecast for Sunday. We've got snow predicted with accumulations of up to eight inches. She'll probably wait 'til then.🥶😒👎
> View attachment 219821


Doe code....yep, that’s when she’ll do it 😂😉


----------



## Rancho Draco

Sunday definitely looks like the day! 😆 I'll still cross my fingers for earlier though! 🤞


----------



## Lil Boogie

@MellonFriend looks like Sparrow ended up winning lol


----------



## MellonFriend

Yep! Sparrow gets first place 🏆. Hopefully that will make Bella jealous, and she'll get a move on! 😝


----------



## K9Queen

If it will be inconvenient weather I’m sure she’ll kid then  hopefully she goes before or waits till after.


----------



## Feira426

Wow, I’ve missed so much!! Sorry, I haven’t been on much recently - but it looks like I’m just in time for Bella and Prim’s 2022 kids! Yay! So exciting!


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> Wow, I’ve missed so much!! Sorry, I haven’t been on much recently - but it looks like I’m just in time for Bella and Prim’s 2022 kids! Yay! So exciting!


Great to have you back! Luckily you haven't missed any babies yet! 😊


----------



## K.B.

Babies soon! Hopefully


----------



## MellonFriend

Well it's starting to get to be check on her overnight time. Last night I went to check on her at 9:30 and I was suspicious that we were getting darn close, but then I went out a little later and she got up from where she was laying, and I could see her udder and feel her ligaments and I realized it was a false alarm. I still checked on her at 3:30am, but I probably didn't need to. 

Today is day 145 and now her ligaments are gone. Babies have dropped and she's looking posty. Her behavior is the same as it always was: cranky, demanding to be pet, and always hungry. I don't know guys. Tomorrow? Saturday? I'm thinking she's not going to make it to Sunday. I asked her, "What's the hold up?" And she replied, "What's the hurry?" 😏.

My mom saw her in the pasture this morning and said, "There's Bella, looking like a side of beef."😆





































I bet I'll be checking on her again overnight so I'm off to take a nap. 😴


----------



## Lil Boogie

Yay getting sooo close!!! Cat WAIT to see babies! Also, when is Prim due?


----------



## MadHouse

Woah, Bella! You have to be kidding!! 😆 
She must be so uncomfortable!!
All the best for her big day!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

Oh my goodnesz😱 triplets? She is Huge....please dont tell her I said that. I dont want her feelings hurt🤪 She definately looks close.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Getting close! If her ligs are gone, I don't think she'll hold out later than tomorrow night. Good luck and hopefully your nap is restful 😴 it sounds like you're going to need it!


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

Oh my! She's getting close!


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Gee, Bella, you're looking like you could have quads in there!! Hope all goes well! Can't wait to "meet" her hostages!

PS: Bella has pretty darn perfect front leg placement and a stellar brisket extension! 🤩 Am I a little too "nerdy" with goat conformation to notice such things when you're just sharing her maternity pictures......? 🤓🤔🤣


----------



## MellonFriend

Lil Boogie said:


> Yay getting sooo close!!! Cat WAIT to see babies! Also, when is Prim due?


Prim is due the fifth of February. Last year she waited til day 151 I believe, so she likes to cook them longer than Bella.



Rancho Draco said:


> Getting close! If her ligs are gone, I don't think she'll hold out later than tomorrow night. Good luck and hopefully your nap is restful 😴 it sounds like you're going to need it!


My nap was great, so I'm all set for an all nighter! 😋 



Dandy Hill Farm said:


> Gee, Bella, you're looking like you could have quads in there!! Hope all goes well! Can't wait to "meet" her hostages!
> 
> PS: Bella has pretty darn perfect front leg placement and a stellar brisket extension! 🤩 Am I a little too "nerdy" with goat conformation to notice such things when you're just sharing her maternity pictures......? 🤓🤔🤣


First you tell me she's got triplets and now you say quads?! If she's got four in there my mind will be BLOWN. 🤯

And thank you for noticing her wonderful brisket extension it is perty awesome. I think her front legs are pretty spiffy too. 🥰 I am a constant goat conformation critic too, so I totally get it. 😉


----------



## Lamancha Lady

They usually go with in 12 horse of the ligament being gone, so hopefully soon. Smooth sailing with the delivery, and good luck. Nice doe


----------



## K9Queen

How is Bella? Should be having babies soon! I think she has three in there… I’ll guess two does and a buck.


----------



## MellonFriend

I'll be checking again at 9:30, but nothing yet!


----------



## Goatastic43

Ou she looks so close! I’ll guess 3 and she’ll have them tomorrow! Don’t pull a doe code on us Bella!!


----------



## MellonFriend

I checked on her and still no changes. I will get up again overnight, but I think we won't see babies at least until tomorrow. I put her in the kidding stall so if she was waiting for that, she can now kid in luxury. 😚 

I'll update you guys around 10:30am-ish tomorrow if I'm not too busy delivering kids!


----------



## Rancho Draco

Well I guess I can wait another day 😉 Hopefully she will hold out overnight


----------



## Lilgoatgal

So exciting! Hope to see 2 or 3 cuties tomorrow! 
We still have 2 months to go. With these announcements it feels like for-e-v-e-r but the baby pictures will tide me over.


----------



## GoofyGoat

Ok little lady ....it’s 5am time to ramp up getting those hostages out. You don’t want them born tomorrow when it’s really cold and yuck! 
No being greedy and keeping them to yourself...it’s time to share! If you do, I’m sure your wonderful momma will bake you some seed cakes or scones for second breakfast 😉😀🤗


----------



## TripleShareNubians

She is huge. Hope you get some girls.


----------



## MellonFriend

Nothing yet you guys! She's still got them all to herself in there. She's acting normal this morning, still no changes.😒

We're gearing up for the largest snow storm we've seen in years. So... That's probably what she's waiting for. 🙄


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Please don't pull the code on us, Bella and have your kids during the snow storm!! Please, please, PLEASE don't! 😭🥶

Oh bother, what's the point of begging a pregnant doe to have her kids anyway? It's not like she has control over the situation either. Heck, she's probably thinking "Hurry up kids!! There's a huge snow storm coming and I don't want to have you then!" 😆


----------



## Rancho Draco

Well darn it. I want to see babies, Bella! Come on


----------



## Moers kiko boars

I waited till after 10:30....and no Bella wee ones?..She is keeping us all in anticipation! Im sure they will be worth the wait!💕💝


----------



## toth boer goats




----------



## MellonFriend

So, I don't know if I thought I felt no ligaments yesterday, and I just missed them or if they were gone and now are back, but I absolutely felt her ligs still a few hours ago. So that might have been an error on my part. 😐 I don't think we'll have any babies born today.

I just wanted to let you guys know that with high winds being forecast for Saturday evening through Monday along with the snow, we could be in for power outages, so if I go dark over those times, it could be that and not because babies are being born. I'm definitely not looking forward to kidding in a snowstorm let alone without power, so hopefully the power stays on! 🤞


----------



## Goatastic43

Awe man! Bella why?! Don’t make your momma stand out there in the snow with you!


----------



## GoofyGoat

MellonFriend said:


> So, I don't know if I thought I felt no ligaments yesterday, and I just missed them or if they were gone and now are back, but I absolutely felt her ligs still a few hours ago. So that might have been an error on my part. 😐 I don't think we'll have any babies born today.
> 
> I just wanted to let you guys know that with high winds being forecast for Saturday evening through Monday along with the snow, we could be in for power outages, so if I go dark over those times, it could be that and not because babies are being born. I'm definitely not looking forward to kidding in a snowstorm let alone without power, so hopefully the power stays on! 🤞


Oh dear 😱,
Belladonna time to get with the program! You don’t want kidcicles you want bouncy babies! Think of it, if the powers out ...no seed cakes, no scones, no hot molasses water....that sounds rather dreary!

You‘re a hobbit and that means comfort, you have a beautiful hobbit hole to have your kids in, not a nasty dirty hole filled with bits of worms and an oozy smell....(but) a nice dry hole and you have a room on the going in side....looking out over your shire....

Come on girl...you can do it!


----------



## Rancho Draco

Aw man that sucks. I've never kidded in a snowstorm without power but I've helped my uncle foal under the same conditions. Definitely not any fun whatsoever.


----------



## Moers kiko boars

Be safe! Be prepared! Your in my prayers!


----------



## K.B.

Bundle up and bring some hot drinks out! Good luck! I hope she holds off until after the snow for you!


----------



## TripleShareNubians

It sounds like you needed lute yesterday. Either that or she needs to let them cook the full days I don't know what size your breed is. If she goes 150 myshe'll get past the snow storm. Fingers crossed


----------



## double j

Praying for a safe delivery


----------



## Feira426

Oh goodness! How nerve wracking. Hope everything goes well!


----------



## MadHouse

Oh no! I hope the storm is not as bad as forecasted, and that all goes well with kidding!
I will be thinking of you!


----------



## Jessica84

Ugh I hope power stays on for you! And once the snow storm leaves you get some beautiful babies to share with us!


----------



## MellonFriend

No news for you guys after tonight's check. I checked on her late so I think I'm going to roll the dice and see if I can sleep through the night. My mom will be checking on her early in the morning and if she doesn't see anything, I'm going to take the opportunity to sleep in, so I won't be seeing you guys again until probably after 11:30 am. 

A little good news is that they are predicting the winds to not be as bad as they originally thought, but we are in the 6-12 inches of snow bracket now instead of the 4-8. Oh well, we'll get through this one way or another! 🥶


----------



## K.B.

MellonFriend said:


> No news for you guys after tonight's check. I checked on her late so I think I'm going to roll the dice and see if I can sleep through the night. My mom will be checking on her early in the morning and if she doesn't see anything, I'm going to take the opportunity to sleep in, so I won't be seeing you guys again until probably after 11:30 am.
> 
> A little good news is that they are predicting the winds to not be as bad as they originally thought, but we are in the 6-12 inches of snow bracket now instead of the 4-8. Oh well, we'll get through this one way or another!


Oh no  well hope its 6 vs 12 lol


----------



## Rancho Draco

I hope all is well this morning!


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> I hope all is well this morning!


Everything is good! Other than the fact that we still don't have any babies on the ground. 😤


----------



## Rancho Draco

Darn she really is holding out for the worst weather. Does she still have her ligaments?


----------



## Goatastic43

Bella!! Come on girl! @MellonFriend did you give her any extra shots this year to make her made at you?!


----------



## toth boer goats

She is sure holding onto them.


----------



## GoofyGoat

Bloody doe code 🤯😡🤬🤪


----------



## toth boer goats




----------



## Moers kiko boars

Cmon guys...Its cold outside...wouldnt you want to keep them all warm & inside? Sorry, I just want them safe in the nasty weather. 🙃


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Darn she really is holding out for the worst weather. Does she still have her ligaments?


I still felt her ligaments this afternoon. Her udder's looking fuller, but to be honest, I just don't think it's quite at the tight and shiny level. 



Goatastic43 said:


> Bella!! Come on girl! @MellonFriend did you give her any extra shots this year to make her made at you?!


😆 No actually she hasn't needed any injections beyond her CDT a month ago. I think last year being a first timer, she didn't know anything about the doe code. I was able to predict exactly when she was going to go, but then she must have seen Prim use the doe code to full effect and she now says to herself, "hey, I mustn't have done it right last time".😛


----------



## MellonFriend

Here's the culprit's udder a few hours ago. Looking pretty full...









And I got a video of her walking. I think this is about as fast as she goes right now.😋





In other news, Prim's udder bump is clearly visible now.


----------



## toth boer goats

Looking great.


----------



## Iluvlilly!

Just saw this thread and realized you only have a couple days left for Bella...how exciting!! They both look so healthy and cute Hope everything goes well! Can't wait to see the kid pics!


----------



## MellonFriend

Iluvlilly! said:


> Just saw this thread and realized you only have a couple days left for Bella...how exciting!! They both look so healthy and cute Hope everything goes well! Can't wait to see the kid pics!


Thanks @Iluvlilly!! 😘


----------



## Lilgoatgal

And I got a video of her walking. I think this is about as fast as she goes right now.😋





Oh, momma! I have felt like she looks... This heavy walk sure looks more like 3 than 2.


----------



## MadHouse

Poor Bella. She looks huge and uncomfortable! I hope she kids soon!


----------



## Rancho Draco

Poor girl. I bet she is right here with us, wanting those babies out! 

