Triple the Trouble on 3/3

On Saturday, March 3rd, Russ called me to the barn.  "Annie's in labor," he said.  Annie is our Nubian goat that we had been watching closely for over a week as her due date had come and gone.  As I looked in the stall, nestled in the hay, Annie was most definitely in labor.  She was groaning.  Trouble is, she was right next to an old deep freeze that we store chicken feed in.  I pulled her to give her kid(s) room to be born.

Wouldn't you know she stood up with two feet hanging out!  She seemed to stop having contractions.  I began to wonder if I should pull, but my better judgment won out and I let nature take its course.

Annie began to push and pretty soon the baby goat's back end was out...

Then everything but the baby goat's front end was out...

Plop!!  In a very unceremonious entry into the world, the baby hit the ground.  "It's alive," Russ said.

In a minute or two, Annie began straining again, only to deliver ANOTHER baby goat.  She went to work cleaning them up by licking on them.  Wow, twins!  Annie wasn't even that big.  How could they both fit in her?

I walked back to the house, leaving Tricia in the barn for a minute.  When I returned, she looked through the window and said, "Rosie had a third one while you were gone."  Amazing.

Just like in her previous kidding, Annie has delivered two little doelings and a buckling.  She was being a good momma, taking care of them and making sure all three of them were tended to.

It didn't take long at all for the babies to struggle to their feet on wobbly legs and start looking for some milk.  Tricia helped them find what they were looking for to ensure that they got colostrum - a necessity for a good start.  Annie patiently (for the most part) let them nurse.  A goat has 2 teats and there are three goats.  The math doesn't quite work out, but the goats seem to get enough milk.

Baby goats are the cutest thing.  They make Tricia happy just to watch them.

I put them atop the deep freeze to get a good look at them.  They don't have as many spots as Annie, and one has a mostly white face.  They are curious creatures.  Curious looking, too.

Tricia keeps really good records.  She came outside later and informed me that two years ago ON MARCH 3RD, Annie gave birth to her first set up triplets!!  What are the chances that she would deliver triplets again exactly two years ago to the day?!  Goats have a high probability of giving birth to triplets or twins.

It will be fun watching the babies grow (we haven't named them yet), but we are running out of space on Our Maker's Acres Family Farm and we will be looking for buyers for Annie's triplets from two years ago.  Hopefully we'll be able to find a good home for Buckwheat, Darla, and Jane.