Dairy goats need to be bred periodically in order to maintain their milk production. A Nigerian Dwarf goat's lactation cycle is around 300 days. The gestation period is 5 months, and the babies need to be nursing for the first 2 months of the 300 day lactation. Given all those numbers, we figure that we need to breed each of our two goats about every 16 months in order to keep a steady flow off milk for our household. So, around every 8 months or so, we welcome 1-3 new goat babies!
The babies will stay with their mom until they are 8 weeks old, and then they will be re-homed. We feel confident that they'll find wonderful homes!
The light-colored girl, brown eyes.
The dark-colored girl (with a white spot on her head and chest!), brown eyes.
The boy, with blue eyes.
The light-colored girl, stretching her long legs...
...and showing off her beautiful markings!
The dark-colored girl nursing...
...and saying hello.
The boy getting some love from his mom...
...and then falling asleep on his feet.
The baby Dwarf goats are quite little -- they're smaller than a chicken!
Our neighbors came by to visit the babies. Peaberry is wondering why no one is paying attention to her (she's usually the center of attention).
Dasha and her 3 kids.
(Thanks to Brian Kraft Photography for the photos.)
3 comments:
I admit, I am a sucker for babies of any species, but still, that's darn good photography! You want to come over and take pics of my kids? (-;
Thanks, Tiffany! I have to confess that I didn't take the photos myself. There are many benefits to having a professional photographer for a husband. Brian does take lots of photos of kids, and they always turn out beautifully. If you want to see some of his work, visit his website at http://www.BrianKraft.com He has a lot of great kid/family photos in his "Portraits" gallery.
I can't get enough of these goats. I think I need one. About a year ago I dreamed my husband traded our lawnmower for a goat. I've been stalking your husband's site for two days - love his work! I'll give you a call this summer some time - would that be okay? Our last professional photos were when we got the pic in my profile taken. Now my boys are 9 and 4. Time to do some more! (-:
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