She looks pretty full but not very loose in her vulva. I take it her ligs are still hard tonight?


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> She looks pretty full but not very loose in her vulva. I take it her ligs are still hard tonight?


Yep, ligs are still hard. It's like they've moved a bit lower down, but they are still pencil-like. Her vulva doesn't really change all that much until right before she kids. If you want to see a comparison from last year #175 is from 12 hours before she kidded. MellonFriend's First Ever Kidding Thread 2021


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Oh, bless her heart!! She can hardly walk! 💕 Her tail looks more bent to the side - getting closer!


----------



## Goatastic43

Poor baby! I bet she wants them out more than us! ️


----------



## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> Yep, ligs are still hard. It's like they've moved a bit lower down, but they are still pencil-like. Her vulva doesn't really change all that much until right before she kids. If you want to see a comparison from last year #175 is from 12 hours before she kidded. MellonFriend's First Ever Kidding Thread 2021


Well at least they're doing something! 

Thanks for the link! It was fun to go look at last year.


----------



## Rancho Draco

How is our mama doing this morning?


----------



## GoofyGoat

Well? ...

🐐🐐🐐🐐


----------



## Feira426

Just watched the video - wow, she’s just enormous! Gotta be at least three kids in there, right?


----------



## MellonFriend

Nothing. 😕 No changes. Ligs still there, udder looking fuller.

The "snowstorm" isn't turning out to be anywhere near as bad as it was supposed to be. We got about four inches of snow overnight and right now the temperatures have risen enough that it's raining now. I wish it was still snowing. This snow/rain combo is making it super gross outside. 😖 Wet snowballs are raining from the trees with no regard for if they land on you or not and the ground is a yucky gushy mess. The temps are supposed to go down again throughout the day so it should be snow again sometime.

Here's a picture from earlier this morning before it started melting.


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> Gotta be at least three kids in there, right?


Yep, where thinking at least three. Hopefully we'll find out soon! 😢


----------



## toth boer goats

So big, poor girl.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Oh Bella.. going all the way to the due date, are you? 

Of course she'll go as long as possible now that she has all of us waiting on pins and needles. Watch her go 5 days over 🙄


----------



## double j

I have one due on the 19th and think she's going to go all the way if not over. What's up with these girls? Come on Bella release the hostages already!


----------



## toth boer goats

👍😊


----------



## MellonFriend

Well I think Bella's right ligament is gone. Not really sure what that means at this point, but I figured I'd tell you guys. That's the lame update I have for you. One missing ligament. 😐😑


----------



## Jubillee

Aww come on Bella, it's time!! 

I'm glad the storm wasn't as bad as predicted, that's always a relief...but yuck...wet snow.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Fine. Whatever. I don't want to see her kids anyways.


(🤫 I'm super excited to see babies. Don't tell Bella or she'll just keep them in there)


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Fine. Whatever. I don't want to see her kids anyways.
> 
> 
> (🤫 I'm super excited to see babies. Don't tell Bella or she'll just keep them in there)


🤣🤣🤣


----------



## GoofyGoat

Good grief...still nothing...she’s not preggo she just swallowed beach balls to psych us out 😤

LOL 🤣😛😝


----------



## Feira426

How’s she doing this morning, MellonFriend?


----------



## MellonFriend

I think we might have some progress. 🤞😬 Her left ligament is getting harder to find and more malleable. And boy her udder is looking full now to me. I touched it and it seems pretty tight. I don't know if this is my imagination, but I think she might be starting to act different. She's still pushing for attention and yelling at me when I leave, but I don't think she's as interested in hay as she normally is, and she was doing some pawing at the ground. She's also on a _very_ short fuse with Prim. Unfortunately, I can't get any pictures right now because it's 25* out and my camera is only useable at 35*. Maybe it will warm up enough later.

I figured out a system to let my family know how soon I think she is, since saying she's "close" is sort of variable. So I came up with using the DEFCON system like the military uses to say how close to nuclear war we are. 😄

Defcon 5: The doe is pregnant
Defcon 4: We are withing a month of the due date
Defcon 3: Within a week of the due date and starting to look suspicious
Defcon 2: You're pretty sure she's going to kid in the next 24-48 hours
Defcon 1: Active labor

So today I have officially raised Bella's situation to Defcon 2. 😁


----------



## Rancho Draco

Ooh I like that. I might have to steal it if you don't mind.

See! All she needs to know is that we don't want to see her babies anymore. Bam! No ligs


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Ooh I like that. I might have to steal it if you don't mind.


 Absolutely! Go ahead and use it! 😉


----------



## Goatastic43

Yay! So exciting! 

Me and my sister did “codes” when Buttercup had her first kids.  We used Walky-talkys. Code blue was she was fine,code green was getting close, and code red is GET OVER HERE NOOOOOOWWWW!! 🤣 I think we ended up just saying what was happening instead of the codes, because we were so excited we forgot what they meant


----------



## GoofyGoat

Love it!
I can honestly say this will be the only time I have ever wanted a DEFCON 1 alert! 😉😃
Go Bella!


----------



## toth boer goats




----------



## Jubillee

Come on Bella!!!


----------



## double j

Oh Bella....drop them babies!


----------



## Feira426

Are we DEFCON 1 yet??


----------



## Jubillee

Waiting waiting waiting....Bella where's our babies??


----------



## Lil Boogie

Well Sparrow kidded and had only lost one lig.... I'm just saying Bella, you don't have to wait for the other one to leave lol


----------



## MellonFriend

DEFCON 1 has come and gone! We have *babies*!!!!!! 😆😍🥳 _FOUR_ to be exact! It's a crazy story. I went out at 5:00pm to give the does their grain and Bella didn't come out of the barn like she usually does, she was just standing in the middle of the stall. So I go, okay, well this must be the start of prelabor. I look at her rear end and I see what I thought was the mucus plug. Just a tiny little bit of white discharge on her vulva. So I put her in the kidding stall, give her her grain and leave to go get some snow pants on because it was 26* and windy. I go in the house for all of two minutes, come back out, get close to the barn and I hear this weird squeaking noise. For a minute I think it's my snow pants swishing together, but then I look on Bella and there are TWO kids out on the floor! She hadn't even finished her grain! I dash back in the house, alert my family, and get my kidding kit.

The first two out are boys. One looks like his daddy, except with tan legs instead of white, and the second is completely black with a white star on his poll. We had about twenty minutes before Bella went down and started pushing again. Good thing I was here for this one because I first saw a back leg coming out. Only one. I went searching just inside and found another hoof, but it was a front hoof. Oh boy. Two kids trying to come out at once. I gloved up, lubed up and push the one kid back in. It took no effort and the kid who was presenting correctly came flying out. It was a girl! I thought man! I accurately predicted that Bella would have two boys first and then a girl! Last kid I knew I had to get out of there since it was backwards so I went in, found the other leg and pulled. He was out within second.

I lament the fact that I can't get you all pictures until tomorrow! It's 26* and I can't take my camera out until it is 32*. I apologize incredibly! If it doesn't get warm fast enough tomorrow, I'll smuggle them in to take the pictures. The last two kids look exactly like their daddy, but the boy has a white spot on the center of his tail.

Bella is doing amazing. She passed the placenta and is nursing all of them. She is very attentive and being a perfect mother.

The only question I have is the black boy is knuckling over on his back feet. So he's trying to walk on his ankles instead of his hooves. I gave him a dab of selenium paste and a vitamin e capsule in case it is that, but if anyone has any other experience let me know.


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

Awe! Congratulations! So glad all was well. Good job on the assist! If the knuckled over baby is able to get around well enough to nurse, I wouldn't worry about him until tomorrow. It will take a while for the selenium to kick in


----------



## toth boer goats

Congrats.


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## MadHouse

Wow, 4!!! Congratulations!!! How exciting and so fast!
Fantastic job, both of you, Bella and you!!!
I can’t wait to see the pictures. 💜 ♥ ❤ 💛


----------



## Jubillee

Congrats!!!! What an awesome story! Bella you did amazing!!


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## K.B.

Awesome can't wait for pics! So glad you caught it happening! Waiting is over! Yayayyyyyy


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## Lilgoatgal

Huge congratulations!! It sounds like an eventful delivery and you did everything right! I would have been a nervous wreck... We have enjoyed the waiting game over here. Looking forward to pictures of the big family! 
I've not had knuckled kids but seems selenium & wait a day or two is what usually gets thrown out there.


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## double j

Congratulations!


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## Lil Boogie

Omg congrats!!!!!!!


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## iron.mountain.creek.farm

4! Hooray! 😍😍


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Congratulations!! 🥳

Wow! She really did have four in there....guess I was right even though I was mostly joking!! 😅 You did an amazing job assisting and it sounds like Bella is being an amazing mother. So glad all went well. I hope that one buckling will be completely normal in the morning! Enjoy all those babies and give them lots of snuggles for me! I think Bella deserves a treat and extra attention too! Looking forward to seeing pictures!! Congrats again! 🥰💕

P.S. Since Bella had four, I'm now thinking Prim will have triplets! 😀


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## Goatastic43

Yay! That’s so awesome! 4!! That’s crazy! Glad she had a relatively easy labor and all is well! Congrats and looking forward to pictures!


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## Feira426

I knew it! My spider senses were tingling - I was positive either Bella or Ladybug had kidded. Wow! Four kids!! That’s amazing. I’m so excited to see their pictures tomorrow! Bet Bella will make a load of milk this year with so many kiddos! Congrats, and great job on the assist too. I doubt that’s ever anything but scary, having to get a stuck kid unstuck - but it sounds like you handled it perfectly! You should be so proud. You’re doing such a fantastic job with your herd.


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## Rancho Draco

Oh my gosh I can't believe I missed it! Congratulations! I have had kids be a little funky on their feet right away but they cleared up within 24 hours.


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## Moers kiko boars

Oh CONGRATS! 💝GREAT JOB! Im really looking forward to the pictures! They all sound adorable!❤ Im thrilled you were their, and all are doing great! 🤩


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## GoofyGoat

Way to go girls! @MellonFriend you did great, acting exactly right to get the tangled kids out! Great job!
Miss Bella you deserve both seed cakes AND scones for your hard work and for being a great momma.
Congratulations both of you on a job well done. I can’t wait to see pictures but I hope it warms up for y’all so everyone can be warm and content in your hobbit hole 🤗😉😁


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## K9Queen

Congratulations!!! That’s so amazing  I can’t believe she had four in there!!! So neat, great job Bella and great job delivering tangled kids. That can be a tough job but it sounds like you did great.


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## alwaystj9

Congratulations and a little extra for untangling #3 and #4!
Here's
hoping for 32 degrees so you can take pictures!


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## BarnOwl

Oh wow!!! Four kids! That's amazing. You and she did great. Can't wait to see pictures!


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## Jessica84

Great job! Can’t wait to see them!!!


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## MellonFriend

Thank you all for your tremendous support! Here's your payment for being such and awesome group of goat people!

They all have names already!
Introducing, Swan:
















Zebulun: His feet are much better this morning!








Carlisle: 








Swan again:








Joseph: 








Zebulun on the left, Joseph on the top, Carlisle on the far right, and Swan in the middle.









I'll be sure to add them to the tally!


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## Rancho Draco

My goodness good luck telling those three apart! Poor Zebulun didn't get to join the identical game. They are absolutely darling. How is our sweet mama doing today?


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## GoofyGoat

Aw, they were worth the wait! They’re gorgeous 😁🥰🤗


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Awwww, they are darling!! 🥰

Poor Zebulun, he doesn't have any swiss markings like all his siblings do!

Edit: Guess me @Rancho Draco and me had very similar thoughts! Haha.


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## Moers kiko boars

They are STUNNING! So big & healthy! Congrats!💝❤🤗


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## K.B.

Beautiful  omg congratulations


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## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> My goodness good luck telling those three apart! Poor Zebulun didn't get to join the identical game. They are absolutely darling. How is our sweet mama doing today?


I actually can already easily tell them apart. 😄 Joseph has more rust colored legs, and Carlisle has a white spot in the middle of his tail. Swan's markings are also extremely white where they others are more cream.

Bella is doing outstanding. You'd never know that she just delivered four kids from her behavior. She's been asking to get out of the kidding stall, so I'll probably let her out for a little later and babysit the kids. Murphy has been a bit lonely without her even though she can see her through the fence, so it will be good for Murph to have a visit from her mom.


