My Maternity Ward Runneth Over

Our girl, Fritzen, finally had her babies today. It was rather anti-climactic when compared to Chardy's labor and delivery, as I just missed the big event and though we were expecting something like half a dozen little babies to come flying out of her, Fritzen had just four.

I found them when I brought down their afternoon snack. I heard lots of baby bleating and squinted against the drizzle to make out the shape of a teeny-tiny black and white baby against the dark outline of Fritzen. By golly, she'd gone and done it all alone.

In total she delivered four kids, three does and a buckling, but one tiny black doe was stillborn. I picked her up from the straw to see if there was anything at all to be done for her, but there wasn't.

The other three babies were fairly perky, though on the small side. The itty-bittiest one has been named Oreo


Oreo, a doeling, less than an hour old!


To give you some sense of how teeny these babies are, the hulking beast at the green bucket is 9 week old Blackjack. Left to right - Blackjack, Buckley, Oreo and Fritzen, peeking in.

Oreo is quite thin and extremely screamy when you pick her up. I shot two squirts of goat drench down her throat to perk her up a little, and it seems to have worked, though I'm still worried for her. I'm not sure I'll rest easy tonight.

The other babies are also both small, but measurably more robust than Oreo. They are Valentine, a doeling, and Buckley, a buckling. They are nearly identical, with the main difference being that Buckley has a bigger white top knot than his sister. Unless they're right next to each other, I can't tell who's who!


Fritzen checking our her newborns, Valentine in the foreground, and Buckley just behind.

These guys got some goat drench and supplemental colostrum too, but seemed pretty perky of their own accord. I iodine-dipped everybody's umbilical cords, brought out the warming blanket, and brought all of the Mamas lots of extra grain, apples and hay. I'm hoping that this will tide everyone safely over 'til morning.

I can't believe this Boggy Hollow baby boom! Did I mention that we also had another litter of baby bunnies born this weekend? We've had 13 healthy babies born in just the past four days. Thankfully, unless Blackjack or Prince Charming sneak one by on us, we shouldn't have anymore babies until Gertie delivers in May, which is fine by me, because right now I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails. This old gal has had enough excitement for one week. Now the countdown to milking time is on! :)


Fritzen, plus all six babies, Valentine, Blackjack, Buckley, Oreo, and heaped in the corner Barley & Hop.