Collared Kids

 The baby girls are finally big enough to get collars.

 Francesca is wearing the same color as their mother, and Lucia is wearing Luciano's purple. It just kind of happened that way, but I think it's very fitting as the two girls remind us so much of each of their parents in both personality and markings.

 They have been coming out everyday now for morning and evening chores. Rialey is still very protective of her little charges, never letting the adult goats harass the kids too much.

 Francesca: "I'ma knock you off dis thing!"

"Hey, where'd ya go?"

  The next thing for these girls is some collar and leash training that I probably should have started a long time ago. Life with goats is so much easier when you can grab them by the collar and move them without a fight. We will also start getting them used to being tethered. We would never leave a tied up goat unattended for long, but you never know when you might need to keep a goat in place for a few moments. Lord knows they aren't very good at taking a "stay" command! 

Banished Baby Goats

  For their first few weeks of life, we often keep the bottle baby goats in the house. We use dog crates and xpens to keep them contained to certain area where we line the floor with pee pads. It's a lot of work, but we think it's safer and easier than trying to keep them outside when they are so vulnerable and need several feedings a day.

  Francesca and Lucia are no long small and vulnerable. They are over 15lbs now and can hop right out of our shorter xpen and onto the coffee table. They had a knack for peeing on the couches and loved to parkour off the furniture, us, the dogs, and the walls at top speed! Since they have turned into downright maniacs in the house, the baby girls are now living outside full time.

 Don't fret though, they are not locked into the backyard pen all the time. In fact, they have access to our large and slightly overgrown backyard most of the day. They spend their nights cozy in the pen with a nightlight and a thick bed of hay for snuggling up to sleep. Goats around here have it very rough.

 They are still getting three bottles a day, but both girls have started nibbling on grass and leaves. They are also chowing down on the goat feed we leave out for them between bottles. I really don't think we've ever had kids who transitioned to real food so quickly and easily.

  We are still loving the bottles we got from Premier 1 Supplies. I was afraid that as they grew, the babies would have trouble with the small size of the prichard teats, but these girls tank down 13oz very quickly with no problems at all.

  While we do miss having the girls around all the time, they are just out the back door and still get plenty of love and attention. Pretty soon they will be big enough to start having adventures in the pastures like real goats!

Fun in the Sun

  For the first couple weeks of their lives, baby goats need to be bottle fed every few hours. Doing this is rather difficult when Big Onion and I both have to work our day jobs.

 These pictures are from a day the girls spent with me at my work. You already see Josie's attitude coming out in little Francesca! This one is going to be a handful! 

There is little more fun than watching baby goats run around like little fools!

 Even though they were a surprise, we are totally smitten with these two sweethearts.

The end!

Francesca and Lucia

Early last week, I got the baby girls out for more pictures.

 They are doing great! They are by far the most active, inquisitive, and fastest growing kids we have ever had.

 Poor little Francesca bumped into Sonny, our 13 year old mostly deaf sheltie, while he was sleeping, and he nipped her in the face before realizing what was happening. She ended up with cuts on her nose and the side of her mouth, but both are healing just fine. The wounds didn't slow her ability to put away a bottle of milk like it's nobody's business!

The ever watchful shepherd. 

 Rialey keeps a close eye on her baby goats. She has finally learned that it's ok for them to run around and jump on things and that they don't need constant knocking down and grooming.

 The girls are building up their guts by nibbling on dirt and gnawing on tree stumps. We have a bowl of goat chow and chopped alfalfa for them to munch on in the house. It won't be long before they start really chowing on greens outside.

OK, can we go back in now?