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## Chanceosunshine

What striking markings they have! Congratulations!


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## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> I actually can already easily tell them apart. 😄 Joseph has more rust colored legs, and Carlisle has a white spot in the middle of his tail. Swan's markings are also extremely white where they others are more cream.
> 
> Bella is doing outstanding. You'd never know that she just delivered four kids from her behavior. She's been asking to get out of the kidding stall, so I'll probably let her out for a little later and babysit the kids. Murphy has been a bit lonely without her even though she can see her through the fence, so it will be good for Murph to have a visit from her mom.


That's great! Hopefully she will be able to nurse them all. As I have looked through breeder websites it seems to be not all that uncommon for it to be noted that a doe nursed quads easily.


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## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> That's great! Hopefully she will be able to nurse them all. As I have looked through breeder websites it seems to be not all that uncommon for it to be noted that a doe nursed quads easily.


I'm going to try to see if any will take a bottle in addition, but so far so good. Everyone's getting a full tummy and she's still got some in there when they are done.


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## Goatastic43

Aww their so adorable!!!


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## BarnOwl

They are so cute! 💗


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## Feira426

So cute!!! I love Zebulun with his little white dot lol


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## Lilgoatgal

So sweet  We love them!


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## Moers kiko boars

They are STUNNING! So big & healthy! Congrats!💝❤🤗


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## MadHouse

Awwww!!! What a cute pile of wiggly cuties!!!!
I love their markings!
You will be a busy snuggler!


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## Jubillee

Oh they are gorgeous!! Awww how exciting!


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## Lil Boogie

Ha! They look like their daddy LOL. Congrats on the 4 babies!


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## Cedarwinds Farm

So cute! They have the sweetest little faces. I love the Swiss marked kids.


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## Dandy Hill Farm

How's Bella and all her little darlings doing? 😊

Only two weeks until Prim's due date!! 🤩


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## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> Only two weeks until Prim's due date!! 🤩


Oh my gosh, You're right! 🤯 I'll have to get some updated photos tomorrow.

Bella and the kids are doing great. They've all gained at least a pound and a quarter (Carlisle's gained a pound and a half) since they were born, so everyone is growing and getting enough food so far. I have had zero luck getting any to take a bottle. I was hoping to do that in case it Bella can't quite keep up with them going forward. But so far that hasn't been necessary. 🤞

I don't know if you saw the thread about Swan's leg, but is also completely straightened out today, which is amazing!

Here's some pictures from yesterday. Sorry they aren't better, we were distracted by Swan's issue.
















This game was immediately put to a stop. 😜









We had them all out in the pasture today with Murphy there too. She did pretty well, but Bella was seemed a little protective and she ended up butting Murphy when she got near the babies. I think it made Murphy a little more inclined to butt them away since it got her in trouble any time she was near them.😕 The kids had a great time though, it seems like they only wanted to travel via hopping when they are in a new space. 😋


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## MadHouse

Aww!! So glad to hear Swan’s leg straightened out!!
They are all soooo cute!! 🥰


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## Lil Boogie

How adorable!


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## Lil Boogie

Now, Prim can't go giving us 3 boys...... We nEeD GiRlS


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Thanks for the update and pictures! Very glad to hear everyone is doing well and that Swan's leg straightened out! Looking forward to seeing pictures of Prim tomorrow! 💕

It feels kinda wrong to ask this now as the kids are sooo young and cute, but do you plan to keep any of Bella's bucklings for butchering in the fall?


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## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> It feels kinda wrong to ask this now as the kids are sooo young and cute, but do you plan to keep any of Bella's bucklings for butchering in the fall?


Nah, that's okay.😉 I have all my plans worked out already. We will be keeping Zebulun and Joseph. I've decided to name all my meat boys biblical names. We'll be selling Carlisle and Swan (both Twilight names to go with their daddy since they look just like him). And likely we will sell all of Prim's kids too. 🙂


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## Rancho Draco

They are just the cutest little things. ❤ Glad to hear Swan's leg is straight. Do you register the kids that you sell?


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## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> They are just the cutest little things. ❤ Glad to hear Swan's leg is straight. Do you register the kids that you sell?


I register does, but not wethers. I don't really see the need to. I also do not plan on selling any intact bucklings at this time, but if I did, I would register them.


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## Cedarwinds Farm

Oh, they're darlings! Glad Swan's leg straightened out!


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## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> I register does, but not wethers. I don't really see the need to. I also do not plan on selling any intact bucklings at this time, but if I did, I would register them.


I've never seen wethers registered in my area. I'm not sure if chevon shows are big closer to you or not. That's the only reason I would see to register them.


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## FizzyGoats

I was out of touch for a bit and I missed all the action. I just spent twenty minutes reading this thread and gawking at the gorgeous new babies. I can’t believe she had four. Belated congratulations! I wonder how many Prim will have. You’re going to be swimming in adorable babies.


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## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> I've never seen wethers registered in my area. I'm not sure if chevon shows are big closer to you or not. That's the only reason I would see to register them.


I don't think we have a huge goat showing presence in my area, but if someone wanted them registered, I would happily do it for them. 🙂 I don't think the KGBA charges much for wether registration.



FizzyGoats said:


> I was out of touch for a bit and I missed all the action. I just spent twenty minutes reading this thread and gawking at the gorgeous new babies. I can’t believe she had four. Belated congratulations! I wonder how many Prim will have. You’re going to be swimming in adorable babies.


I was wondering when you'd pop back in, I missed you! Thanks for all the gawking. 😚 Honestly, I hope Prim's only got three in there. If she has four, I will have gone from having five goats to _thirteen_ in a matter of three weeks! 😱 That's goat math for you.


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## Feira426

They’re soo stinking cute!!!


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## Goatastic43

They’re adorable!


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## Lamancha Lady

Cute babies. Congrats


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## K9Queen

They’re so cute!!!


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Do you know if the buckling you sold last year went as a pet or for meat? Just curious. 😊

Oh, and how many placentas did Bella have? I remember you started an interesting thread about placentas and how some does will only have one placenta while others will have one for each kid. (Sorry for the random questions!)


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## Jubillee

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> Do you know if the buckling you sold last year went as a pet or for meat? Just curious. 😊
> 
> Oh, and how many placentas did Bella have? I remember you started an interesting thread about placentas and how some does will only have one placenta while others will have one for each kid. (Sorry for the random questions!)


Oh yea, when I cleaned up Bug's I was thinking of that thread!! I cleaned up 2 actual placentas in her pen. One was large so maybe it was 2?? In the past I always would clean up 1 even with multiples.


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## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> Do you know if the buckling you sold last year went as a pet or for meat? Just curious. 😊
> 
> Oh, and how many placentas did Bella have? I remember you started an interesting thread about placentas and how some does will only have one placenta while others will have one for each kid. (Sorry for the random questions!)


Last year's wether went as a pet. He went with his sister to a retired couple to clear brush and be spoiled. 🥰

I think Bella had two placentas, but it honestly was really hard to tell. I think I experienced the same thing as @Jubillee. There were two different sections, but the one was so huge that I wasn't sure what to count. 😅


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## MellonFriend

I was about to get pictures of Prim and my camera battery died.🤦‍♀️ I'll have to try and get some tomorrow. 

I had the kids out in the pasture again today and Murphy was being very nasty to them. I hope this isn't an ongoing problem. She was butting them very harshly and for some reason today, Bella wasn't stopping her. 😕 Anyone have any tips for how to handle yearling does being aggressive to babies?


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## toth boer goats

Adorable.


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## FizzyGoats

MellonFriend said:


> I was about to get pictures of Prim and my camera battery died.🤦‍♀️ I'll have to try and get some tomorrow.
> 
> I had the kids out in the pasture again today and Murphy was being very nasty to them. I hope this isn't an ongoing problem. She was butting them very harshly and for some reason today, Bella wasn't stopping her.  Anyone have any tips for how to handle yearling does being aggressive to babies?


I’m sorry. I hope you get some good advice. This is one of my concerns when my girls kid. I’m worried they’ll be mean to each other’s babies. Out of curiosity, what is the pecking order of your doe herd?


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## Goatastic43

MellonFriend said:


> I was about to get pictures of Prim and my camera battery died.🤦‍♀️ I'll have to try and get some tomorrow.
> 
> I had the kids out in the pasture again today and Murphy was being very nasty to them. I hope this isn't an ongoing problem. She was butting them very harshly and for some reason today, Bella wasn't stopping her.  Anyone have any tips for how to handle yearling does being aggressive to babies?


Awe that’s a bummer.  Unfortunately our girls do that too. Not sure why. We usually have to separate them (mom and babies from other goats) for the first few weeks until the babies get bigger and quicker. Despite my best efforts they still hate the babies for no reason.


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## Goatastic43

.


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## Cedarwinds Farm

You could try creating a creep area where the babies can go to be safe, and Murphy cannot bother them.


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## MellonFriend

Murphy is the lowest in the pecking order right now. I'm sure she'll be higher than Prim once she gets big enough, but that's probably why Murphy is fighting so hard. She doesn't want to be lower than all these kids. I've been separating Bella and her kids out when I can't supervise them, but I do need them to be integrated by the time Prim kids because I'll need the stall they are in. 



Goatastic43 said:


> Unfortunately our girls do that too.


Well at least I know it's normal for it to happen. I was hopeful she wouldn't mind them so much, because she seemed really cordial when interacting through the fence. 



Cedarwinds Farm said:


> You could try creating a creep area where the babies can go to be safe, and Murphy cannot bother them.


I could do that, but I still worry about the babies getting hurt when they are out around her. And the only place I can do that is my kidding stall and I will need that stall once Prim kids, but maybe after that I'll set that up as a creep.


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## GoofyGoat

This happens every kidding season around here. I think the thing that helps best for the little ones is having a dog house or even a crate that bigger goats can’t fit in. I’ve used blue barrels on their sides too (stabilized so they won’t roll) just a hidey-hole they can duck into if they need to. Sooner or later everyone gets used to each other and peace is once again established.


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## toth boer goats

A creep feeder is a good place for the wee ones to get away.

When new babies are introduced to the teens and others, I watch and have a whip or squirt gun or bottle and let them have it when they try to hit the babies.

The teens don’t realize they are part of the herd and think of them as intruders unfortunately.

Some mamas are very protective, while lower pecking order does, will stand back.

When the bullies finally get use to the wee ones being around, things settle down.


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## MellonFriend

GoofyGoat said:


> This happens every kidding season around here. I think the thing that helps best for the little ones is having a dog house or even a crate that bigger goats can’t fit in. I’ve used blue barrels on their sides too (stabilized so they won’t roll) just a hidey-hole they can duck into if they need to. Sooner or later everyone gets used to each other and peace is once again established.


That's good to hear that your herd does it too. The babies have a barrel that they go in to sleep when they are done partying. I also have a platform that they can get under to be safe.



toth boer goats said:


> When new babies are introduced to the teens and others, I watch and have a whip or squirt gun or bottle and let them have it when they try to hit the babies.


Thanks, Toth. I'll see if a squirt bottle helps.


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## MellonFriend

The squirt bottle helped a lot! Every time she got too rough, she got squirted. She got the message really fast. The kids are learning to stay out of her way better too. I'm sure it will all work out soon, I guess I was just hoping since Murphy is my favorite, that maybe she'd be different. Isn't that silly!? 😅

Here are those pictures of Prim I promised you. Although I guess it is after midnight, so it technically I am a day late...























My mom doesn't think she looks bigger than last year. She thinks she's only got two in there. I don't know myself, but I think she's probably got three. Definitely not four.

Look how good Bella looks already! That figure is almost back already! I can't believe the recovery she's had.


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## alwaystj9

love your haybags!


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## MadHouse

That’s great that the squirt bottle worked with Murphy. Yay!
Prim is looking good!!! It’ll be exciting to see what she has got.
Bella looks great too!


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## MellonFriend

alwaystj9 said:


> love your haybags!


Oh thank you! They work really great for me.


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## Jubillee

Wow Bella is looking fantastic! Prim I can't tell, I think two then think, well, maybe she could hide 3 in there LOL. How many more days?

Glad the water bottle is working out!


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## alwaystj9

I love your 4-legged haybags, too! They are looking slick.


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## Jubillee

How do you open/close the tops of the bags? And how long do they typically last for you before you have to changes them out?


