Kids Born at Purewater Hollow! (Take 2)

It has been 11 days since Mamma Belle gave birth to her kids, in which 2 of three survived. (One boy and one girl.) Belle and both kids seem to be doing great!

Now, Belle’s kids will have some nephews to play with! Little LuLu gave birth to 2 cute little black and white boys today! LuLu had bolted out of her stall earlier today when Matthew opened it to feed her and she headed up the hill! She did not seem to be in labor at that time.

A bit later, the pigs came down to the house, (which is unacceptable). When the children ran the pigs back up to the barn, Matthew noticed that LuLu was not with the other goats on the hill. A brief search revealed 2 little kids and LuLu just a bit above the goat barn. The kids were dirty from rolling down the steep hill some, but they were ok otherwise. We carried the kids down to the stall where we had been keeping LuLu and eventually rounded LuLu up and got a rope around her neck to take her back to the stall. She was not very cooperative, but after some sweat and work, Matthew persuaded her to get back into the stall.

Here is what they looked like when we found them:





You can sort of tell how steep the hill is in these shots:




And here they are exploring the barn stall:



And starting to nurse off LuLu:



When we left the barn, mother and babies were all doing fine. LuLu was cleaning up the kids and they were both nursing some on each side of her udder.

Belle gave birth to the first kids of Purewater Hollow, but LuLu gets an asterisk in the record books as giving birth to the first kids actually born on Purewater Hollow soil. (Belle technically gave birth over the ridge about 50 feet off of our property, but LuLu delivered right in the heart of the goat lot on the hill.) !

So, our goat herd of 5 has now increased to 9 with the addition of these three boys and one girl. We will probably keep them all for the foreseeable future, making the boys wethers, and allowing them all to continue clearing up the briars and kudzu, making the hillside suitable for cattle one day, hopefully.

This may not be the best time to mention this next fact, but LuLu, the mother, is half Alpine and half Boer. Alpine is a milk breed, but Boer is a meat breed. It is possible that LuLu’s kids could be very benefitial to our homestead as a meat supply, someday, even though that is not neccessarily our plans for this litter.

We are thankful to God, and the future of our homestead is in His hands, as always. We just want to be good stewards of what He gives to us!

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1 comment
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sassyfras on May 25, 2009 at 4:32 am
Sounds like things are going good.There is just something about an animal being born on your own land, for the first time that just makes you step back and just praise !!!! Have a wonderful day.