My friend called me yesterday and said she had an pregnant angora goat who had prolapsed for the second time (after the retainer had been put in) and wasn't going to make it. She was going to have to put her down anyway, and asked me if I wanted the babies if they were still alive. Well..........much to my husband's dismay, he came home from work to 2 baby goats in the living room!!!

They are so adorable!!! They are 1/2 angora and 1/2 boer, and solid white with the prettiest curly hair. For now they are sleeping in our living room under a heat lamp in a plastic tub, as the temps here are due to drop back into the 30's in the next few days (it's 80 outside now). They are just the sweetest things, but I haven't bottlefed baby goats since I was a child. The only bad part is setting the alarm for 2am and getting up to feed them!

Just wanted to share my good news!

-- Tracey in Alabama (trjlanier@cs.com), March 20, 2002

Answers

Just my opinion, but you do not need to set the alarm to feed them through the night. I always do a late feeding, around 11:00 p.m. & then again in the morning around 6:00. Never had one starve yet. :-)

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), March 20, 2002.

Happy Mom's Day!! You have friends for LIFE!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), March 20, 2002.

Tracy unless you live in a walk in freezer :) get the heat lamp off the kids. You will have sick kids once you put them outside. Honestly they shouldn't even be in a heated house. When you put them back outside do it slowly, considering the temp is probably in the 90's in their bed right now! Don't kill them with kindness, cold dry weather, out in the barn makes them grow more hair, grow and thrive. Keeping them in the house actually does more harm than good! I keep mine out on an unheated porch overnight the first night since I am to lazy to walk out the the barn all the time to offer colostrum, the next day they go on 3 bottles a day and they go out to the barn. Please don't switch to milk replacer, use grocery store milk for at least a couple of weeks, then slowly switch to milk replacer if you have to, no soy, and follow the directions exactly. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 20, 2002.

I agree so much with Vicki, it is way too warm here in AL to have them under a heat lamp! Especially since they're in your house. Put them in a large pet carrier/cage with some towels out on the porch, in an unheated garage, barn, etc. They will be much healthier for it.

Good luck with your sweet babies.

-- Sharon in AL (sharonspaws@aol.com), March 26, 2002.

Our Pygmy goat just kidded today with triplets. The third one born is literally 1/2 the size of the first two. They are ALL BOYS!! I has been in the 30s at night here in Eastern Washington so I put mama and the triplets in the mudroom tonight for the sake of the tiny one. He won't walk yet and he's weak, so I'm afraid to leave him outside. I'd appreciate some feedback regarding the right or wrong of doing this. We don't keep the house above 69 degrees - ever. Thanks, Carel

-- Carel Landess (cllandess@bmi.net), April 27, 2002.