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## MellonFriend

Jubillee said:


> Wow Bella is looking fantastic! Prim I can't tell, I think two then think, well, maybe she could hide 3 in there LOL. How many more days?
> 
> Glad the water bottle is working out!


She has only 12 days to go.



Jubillee said:


> How do you open/close the tops of the bags? And how long do they typically last for you before you have to changes them out?


They are a drawstring. I just cut holes in the bag and weave hay string in and out of them. The weight of the bag on the string always keeps the bag closed. And they generally last... oh about six-eight months. Depending on how crappy I let them get. 🙄 I think part of the key to their safety is that I attach it to the fence or wherever using a ring made of electric fence wire that is just looped back on itself so that if someone got stuck in the bag it would break free from where I was hanging it. I don't have a picture of this, but if you were interested, I could get you one. I've been using them for almost a year and haven't had any issues with goats getting caught in them, but my goats don't have a propensity to get themselves into trouble with things like this.
.
Here's an old picture of one of my first designs. I later changed it to nine holes or even twelve.


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## Jubillee

I think I want to do something like this for my smaller pens, kidding pens, and when we go to the show in May. I like it because if it gets messed up, didn't cost me a thing cause I always have feedbags and hay string LOL. Do you have holes on both sides?


----------



## MellonFriend

Jubillee said:


> I think I want to do something like this for my smaller pens, kidding pens, and when we go to the show in May. I like it because if it gets messed up, didn't cost me a thing cause I always have feedbags and hay string LOL. Do you have holes on both sides?


Some of them do and some don't it, depends on the situation. My main design I don't have holes in the back because I think it gives the bag a little more integrity, but for the bag I have hanging on the fence in between my kidding stall and the main stall that one has holes on both sides because Murphy was trying to eat the hay with her mom and messing up the chicken wire on the bottom of the fence.


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Bella looks fantastic!! 🤩 I'm guessing triplets for Prim - two doelings, one buckling (she needs to make up for the girls Bella didn't give you 😋). Can't wait to see Prim's kids! 😀

I also have a feedbag haybag (lol)! I really like it - super, duper cheap and very useful. I have a "big" hay feeder in the goat barn, but needed another hay feeder on the other side because of how big of a brat Tilly is. 🙄


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## FizzyGoats

I may have to try out the hay bag. That’s a great idea. 

I’m so glad the spray bottle worked as the “peace maker.” Prim is looking like she’s ready to be done with pregnancy now. Poor girl. And Bella looks amazing! She bounced right back.


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## Feira426

I have a similar hay bag, but your design seems to be more refined - maybe you should make a tutorial and throw it on YouTube! Though if you do you should probably include a warning or two so people don’t blame you if their goats get themselves stuck.


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## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> I have a "big" hay feeder in the goat barn, but needed another hay feeder on the other side because of how big of a brat Tilly is. 🙄


That's exactly why I "invented" mine. Last year once Bella got pregnant, she no longer was okay with Prim eating next to her. I really like that I can put them outside to encourage them to get outside, but I can also bring them in when it starts raining. 



Feira426 said:


> maybe you should make a tutorial and throw it on YouTube! Though if you do you should probably include a warning or two so people don’t blame you if their goats get themselves stuck.


That's not a bad idea, but I've never done any sort of real video editing, I'd probably be like "Um, first um you do this and uh then um..." 😋. I could maybe put together a picture based instructional though. 🤔


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## Feira426

If you have basic editing software you wouldn’t even need to talk if you didn’t want to - you could just cut some clips together and overlay the instructions in text. If you wanted! I’ve seen several tutorials like this for various things. I think a lot of people are nervous to talk on camera lol


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## Feira426

A photo tutorial is a great idea too! You could just post it up here on TGS. I for one would love to see exactly how you do it. I need to make one or two more and would love to make some improvements over my initial design.


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## MellonFriend

Alright I'll try to get a photo tutorial together. I've been wanting to make an extra anyway. 🙂


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## Feira426

Wahoo!


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## Goatastic43

Success! You inspired me @MellonFriend. Dottie has needed a new feeder for a while now and I’ve put it of…. But seeing you idea I thought I’d give it a go! It worked! I think the holes are to big, but I’ve got plenty of bags to try on. She loves it btw


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## MellonFriend

That looks awesome @Goatastic43! 😃 I think you'll find smaller holes will cause less waste and might be a little safer so heads can't get stuck. 😉


----------



## double j

Feira426 said:


> I have a similar hay bag, but your design seems to be more refined - maybe you should make a tutorial and throw it on YouTube! Though if you do you should probably include a warning or two so people don’t blame you if their goats get themselves stuck.


I have seen a tutorial on YouTube, that's where I got my bag idea from. The one on YouTube is just one hole in the front of the bag. Putting more holes in the bag is a great idea tho. They work great with my girls, but my boys use them as a punching bag lol


----------



## HoosierShadow

The girls look great! I love the hay feeder idea too! I wish we could use something like that with our Boer does, but they are so destructive and hard on everything. We have one that would probably eat the bag before she eats the hay because she is a complete weirdo lol.


----------



## toth boer goats




----------



## Feira426

HoosierShadow said:


> The girls look great! I love the hay feeder idea too! I wish we could use something like that with our Boer does, but they are so destructive and hard on everything. We have one that would probably eat the bag before she eats the hay because she is a complete weirdo lol.


Hahaha! That sounds like a fun goat to have lol


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## Feira426

MellonFriend, we need more pics of the little ones to tide us over until Prim kids. 😆


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> MellonFriend, we need more pics of the little ones to tide us over until Prim kids. 😆


You are so right! I will get right on that! (Tomorrow) 🤫


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## MellonFriend

Here you go! I got some video too, but I'll have to upload those later. 😚


----------



## MellonFriend




----------



## KY Goat Girl

They are all just too cute!  I’m super jealous. I’m so close to breeding my Nigerian doe right now but that would mess up my future breeding plans. I have to wait another 8 months to breed.


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## FizzyGoats

They are too stinking adorable. They look happy and healthy too. And those ears! I can’t get enough.


----------



## MadHouse

Soo cute! Those ears!!! 
They look like they are having a great time!


----------



## Rancho Draco

They are just too cute! I can't wait for no snow and babies on the ground!

How is Prim doing?


----------



## Moers kiko boars

They are gorgeous! So glad Prim takes such good care of them. 💞💝💖💗


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Oh my goodness!! They are so adorable! I honestly don't think baby goats could be any cuter. I'm really, really looking forward to having baby goats running and jumping around my farm again......"only" thee more months. 🙃 I guess seeing your cuties will be enough to hold me over until then though. 😘 

Yes, how's miss Prim doing?


----------



## MellonFriend

Thanks everyone! They sure give 100% of your daily intake of cuteness. 🥰 



Rancho Draco said:


> How is Prim doing?


Prim is doing well, she's very uncomfortable when laying down, but other than that, she's doing great. 🙂


----------



## KY Goat Girl

I can’t remember, when is she due again?


----------



## MellonFriend

KY Goat Girl said:


> I can’t remember, when is she due again?


5th of February so only a little more than a week until she's due! I better start getting as much sleep as possible.😴


----------



## KY Goat Girl

Oooo! I can’t wait to see more baby pics!


----------



## Feira426

They’re all so cute!!! So... if you WERE going to pick one to keep, which one would it be? (I know you’re not keeping any of these, but I’m just curious if you have a favorite, lol)

Remind me, are these your new buck’s kids? How do you like their conformation compared to last year’s kids?


----------



## Goatastic43

Look at the little dolls! They’re so stinkin’ CUTE!!


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> They’re all so cute!!! So... if you WERE going to pick one to keep, which one would it be? (I know you’re not keeping any of these, but I’m just curious if you have a favorite, lol)
> 
> Remind me, are these your new buck’s kids? How do you like their conformation compared to last year’s kids?


If by "new buck" you mean the buck I haven't used yet, then yes. 🙂 Cullen's been here as long as Phantom, but he just had to wait his turn longer. 😉 So far my favorite is Swan, but I really love doelings more than bucklings. She is such a little spunk. She's the one in the first picture and the whiter one in the pasture eating a stick. Of the boys I like Zeb the most (he's the all black one). The other two boys know very much that they are boys already, but Zeb is very sweet. He likes to look right into your eyes. He'll sit in your lap and then just stare up at you. It's heart melting. 🥺🥰

So far I liked Phantom's kids more than I like Cullen's. They are all very long in the leg and narrow in the hips just like their father. Positives would be they all have very long level bodies and Carlisle especially is very deep. Swan is an acceptable width so far so, but no way would I sell any of these boys as intact bucks. I think that my doeling Murphy's conformation might mix very well with Cullen's. She could use some length and leg and a level topline, so I'll be very excited to see their kids. I will be breeding Bella to Phantom next season though. And Phatom/Bella produced moonspot kids last year so that's a bonus too.😉


----------



## MellonFriend

Here's a video for you. 😃 You can see how Murphy is doing better than I had described earlier.


----------



## Jubillee

Oh they are so adorable! I love the mix of various ears too! Our babies are like that as well, its so interesting. Such good pics of them!


----------



## MadHouse

Awwwwww! Thanks for posting that!!!
Baby Goat therapy!


----------



## MellonFriend

Jubillee said:


> Oh they are so adorable! I love the mix of various ears too! Our babies are like that as well, its so interesting. Such good pics of them!


I love love love their ears. The first few days they were all floppy, but now some of them have stood up. For a few days Joseph had one floppy, one stiff. It looked so funny. 😆 We'll see if Zeb's decide to stand. Last year I had about 50/50.


----------



## Feira426

You take such great pictures!! Haha, and that video was so funny - they all just love that fun door on bricks! That’s a great idea.

Good girl, Murphy! You should be nice to your little siblings, just like that. Wow, she sure got big!!

I think I just got confused about your bucks. I remember you mentioning plans involving a new buck, but I don’t think you have him yet, lol. Dang - I think I’d lose track of my own head if it wasn’t attached to my shoulders.

So you used Cullen this year and Phantom last year? Is Prim also bred to Cullen this time?


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> You take such great pictures!! Haha, and that video was so funny - they all just love that fun door on bricks! That’s a great idea.
> 
> Good girl, Murphy! You should be nice to your little siblings, just like that. Wow, she sure got big!!
> 
> I think I just got confused about your bucks. I remember you mentioning plans involving a new buck, but I don’t think you have him yet, lol. Dang - I think I’d lose track of my own head if it wasn’t attached to my shoulders.
> 
> So you used Cullen this year and Phantom last year? Is Prim also bred to Cullen this time?


Well thank you! I think the good pictures are mostly due to the good camera. 😙

Murphy huge isn't she!?😄 I think she'll definitely be ready to breed this fall.

I do have some plans to maybe add a buck in the future, but no, I do not have a new boy yet. _ Maybe _next year, but I'm still undecided to be honest. I'm a little afraid of disturbing the peace I have with my boys. They really get along well and I'm afraid if I add one or replace one I can kiss how well all my bucks get along goodbye.

And yes, Cullen got to breed both does this year and Phantom was use exclusively last year. It's going to be so interesting to see what Prim's kids look like.


----------



## Goatastic43

You make me want baby goats so bad! I could just watch that all day! 

I’m glad Murphy is feeling better! They are so adorable! ️


----------



## Feira426

Ooh! I can’t wait!

Jubillee has just about convinced me that I need two bucks, haha. I was planning to get one really good one and then keep a wether with him, but it would be interesting to have two breeding bucks to work with.


----------



## FizzyGoats

That video was hilarious! They love those platforms and stomping all over them. The sliding stop that knocked the other goat off was classic. Oh my gosh, they are cute.


----------



## Feira426

I just watched the whole thing again, haha. They’re so funny!


----------



## Jessica84

The variety of ears!!! They all look really good MellonFriend!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

They look GREAT! Im so glad her front legs are so much better. I enjoyed the boys being boys. They acted like they knew you were filming them...lol lol so cute!💝💖


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> Ooh! I can’t wait!
> 
> Jubillee has just about convinced me that I need two bucks, haha. I was planning to get one really good one and then keep a wether with him, but it would be interesting to have two breeding bucks to work with.


I'm sorry to say I think you should get two breeding boys too. 😉 Might as well have two options! Find yourself a really well conformed boy and another that has those blue eye and is polled like you like. 😆


----------



## Feira426

If I get two, they’ll BOTH have stellar conformation and milk lines. At least one will have blue eyes for sure. I’ll probably want two different colors and maybe different coat patterns - that would be fun!!


----------



## Rancho Draco

They are just simply too much. Overdose. Someone take me to the hospital. 😆

Does Murphy bounce around with them or is she above such childish behavior?


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> They are just simply too much. Overdose. Someone take me to the hospital. 😆
> 
> Does Murphy bounce around with them or is she above such childish behavior?


Breathe, Rancho Draco, just breathe. 😆

I have not seen Murphy play with them yet, but I can see it happening. Their excitement seems to transfer over to her, but she just has to figure out how to turn it into playing and not fighting. Yesterday she did a lot more observing and much less headbutting.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Primrose is still really playful. I think she'll probably be excited to have someone to play with. She keeps trying to get Red to play with her and the grumpy lady just wants to be left alone.


----------



## MellonFriend

Well Just a few hours ago I think Murphy was trying to play with Swan. She was playfully chasing her around like the kids do with each other, kicking up her heels and bopping around. 😄 I think it was freaking Swan out a little because Murphy is so big, but I take it as a sign that Murphy might be warming up to them.


----------



## Rancho Draco

I think I would be a bit freaked out too if I had a giant chasing me! Hopefully they accept Murphy into their games. That would just be too cute to see her playing with them.


----------



## Jubillee

How is Prim doing? Getting close!


----------



## MellonFriend

Still doing great! I'll be getting her one week to go pictures tomorrow. All the babies are doing really well too. 🙂


----------



## Lil Boogie

Great to hear!


----------



## toth boer goats




----------



## MellonFriend

I'm officially guessing three. I think she's suddenly started looking definitively big enough for three. And I'm saying one boy two girls in that order. I've got to do her maternity shave on Monday. I would have done it today but I figured I should wait for the really cold weather to go through. I'm sort of surprised she isn't filling her udder more yet.🤔


----------



## KY Goat Girl

Oh, we’re doing birth order too? Ok then. Triplets, 1 boy 2 girls, and birth order girl, girl, boy.


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Oh she's gotta have three in there!! I'm sticking with my guns - two girls, one boy (in that order). Can't wait to see some baby Bella's soon!! 😃


----------



## FizzyGoats

My goodness. She looks so much bigger suddenly. Those kids had a growth spurt in there. So I’ll jump on the triplet bandwagon and say 2 girls and a boy, birth order of girl, boy, then girl.


----------



## MadHouse

She is so much bigger!
Exciting times!!


----------



## Rancho Draco

Wow she really popped out! I say triplets. 3 girls.


----------



## K9Queen

I can’t wait to see what she has!


----------



## Lilgoatgal

So adorable! Did you end up needing to bottle feed any of these sweeties or is mom still feeding them just fine?


----------



## Goatastic43

Shesh! She’s a big girl! I’ll guess three too. I’ll say 2 boys one girl. First boy, then girl, then boy. Also when did birth order become a thing?! A new entry in the Doe Code perhaps?


----------



## KY Goat Girl

I don’t know when it became a thing but I think it’s a lot of fun!


----------



## Jubillee

Wow did she expand, yea shes looking like trips for sure!


----------



## MellonFriend

If Bella had had only three, I would have guessed correctly the order for her, but she had to sneak an extra on me. 😆 So far, I've only ever had boys born first so I figure why change now. 🙃



Lilgoatgal said:


> So adorable! Did you end up needing to bottle feed any of these sweeties or is mom still feeding them just fine?


Nope, never did give any of them a bottle. She's still going strong handling all four. They are all growing and doing great. Bella's a keeper for sure. 🥰


----------



## GoofyGoat

Well, how’s Prim? Need an update please! 😊


----------



## MellonFriend

GoofyGoat said:


> Well, how’s Prim? Need an update please! 😊


She's getting very uncomfortable when she lays down, but that's about it. I haven't seen her yet today, so I'll have to update you on her ligs later, but the way her udder looked last night, I doubt she'll be going today. 😗


----------



## MellonFriend

Hey @Feira426 , @Jubillee, and @alwaystj9 I made that hay bag tutorial you guys were interested in. 🙂How to Make a Feedbag Hay Feeder


----------



## MellonFriend

Prim got her hair cut today. I finally did a shave job that doesn't look horrendous.🙃 It's funny, with her color if you shave only half-way down the hair shaft, it leaves only black behind. That's why those black stripes are there. Her ligs are still hard, but the area around them is loosening up. We are now at Defcon 3. 👍









Look at that whopper stomach.😬









Here's some pictures of the cuties to tide you over waiting for Prim's. This has got to be my favorite goat picture of all time:


----------



## Feira426

Oh. My. God. That one with all of them in a little line in front of Bella - SO CUTE!! 😍
It’s like they talked Mom into playing Goat Parade with them lol

Gonna to check out your hay bag tutorial now!!!


----------



## Feira426

PS - is Prim’s color some form of bezoar? I ask because Katara and Yoshi both I think would look smoky black all over if I clipped them - they have that same reddish brown on the surface, but underneath it’s a smoky black. So cool!

Have you guys seen before/after clipping photo comparisons? Some of these goats just look SO different when their hair is cut.


----------



## MadHouse

Your goatlings are so very cute!
Parading, jumping, suntanning, they are having the time of their lives!
♥💕💞🥰


----------



## Jubillee

Those pics are adorable! I love the ducks in a row lol. Prim is like "ooohhh you like what you see there??" 😂 😂 😂


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Woohoo!! C'mon Prim!! Now that you have a stylish haircut (and not a botched one like Bella's had😛🤣), you can now have your kids in style!! 💇‍♀️💈🤣😁

LOVE the picture where they are all lined up - it's priceless!! 😍 I also love the picture where Prim has her front legs crossed as she's soaking up the sun. 😎💕


----------



## Rancho Draco

Oh my goodness that picture of them all lined up is priceless! 

Nice job on the haircut! She is looking pretty big. Can't wait to see her triplets 😉


----------



## MadHouse

I love that look on Prim’s face! 😂 I think she is smirking!


----------



## alwaystj9

Prim=


----------



## Jubillee

Both of Prim's pics, she's totally posing. Are you sure she isn't posing for her next dating app pics, trying to seduce her next baby daddy? She's like "no other doe looks as good as me carrying triplets" 😂


----------



## Goatastic43

Mellon I think I’m going to drive across the mountain and hang out with your kiddos tonight. You would mind in I take one would you? You’ve got four, one won’t be missed! 

They are so stinking cute though! Prim is in the sassy stage. You can see it in her eyes!


----------



## MellonFriend

Goatastic43 said:


> Mellon I think I’m going to drive across the mountain and hang out with your kiddos tonight. You would mind in I take one would you? You’ve got four, one won’t be missed!
> 
> They are so stinking cute though! Prim is in the sassy stage. You can see it in her eyes!


You're right I probably wouldn't notice if one was gone! 😆 I'll be staring at all of them and still needing to count to four to be sure I've got them all accounted for!


----------



## MellonFriend

Feira426 said:


> PS - is Prim’s color some form of bezoar? I ask because Katara and Yoshi both I think would look smoky black all over if I clipped them - they have that same reddish brown on the surface, but underneath it’s a smoky black. So cool!
> 
> Have you guys seen before/after clipping photo comparisons? Some of these goats just look SO different when their hair is cut.


I'm not sure what constitutes bezoar. Her registration just says brown with black standard markings, but the KGBA likes to keep color descriptions _very_ simple so it's possible, but I wouldn't know. 😅 I think I remember seeing clipping photos a while back. That is crazy how different they can be! 😮


----------



## MellonFriend

I keep telling myself Prim's got to have only trips in there, right? Right?? 😂 Four more would just be INSANE. 🤯 I mean last year when both her and Bella had two, Prim still looked huge with only two. 🤷‍♀️


----------



## Rancho Draco

I think she has trips. That would be crazy if we both had 2 sets of quads this year! 😱 These kinders are really good at multiplying.


----------



## Lil Boogie

Rancho Draco said:


> I think she has trips. That would be crazy if we both had 2 sets of quads this year! 😱 These kinders are really good at multiplying.


I wish SPARROW was good at multiplying LOL


----------



## MellonFriend

We are at defcon two here, people. And I think we are rapidly approaching defcon one. I think we are going to have babies within 12 hours. Her udder has suddenly gotten huge, and she is not interested in hay and barely ate her evening grain. Ligs are almost undetectable and the whole area around her tailhead is mushy. She's snuggled down in the back of the kidding stall right now. I hope she goes tonight because the low is going to be only 58*! We are going to be hot in comparison to the 22* we dealt with with Bella. 🥵😁
Sorry the picture are kind of blurry, it was way darker than the camera makes it out to be.


----------



## KY Goat Girl

MellonFriend said:


> Prim got her hair cut today. I finally did a shave job that doesn't look horrendous. It's funny, with her color if you shave only half-way down the hair shaft, it leaves only black behind. That's why those black stripes are there. Her ligs are still hard, but the area around them is loosening up. We are now at Defcon 3.
> View attachment 221481
> 
> 
> Look at that whopper stomach.
> View attachment 221480
> 
> 
> Here's some pictures of the cuties to tide you over waiting for Prim's. This has got to be my favorite goat picture of all time:
> View attachment 221482
> 
> View attachment 221483
> View attachment 221484
> View attachment 221486
> View attachment 221487


Prim looks like a proper lady with her legs crossed. 

And you’ve certainly got your goats in a row! Too cute!


----------



## KY Goat Girl

Whoo-hoo! Go Prim! Can’t wait to see if your maybe hiding a 4th in there!


----------



## MellonFriend

She sure looks big enough now for four. 😬😮


----------



## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> She sure looks big enough now for four. 😬😮


Scarletts in labor now too!!!


----------



## MadHouse

So exciting! C’mon Prim, we’re all ready!!


----------



## FizzyGoats

Prim looks like she’s ready to be done with this whole pregnancy thing. Poor girl. She’s huge. She looks so good though. Still shiny and healthy. Can’t wait to see her wee ones!


----------



## MellonFriend

Lil Boogie said:


> Scarletts in labor now too!!!


Yay! It's a race again! 😆 I'm betting on Scarlett. 💵 Prim isn't having contractions quite yet.


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Wooohooo! Go, Prim!! Can _not_ wait to see all her little goatlings!! 😁 Hope everything goes well!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

Ok...Who is Scarlett? 
Go Prim Go. Lets see these wee ones!


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Moers kiko boars said:


> Ok...Who is Scarlett?


@Lil Boogie's doe. Scarletts Waiting Thread!!!!!!!!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

Thankyou. I was getting confused. I thought @MellonFriend had another doe in labor! Whew! Been there, done that...no thanks! Lol lol


----------



## KY Goat Girl




----------



## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Yay! It's a race again! 😆 I'm betting on Scarlett. 💵 Prim isn't having contractions quite yet.


Yep


----------



## Rancho Draco

Exciting!!!! Now I have to go check Scarlett's thread! 

Okay now Prim, we're going for year of the Kinder quads so you've got to have 4 in there.


----------



## K9Queen

Baby time! Come on Prim release the hostages


----------



## Goatastic43

Wow! Everything about her is huge! Praying for an easy delivery!


----------



## Jubillee

Yahoo Prim!!! Ready to see what you're hiding!!


----------



## MadHouse

Any updates on Prim, @MellonFriend ???


----------



## Jubillee

Yeah do we have babies??


----------



## MellonFriend

She had three! Pictures will be coming once I get some sleep, but for now all you need to know is they are ALL GIRLS!!!!! Prim's doing great, babies are doing great! 😁 Me--I need some sleep. 😴


----------



## Jubillee

Yeah!!!!!!! Fantastic job!!! Congrats!!


----------



## Rancho Draco

Yay! Congratulations! Get some good rest. I can't wait to see pictures!


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

Woohoo!


----------



## KY Goat Girl

Good job Prim! Way to go on the girls!


----------



## Goatastic43

Yay! That’s awesome! Great job Prim! Looking forward to pictures


----------



## MadHouse

Great news! That’s everybody’s dream!
Healthy mom, healthy kids and all girls!!
Enjoy your rest!


----------



## wheel-bear-o

🥳🥳🥳


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Congratulations!! Triplet doelings?!? That's so awesome! Prim definitely made up for all the bucklings Bella gave you. Glad to hear everything went well and everyone is doing well. Looking forward to seeing pictures of Prim and all her girls!! Enjoy your rest! 💗


----------



## Lil Boogie

Congrats!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

Ohhhhh CONGRATULATIONS! Cant wait to see the triple does! Woohooo!💞💖💗


----------



## K.B.

MellonFriend said:


> She had three! Pictures will be coming once I get some sleep, but for now all you need to know is they are ALL GIRLS!!!!! Prim's doing great, babies are doing great!  Me--I need some sleep.


Yay! Can't wait for pics


----------



## MellonFriend

Here they are!









Carol: She has a tiny white armpit striped and an adorable partially white chin!















Mikaela:
















Prim's mini me, Luthien on the right:


----------



## toth boer goats

Aww they are cute.


----------



## Rancho Draco

My gosh, year of the swiss marked black kids! They are adorable! 😍
Are Mikaela's ears as long as they look in that picture? I simply love the extra long airplane ears ❤❤❤


----------



## Goatastic43

They’re so cute!!! Congratulations on three girls!!


----------



## K9Queen

They are beautiful! Congratulations


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Oh my goodness!! They are all so darling!! I just love all their ears! 😍💕


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

Oh my! What cutie pies!


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Are Mikaela's ears as long as they look in that picture? I simply love the extra long airplane ears ❤❤❤


Yes, they are huge! I love the extra-long ears. 😆 ✈


----------



## KY Goat Girl

They are so cute! And is the name Luthien from LotR?  I love it!


----------



## MellonFriend

I had to help with the birth of Carol, she was the first out. She was trying to come out tail first. I thought "oh boy only a tail". My mom and sister were there and I didn't want to tell them that this was an issue, so I just lubed up and went in. It's like I didn't want to admit to myself that this could be trouble for Prim. I've never gone in that far and I was surprised at how easy it was to get my hand in. I had to grab her legs and pull them up and actually Prim ended up pushing her out with Carol's legs tucked up under her and not straight behind. It's great to know that I can assist like that when necessary.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Isn't it so nice to have the confidence to help when you are needed? I'm glad you were able to get her sorted out!


----------



## MellonFriend

KY Goat Girl said:


> They are so cute! And is the name Luthien from LotR?  I love it!


Yes it is! 😊

@GoofyGoat, you should be happy with that name, right?😜


----------



## Lilgoatgal

Aw - love these little girls, they're so precious!


----------



## MadHouse

Precious precious beautiful kids!!! 🥰 😻
The ears so great! 
I m so glad you were there to assist, and you did a wonderful job!
Good work!


----------



## Feira426

Oh man!!! Somehow I stopped getting notifications for this thread, but it looks like I came back at a good time!! @MellonFriend - they’re wonderful!!! How cute. Adorable ears, fun markings, and everyone looks happy and healthy. So funny that the one looks almost exactly like Prim!

Big congrats to you!!!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

Look at those Adorable long eared Precious doelings! 💗💖💞


----------



## Jubillee

They are so adorable!! Congrats! Will you be retaining one?


----------



## MellonFriend

Jubillee said:


> They are so adorable!! Congrats! Will you be retaining one?


Nope. We'll be selling them all this year (except for my meat boys). So far I'm not crazy about any of these kids' conformation. So far Cullen seems to pass his narrowness to his offspring. I'll probably be using Phantom with Bella and Prim next year. I'm hopeful that Cullen will pair nicer with Murphy because she could use some length of body and leg. All these kids certainly have that.


----------



## FizzyGoats

Great assist on the kidding and the girls are adorable! I love the names too. Congratulations!


----------



## Jubillee

MellonFriend said:


> Nope. We'll be selling them all this year (except for my meat boys). So far I'm not crazy about any of these kids' conformation. So far Cullen seems to pass his narrowness to his offspring. I'll probably be using Phantom with Bella and Prim next year. I'm hopeful that Cullen will pair nicer with Murphy because she could use some length of body and leg. All these kids certainly have that.


You got some valuable info!


----------



## MellonFriend

Jubillee said:


> You got some valuable info!


It certainly is nice to have such a large sample size of both genders!


----------



## GoofyGoat

Oh rats, I missed Prims kidding😢 bloody internet went down. I LOVE Luthien, perfect name for a gorgeous girl. They’re all adorable though! Good job miss Prim!
More pictures please!


----------



## MellonFriend

Here's one that shows those insane ears. 😋
























I also caught a funny video of Murphy playing nicely with Zeb. He's up on a platform that's around the corner. 



Look how big those first kids are getting. It seems like poor Bella can't seem to catch a break from them sometimes. 😌 She's still nursing them all 100% by herself.


----------



## MadHouse

Awwww! Those ears!! 😂 
Murphy is so very sweet with Zeb!!!! So cute!
Bella looks like a nursery school teacher.


----------



## KY Goat Girl

Aww! Murphy is being such a good big sister! ️


----------



## Rancho Draco

Aw she's figuring out how to be nice. They are all just so cute. Those kids are growing so fast


----------



## Goatastic43

They’re so cute! Poor Bella looks overwhelmed. Buttercup used to run from her twin boys, so I can only imagine what Bella feels having 4! That video is hilarious


----------



## Moers kiko boars

They all look Fantastic! Thats amazing to think she is feeding all of them...no help! Wow!


----------



## MellonFriend

It_ is _amazing that she's handling all of them. I'm very impressed. She does get very tired of them sometimes. It's making her very short tempered. It's a good thing Murphy isn't offended easily because she is often ends up being the one that Bella lashes out at. I think Murphy would get along better with the kids if Bella didn't go after her when Murphy gets fired up.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Aw poor girls. I don't blame Bella for getting cranky. Have you tried separating them for an hour or two during the day to give her a break?


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Aw poor girls. I don't blame Bella for getting cranky. Have you tried separating them for an hour or two during the day to give her a break?


I don't have that ability right now with Prim in the kidding stall. It's okay though; it's not to the point that I _need_ to do anything. I'll be separating the kids at night to milk soon so that will give her a welcome break. It was also just raining for a few days, so tensions are running high from everyone being cooped up together. No rain in sight all week now so things morale should rise.🙃


----------



## Tanya

Your tribe us looking very good


----------



## Rancho Draco

Oh yep everyone gets extra cranky with the bad weather.

Just kind of thinking out loud here but it's really amazing that it seems to be a common thing for Kinders to be able to feed quads on their own. Now I hope that if other breeds do the same thing someone will cue me in but it seems like most breeds need help with triplets and definitely can't feed quads. Kinders really aren't heavy milkers either. Am I missing something or is that actually a thing?


----------



## KY Goat Girl

I was wondering the same thing. I don’t know much about Kinders but I’ve been thinking about that.


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Am I missing something or is that actually a thing?


I think it might be a thing. I'm not sure though. I chalk it up to the hearty/thrifty nature of the kinder. I think the kids can do well with maybe a little less milk. That's a total guess though. I think it's also possible that a lot of dairy oriented breeders don't want to let their does raise quads alone because of the kids being hard on their show udders.


----------



## Jubillee

I let ours raise their kids as I don't want to encourage having to pull and bottle. We have only ever had triplets though, no quads. But Bug's babies (she's nubian) have more than doubled their weight and not quite 3 weeks. She makes sure they all eat. Peach is the same, she took care of all her triplets. I think it's part what Mellon said of show herds and just genetics. A lot of mothering is culled out by pulling kids a lot. 

Side note, I honestly don't see ANY difference in udders when we dam raise or I pull kids. I do manage them from day one, milking any excess the kids don't take, keeping them even etc. SO maybe that's it? IDK but no difference here.


----------



## Rancho Draco

That makes sense. Also interesting that you don't really see a difference in udders even though they raise the kids.


----------



## MellonFriend

Agreed^^^ that is really good to know.


----------



## FizzyGoats

I’m sure you’re super busy, but any time you want to put up more baby goat pics and videos, we’re eagerly awaiting seeing more of your cuties.


----------



## MellonFriend

Prim's babies will be getting to explore the pasture for the first time today, so I'm sure we'll be able to get some cute pics of them. I'll see what I can get for y'all! 😉


----------



## MellonFriend

😊


----------



## KY Goat Girl

I love the video of them tap dancing.


----------



## Jubillee

Aww they all look great!!


----------



## Rancho Draco

Aw they are just too cute! How are the mamas doing?


----------



## toth boer goats

How cute.


----------



## K.B.

Cute Tap dancing!


----------



## Moers kiko boars

They are so full of energy! Good job! Adorable little ones!


----------



## Tanya

Such beauties. Love the ears. And love the play ground


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Aw they are just too cute! How are the mamas doing?


Mommas are all doing great. Bella's lost some more weight than I would like, but I dealt with that with Prim last year, so I'll go with my game plan that I used then.


----------



## KY Goat Girl

MellonFriend said:


> Mommas are all doing great. Bella's lost some more weight than I would like, but I dealt with that with Prim last year, so I'll go with my game plan that I used then.


What was your game plan when Prim lost more weight than you liked?


----------



## Goatastic43

Those videos are so cute! Have you named them yet? (Sorry I may have missed it) The one with the super long ears is an absolute doll!!!


----------



## KY Goat Girl

@Goatastic43, She named Prim’s doelings Carol, Mikaela, and the brown one is Luthien.


----------



## MellonFriend

☝👍 Yep, Mikaela is the one with the super long ears.



KY Goat Girl said:


> What was your game plan when Prim lost more weight than you liked?


In addition to her pelleted goat feed and alfalfa pellets, I add calf manna, the max amount of black oil sunflowers, and a teaspoon of wheat germ oil once a day. That and staying on top of worm load. That's a huge deal that I'm still figuring out what works for me.


----------



## KY Goat Girl

MellonFriend said:


> Yep, Mikaela is the one with the super long ears.
> 
> 
> In addition to her pelleted goat feed and alfalfa pellets, I add calf manna, the max amount of black oil sunflowers, and a teaspoon of wheat germ oil once a day. That and staying on top of worm load. That's a huge deal that I'm still figuring out what works for me.


I’ve used calf manna before. It works great. I’ve heard of a lot of people using Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. What is in them that is so good for the goats? And I also saw that someone (I think it was you @MellonFriend) used just the Black Oil Sunflower wild bird feed.


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Aww, it looks like they thoroughly enjoyed their time outside! How adorable!! 💕


----------



## FizzyGoats

Those ears! I can’t get over how cut they are. Thank you sharing this. Seeing adorable dancing, hopping, running baby goats is just what I needed today.


----------



## MellonFriend

FizzyGoats said:


> Those ears! I can’t get over how cut they are. Thank you sharing this. Seeing adorable dancing, hopping, running baby goats is just what I needed today.


I can't wait to see your little babies' babies dancing around someday! 😃


----------



## MellonFriend

KY Goat Girl said:


> What is in them that is so good for the goats? And I also saw that someone (I think it was you @MellonFriend) used just the Black Oil Sunflower wild bird feed.


I use them to add fat to their diet. Sunflower seed are 25-44% fat. They are also good for adding zinc to the diet, but that's not the reason I feed them. Their downside is they are high in phosphorus, so you have to be careful to balance that out with enough calcium. And yes, I just get them from Tractor Supply in the bird feed section. 🙂


----------



## KY Goat Girl

MellonFriend said:


> I use them to add fat to their diet. Sunflower seed are 25-44% fat. They are also good for adding zinc to the diet, but that's not the reason I feed them. Their downside is they are high in phosphorus, so you have to be careful to balance that out with enough calcium. And yes, I just get them from Tractor Supply in the bird feed section.


Ok, thanks! I wonder if I need to go ahead and get some because I just really noticed today that my bucklings seem a tad bit skinny. They have so much hair I couldn’t tell until I was really feeling them over today. So if I fed them the sunflower seeds I could balance the phosphorus out with alfalfa pellets or oats, correct?


----------



## MellonFriend

KY Goat Girl said:


> Ok, thanks! I wonder if I need to go ahead and get some because I just really noticed today that my bucklings seem a tad bit skinny. They have so much hair I couldn’t tell until I was really feeling them over today. So if I fed them the sunflower seeds I could balance the phosphorus out with alfalfa pellets or oats, correct?


Yep, alfalfa pellets would balance that out. Alfalfa is high in calcium. You don't need to feed very much BOSS either. Only two tablespoons to a quarter cup a day should do it. I actually do a 1/2 a cup a day for my does, but with their bodies producing milk they need a lot more nutrition. My dry yearling only gets two tablespoons a day.


----------



## MadHouse

Those babies are so darn cute!!! 🥰
Thanks for sharing the dance party!!!


----------



## KY Goat Girl

MellonFriend said:


> Yep, alfalfa pellets would balance that out. Alfalfa is high in calcium. You don't need to feed very much BOSS either. Only two tablespoons to a quarter cup a day should do it. I actually do a 1/2 a cup a day for my does, but with their bodies producing milk they need a lot more nutrition. My dry yearling only gets two tablespoons a day.


Thank you for telling me how much. I probably would have given them too much. 🤭 They are just little Nigis so I might only give them a tablespoon each.


----------



## toth boer goats

😁


----------



## Lil Boogie

@MellonFriend so, how old is Prim and Bella? Somehow I was thinkin they is four...lol


----------



## Lil Boogie

I think I've asked this before but, are they Registered?


----------



## MellonFriend

Lil Boogie said:


> @MellonFriend so, how old is Prim and Bella? Somehow I was thinkin they is four...lol





Lil Boogie said:


> I think I've asked this before but, are they Registered?


Bella just turned three in January and Prim will be three on the 22nd of the month. And yes, they are both registered. My bucks are too; they will be four in March.


----------



## TripleShareNubians

MellonFriend said:


> DEFCON 1 has come and gone! We have *babies*!!!!!! 😆😍🥳 _FOUR_ to be exact! It's a crazy story. I went out at 5:00pm to give the does their grain and Bella didn't come out of the barn like she usually does, she was just standing in the middle of the stall. So I go, okay, well this must be the start of prelabor. I look at her rear end and I see what I thought was the mucus plug. Just a tiny little bit of white discharge on her vulva. So I put her in the kidding stall, give her her grain and leave to go get some snow pants on because it was 26* and windy. I go in the house for all of two minutes, come back out, get close to the barn and I hear this weird squeaking noise. For a minute I think it's my snow pants swishing together, but then I look on Bella and there are TWO kids out on the floor! She hadn't even finished her grain! I dash back in the house, alert my family, and get my kidding kit.
> 
> The first two out are boys. One looks like his daddy, except with tan legs instead of white, and the second is completely black with a white star on his poll. We had about twenty minutes before Bella went down and started pushing again. Good thing I was here for this one because I first saw a back leg coming out. Only one. I went searching just inside and found another hoof, but it was a front hoof. Oh boy. Two kids trying to come out at once. I gloved up, lubed up and push the one kid back in. It took no effort and the kid who was presenting correctly came flying out. It was a girl! I thought man! I accurately predicted that Bella would have two boys first and then a girl! Last kid I knew I had to get out of there since it was backwards so I went in, found the other leg and pulled. He was out within second.
> 
> I lament the fact that I can't get you all pictures until tomorrow! It's 26* and I can't take my camera out until it is 32*. I apologize incredibly! If it doesn't get warm fast enough tomorrow, I'll smuggle them in to take the pictures. The last two kids look exactly like their daddy, but the boy has a white spot on the center of his tail.
> 
> Bella is doing amazing. She passed the placenta and is nursing all of them. She is very attentive and being a perfect mother.
> 
> The only question I have is the black boy is knuckling over on his back feet. So he's trying to walk on his ankles instead of his hooves. I gave him a dab of selenium paste and a vitamin e capsule in case it is that, but if anyone has any other experience let me know.


Cedar winds is right I had one last year take several days as long as I made sure he could have a little support and get around a nurse they strengthened up in a few days.


----------



## TripleShareNubians

MellonFriend said:


> ☝👍 Yep, Mikaela is the one with the super long ears.
> 
> 
> In addition to her pelleted goat feed and alfalfa pellets, I add calf manna, the max amount of black oil sunflowers, and a teaspoon of wheat germ oil once a day. That and staying on top of worm load. That's a huge deal that I'm still figuring out what works for me.


That sounds great. Something else to add you might try to find you some whole roasted soybeans. it is a good fat for my milkers.


----------



## MellonFriend

TripleShareNubians said:


> That sounds great. Something elseto add you might try to find you some whole soybeans. it is a good fat for my milkers.


Where would I find something like that? Would that be like a feed mill thing?


----------



## TripleShareNubians

MellonFriend said:


> Where would I find something like that? Would that be like a feed mill thing?


Yes I buy a whole roasted soybeans by the bag from the feed mill. Actually anymore I just have it mixed into a custom feed mix but it really helps with weight and milk.
Not that soybean meal stuff it's too much powder and they snuffle no matter how much molasses the whole ones.


----------



## MellonFriend

Unfortunately, I don't have a feed mill near me, so I probably wouldn't be able to get my hands on any. But that's okay, what I did last year worked so it probably isn't necessary anyway.


----------



## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Bella just turned three in January and Prim will be three on the 22nd of the month. And yes, they are both registered. My bucks are too; they will be four in March.


Ohh okay. Idk I was just thinking bout day foe sum reason lol


----------



## TripleShareNubians

I tried to upload the gift of the skeleton tapping its fingers saying waiting waiting but apparently gifs aren't supported


----------



## TripleShareNubians

So how long till the next one?


----------



## MellonFriend

TripleShareNubians said:


> So how long till the next one?


That's it for me! 😙 I only had two kidding this year. My other doe, Murphy will be bred for the first time this fall, so next year I'll have three kidding.


----------



## TripleShareNubians

That sounds so pleasant to me right now.
Congratulations on the nice kids.


----------



## toth boer goats

😁


----------



## MellonFriend

We separated the babies from their moms for the first time last night. There wasn't too much yelling, but everyone including Murphy seemed a bit stressed out this morning. Bella's udder was absolutely GINORMOUS. She could barely walk. Surprisingly even though Prim is two weeks earlier into her lactation and her udder was nowhere near the size of Bella's, they both ended up producing about the same amount of milk. I got almost a half a gallon out of each of them!🥳

I got some pictures and videos of the babies a few days ago, but some sort of technical difficulties are prohibiting me from posting them. 🙁 I'll see if it's any better later today.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Exciting! I can't wait to start milking. I miss having fresh milk. 

I've been having trouble with pictures recently. It doesn't let me select more than one picture when I go to attach them or it just reloads the page and it doesn't work. I've been able to get pictures up if I attach them one at a time.


----------



## MellonFriend

Maybe that was my problem. I was trying to load a couple and when it got to 62% it would cross itself out.🤷‍♀️


----------



## MellonFriend

It's working now!
I managed to get them all in the picture...mostly.









Can you believe that Bella's kids are a month old already?!








I'll have to get a better picture of them together, but Murphy has decided that Zeb is her boyfriend. She was in heat yesterday and she would butt all the other boys away, but not Zeb.






























Videos to come!


----------



## wheel-bear-o

They're HUGE!!! And that is hilarious about Murphy.


----------



## Rancho Draco

Oh my gosh they are too cute!! 

That's so funny about Murphy and Zeb. Have you weighed any of them recently?


----------



## Goatastic43

They’re a month old?!?! It seems like they were just born! They are so cute together!


----------



## BarnOwl

I can't believe they are a month old already! They are beautiful!


----------



## MadHouse

Wow, they are big already! So cute to see them all together. Murphy is so funny!


----------



## KY Goat Girl

They are all so pretty!  I Lol-ed reading about Murphy and Zeb!


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Have you weighed any of them recently?


The last time I weighed Bella's kids was at the end of their coccidia prevention cycle which was around a week ago. They were all around 15 pounds with Carlisle clocking it at 16lbs.. Prims kids will start coccidia prevention next week.


----------



## TripleShareNubians

They are cute and your doe is doing a great job. Her udder good especially with all the kids. I know all about time flying I can't believe my kids will be 2 weeks old this weekend and need to be dos budded


----------



## Rancho Draco

Were they all around 5 lbs at birth? That's some impressive growth for quads.


----------



## MellonFriend

They were all a little over 5lb pounds, 5.8-6.2 was their range. I'm very impressed so far. They might even be a little bigger than my twins were at their age last year.


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Whaaaat?!?! Bella's kids are a month old already?! That's crazy talk!! 🤯 All of your goaties look _fabulous_!!!! And those babies sure are growing like weeds! 🤩 

Oh Murphy girl, I hate to break it to you, but Zeb is way too closely related.....better dump him now and work on finding another guy. 😂😛


----------



## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> They were all a little over 5lb pounds, 5.8-6.2 was their range. I'm very impressed so far. They might even be a little bigger than my twins were at their age last year.


That's still some really nice growth. If I'm doing my math right, that's .43 lbs a day right? If you figure they started out at 6 lbs and were 15 lbs at 3 weeks old.


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> That's still some really nice growth. If I'm doing my math right, that's .43 lbs a day right? If you figure they started out at 6 lbs and were 15 lbs at 3 weeks old.


I'm way too tired to do math right now so let's just assume you are right.😴😋 Staying up late to watch Olympics and getting up early to milk is not a good mix for my energy levels right now. 🙃


----------



## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> I'm way too tired to do math right now so let's just assume you are right.😴😋 Staying up late to watch Olympics and getting up early to milk is not a good mix for my energy levels right now. 🙃


Trust me I get it!

I did a bit of simplification in the weights. I figured they were all 15 lbs at 3 weeks. Subtract the birth weight of 6 lbs to get 9 lbs. 9 lbs divided by 21 days to get 0.429 lbs per day. If you figure that they keep that growth rate up for a full month (30 days), that would be 12.86 lbs per month. Very impressive.


----------



## FizzyGoats

Oh my gosh, they are getting so big so quickly. I feel like they were just born. They are so stinking cute. Everyone looks healthy and happy.


----------



## toth boer goats

Adorable babies and growing so fast.


----------



## MellonFriend

Sorry about the shaking camera, I was using a different lens that was a lot more sensitive to movement.


----------



## FizzyGoats

They are so cute! I will never get over those ears. The funniest part was watching Prim trying to keep up with her big udder in the way. She looks so good, btw. From the video and pictures, it seems like she’s keeping her condition much better. Is that the case?


----------



## Rancho Draco

They look to be having so much fun! I can't wait till some of this snow melts and the babies can get outside.


----------



## MellonFriend

FizzyGoats said:


> She looks so good, btw. From the video and pictures, it seems like she’s keeping her condition much better. Is that the case?


Yes it is; her condition is way better than last year. I'm sure she would be happy that you noticed! 😄 It seems like Bella's going to be my skinny girl this year.🙄 But with four kids I don't know if there is anything I could do to avoid it.


----------



## Cedarwinds Farm

Your babies all look so chunky and healthy!


----------



## Goatastic43

That just so stinking cute!! I can’t get enough of them! That was so funny when, at the end, the brownish one (sorry I’m terrible at keeping track of names!) did a cat stalk after running around the corner. Wonder what the plan was there…..


----------



## Jubillee

Wow a month...feels like last week! Our babies are going on 5 weeks and sure doesnt feel like it! They look fantastic. That first pic...so many goats hahaha. Great weight gain on them!! I need to weigh our babies again too. Murphy is hilarious, sorry girl, he's a little too young and related for you you cougar. LOL


----------



## MellonFriend

Goatastic43 said:


> That was so funny when, at the end, the brownish one (sorry I’m terrible at keeping track of names!) did a cat stalk after running around the corner. Wonder what the plan was there…..


Oh I'm so glad someone noticed that. 😄 I thought that was so funny. I've never seen babies do that, but this year I saw it happen a couple times. It would happen if they got startled by something. It's like they are little baby deer hiding in tall grass. 😋 That's Luthien by the way, don't worry about not remembering though, I have way too many for that to be expected.😅


----------



## MellonFriend

My babies are getting so big! Carlisle and Swan are going to their new homes in the middle of April, so I only have them for a few more weeks! 😢


----------



## Rancho Draco

Aw they're just gorgeous! They're so big already! Have any of the others sold yet?


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Aw they're just gorgeous! They're so big already! Have any of the others sold yet?


All of the kids I had for sale have sold! 😁 I'll be keeping Zeb and Joseph for the freezer.🤫

Here's a few more:
I swear Luthien's mouth isn't crooked, I just keep catching her when she's chewing her cud.😅































And a blooper. Rolling in the sun doesn't work out sometimes.😋 She's like "I got this". 😆


----------



## Rancho Draco

Poor baby 🤣


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

All of your kids are so stunning!! Glad to hear you've found a home for everyone that needed one. I'm sure it won't be too easy seeing them go, but it sounds like you have some amazing homes lined up for them. 💕

I couldn't help but noticed that all your kids still have their horns, out of pure curiosity, why did you decided not to disbud this year's kids?


----------



## KY Goat Girl

MellonFriend said:


> All of the kids I had for sale have sold!  I'll be keeping Zeb and Joseph for the freezer.
> 
> Here's a few more:
> I swear Luthien's mouth isn't crooked, I just keep catching her when she's chewing her cud.
> View attachment 225820
> 
> View attachment 225821
> View attachment 225825
> View attachment 225823
> 
> 
> And a blooper. Rolling in the sun doesn't work out sometimes. She's like "I got this".
> View attachment 225824


That last one is hilarious! Your goats are so nice and shiny! Remind me again, which ones are Zeb and Joseph? Lol I only know who Luthien is.


----------



## MadHouse

Beautiful! So much fun!!


----------



## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> I couldn't help but noticed that all your kids still have their horns, out of pure curiosity, why did you decided not to disbud this year's kids?


I decided not to disbud this year because last year all my kids ended up with scurs and I felt like it wasn't ethical to sell kids that had scurs that could potentially grow into their heads or cause problems for them in the future. I've been noticing that here on the forum more and more people have horned goats and so I decided that this year I wasn't going to disbud them. I also have no one to show me how to disbud properly so I'm very afraid of hurting them. My only fear was would they sell with horns, I had no trouble selling them. They sold way faster than last year's kids. Apparently even some shows are allowing horns since Prim's girls are going to be shown. I was very surprised by that! In the future if I have any kids that I am keeping permanently, I will be disbudding them because the way my set up is, I cannot have horned goats. I totally respect and understand both sides of the horn v. no horn argument and when it comes down to it sure takes a load of stress off of me to not have to disbud! 😅



KY Goat Girl said:


> That last one is hilarious! Your goats are so nice and shiny! Remind me again, which ones are Zeb and Joseph? Lol I only know who Luthien is.


Joseph is Bella's buckling who's in the second picture in the second post. He has tan swiss markings unlike the rest of the swiss kids who have white. Zeb is Bella's all black buckling.


----------



## FizzyGoats

The goat rolling is hilarious. 

How did they all get so big so fast?!? They all look amazing.


----------



## toth boer goats

How cute.


----------



## Rancho Draco

MellonFriend said:


> Apparently even some shows are allowing horns since Prim's girls are going to be shown.


I didn't know that! Is that a recent development? I thought they were just going to band their horns.


----------



## Goatastic43

MellonFriend said:


> All of the kids I had for sale have sold!  I'll be keeping Zeb and Joseph for the freezer.
> 
> Here's a few more:
> I swear Luthien's mouth isn't crooked, I just keep catching her when she's chewing her cud.
> View attachment 225820
> 
> View attachment 225821
> View attachment 225825
> View attachment 225823
> 
> 
> And a blooper. Rolling in the sun doesn't work out sometimes. She's like "I got this".
> View attachment 225824


Oh my gosh! They’ve grown so much! She was trying to look cool and like it was on purpose while falling


----------



## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> I didn't know that! Is that a recent development? I thought they were just going to band their horns.


I honestly don't know what they are going to do. They are being shown in a 4h show so I don't know if the rules are different. 🤷‍♀️ They showed me a picture of another goat they have and she had horns too. I'm quite clueless in this area, but one of the buyers is a 4h advisor with 30+ years of goat experience so she must know what she's doing.


----------



## MellonFriend

Goatastic43 said:


> Oh my gosh! They’ve grown so much! She was trying to look cool and like it was on purpose while falling


She kept her composure the whole time. It was hilarious. 😆


----------



## Lil Boogie

They look beautiful and healthy!!

Yeah I've literally never had any problems selling my horned goats. Actually, one lady refused to buy a specific goat from me one time because she had no horns.... So I get both sides of it, too.


----------



## Lil Boogie

I personally like both horns and no horns. I understand the no horn deal but I LOVE me some good ol horns! My herd is about 50/50 , horns to no horns ratio. Oakley, Vinny, Jasper, Maggie, Luna, Betsy, Swan, Nova and Mocha all have no horns. Although Betsy and Swan are both polled. 
Cupcake, Gizmo, Garnet, Spinky, Sparrow, Scarlett, Cookie, Casper, Bambi, Frappe, Sassy, Daisy and Misty all have their horns. It all works out for me because I'm set up to have both horned and hornless goats.


----------



## MellonFriend

Your herd, @Lil Boogie was a big example for me to go this route. 🙂


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

MellonFriend said:


> I decided not to disbud this year because last year all my kids ended up with scurs and I felt like it wasn't ethical to sell kids that had scurs that could potentially grow into their heads or cause problems for them in the future. I've been noticing that here on the forum more and more people have horned goats and so I decided that this year I wasn't going to disbud them. I also have no one to show me how to disbud properly so I'm very afraid of hurting them. My only fear was would they sell with horns, I had no trouble selling them. They sold way faster than last year's kids. Apparently even some shows are allowing horns since Prim's girls are going to be shown. I was very surprised by that! In the future if I have any kids that I am keeping permanently, I will be disbudding them because the way my set up is, I cannot have horned goats. I totally respect and understand both sides of the horn v. no horn argument and when it comes down to it sure takes a load of stress off of me to not have to disbud! 😅


Sounds like a good plan!! That's great you were able to sell your horned kids just as well (or better) than your disbudded kids! That is interesting about Prim's doelings. I honestly have no idea how 4h works though. The rules must vary greatly from group to group because I had two different people contact me this year about getting on my waiting list for doelings to be their daughters' 4h projects. I told both of them that this year none of my kids would be registered, tattooed, or tagged. One mom kindly said "thanks for your time, but unfortunately, they have to be registered for 4h". The other mom didn't seem to care that they wouldn't be registered, tattooed, or tagged and still wants to remain on my list. 🤷‍♀️


----------



## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Your herd, @Lil Boogie was a big example for me to go this route. 🙂


Aww! Thank you! ....... I'm an influencer now LOL😆


----------



## MellonFriend

Lil Boogie said:


> Aww! Thank you! ....... I'm an influencer now LOL😆


Haha! I guess you are!😆


----------



## Lil Boogie

MellonFriend said:


> Haha! I guess you are!😆


Cool! Lol


----------



## Rancho Draco

I was poking around the KGBA show rules today and having horns is still listed as a disqualification so there must be something in the 4-H rules that is different. Or they are going to have them dehorned.


----------



## MellonFriend

I noticed that too. I'll have to ask them about it when they come to pick them up.


----------



## MellonFriend

Well Bella's doeling and one of her bucklings (now a wether) went to their new home today! I feel great about the family they went to. 😊 It will be nice to have two less kids for Bella to feed. I'll probably leave Zeb and Joseph on for a little longer since I'd like Zeb to gain some muscle and Joseph to catch up a bit in size. Yay, less barn mess, less hectic grain time, and yay I can't wait to do this all again next year. 😁


----------



## Dandy Hill Farm

Congrats! So happy to hear they went to a wonderful family. Will Murphy get bred this fall?


----------



## MellonFriend

Dandy Hill Farm said:


> Will Murphy get bred this fall?


Most likely. I've been keeping an eye on her to see if she is continuing to go into heat year round. Based on her genetics, she could be an aeseasonal breeder, so if she keeps going into heat, there is a chance that I would wait and breed her in the spring of 2023 for fall kidding. It would be nice if I could stagger kiddings to have milk year round, but that might not work out, so if she stops cycling, I will definitely breed her this fall. I don't think she's ready to be bred yet this spring. She still acts very immature. 😋


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## Rancho Draco

Yay! Are they going to a pet home?


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## MellonFriend

Rancho Draco said:


> Yay! Are they going to a pet home?


I believe she's planning on breeding Swan in the future, but for now they are mostly pets.


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## MadHouse

That’s so great, how it is all working out again! 😊 
Any recent pictures of the goaties?


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## MellonFriend

I have a few that I took on Saturday. I meant to take more pictures, but I ended up doing a lot of video, so I'll have to see if I can upload some of those. I'll have to take some more pictures for you, but here's a couple. 😙


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## FizzyGoats

Love those pics. Such a nice looking herd!


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## MadHouse

Thank you!!! 🥰 🥰 🥰


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## Goatastic43

Aww! So glad they got a good home!


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## Cedarwinds Farm

Your herd is looking so beautiful! It looks like black is a very dominant color for you.


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## MellonFriend

Cedarwinds Farm said:


> Your herd is looking so beautiful! It looks like black is a very dominant color for you.


Yeah I guess it is. 😅 Both my bucks are black and Prim seems to carry the recessive black gene, so that's likely not going to be changing any time soon. Good thing I like black goats! 😀


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## toth boer goats

Love ❤


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## MellonFriend

So here's a funny story. 😅 I've been waiting to get my kids' papers back from the KGBA and this morning I get an e-mail from the registar saying that the sire I have listed is coming up as a wether and not a buck so either I made a mistake or there's a mistake on the paper. Turns out Cullen's papers say that he's a wether! 😆 The registar contacted his breeder and sure enough, she had sent in his papers assuming she was going to wether him and ended up changing her mind, but never realized that his papers were never corrected. It's all going to work out fine though, she's going to pay for the corrected papers and all this will be straightened out, but poor Cullen almost went down in the books as the only wether to sire seven kids! 😂 I told the registar, yes, he's definitely a buck! 😝


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## Dandy Hill Farm

Oh my goodness, that's hilarious! I'm so glad everything is going to work out though.


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## K.B.

Lol funny  

Sent from my SM-A326U using Goat Forum mobile app


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## Rancho Draco

That would be some track record for a wether!


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## KY Goat Girl

That’s just hilarious!


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## Moers kiko boars

Oh my goodness! What a shock for all those kids, their DAD is a wether? Ohhhh nooooo! 🤣😂😳🥴


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## Goatastic43

That’s hilarious! I guess he holds the world record now!


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## KY Goat Girl

He could be put down in the Guinness book of world records!


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## toth boer goats




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## FizzyGoats

Wow, that is funny!  But what a pain to have to get it all straightened out. Glad you did though.


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## MellonFriend

Here's some recent pictures of the kiddos. Prim's kids are going home at the end of the month. They just got tattooed on Thursday, hence the green ears.
Carol
















Luthien









Mikaela. She's really come around to be much friendlier than I originally thought she would be. She now is the friendliest of all of Prim's kids.
















Joseph, he is as happy as his smile looks.








Zeb









Look how big my Murphy is! She'll definitely be ready for breeding this fall


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## KY Goat Girl

They are all getting so big!  Is it just me or is Zeb more lanky than the others? Maybe it’s just the camera.


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## Goatastic43

So cute!  I can’t wait to see how Murphy’s kids turn out!


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## Rancho Draco

Wow Carol turned out really nice!


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## FizzyGoats

Wow, they are growing from simply adorable to some nice looking goats! I bet the new home is anxious to get Prim’s beautiful babies. And Murphy looks all grown up.


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## MellonFriend

KY Goat Girl said:


> Is it just me or is Zeb more lanky than the others? Maybe it’s just the camera.


Yep, Zeb is a lanky noodle boy. I will not be repeating the Bella/Cullen breeding for that reason. That look is not what I'm after.



Rancho Draco said:


> Wow Carol turned out really nice!


Carol is the best of my kid crop this year, in my opinion. 



Goatastic43 said:


> So cute!  I can’t wait to see how Murphy’s kids turn out!


Me too! I'm going to be way more nervous for her than my other does.



FizzyGoats said:


> Wow, they are growing from simply adorable to some nice looking goats! I bet the new home is anxious to get Prim’s beautiful babies. And Murphy looks all grown up.


They told me they are very excited!


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## Cedarwinds Farm

Your goats are looking great, as always!


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## Dandy Hill Farm

What a gorgeous herd you have!! I also can't wait to see Murph's kids. 😍 Are you hoping to have a new buck by then to breed with her with?


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## MellonFriend

Thanks everyone! 😊



Dandy Hill Farm said:


> Are you hoping to have a new buck by then to breed with her with?


 Not this year. I'm going to breed her to Cullen even though he's her uncle. I just can't swing it this year, but next year I'm hoping to find her, her special man. 😘


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## MadHouse

All of your kids look great! I like Zeb’s look, maybe because I have Nubian mixes. He looks like my Coco.


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## toth boer goats

How cute.


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