Capri and Summer arrived at our house Saturday, March 10, 2012.
Ongoing photos and stories about them will be added here as time passes.
Laying down is Mom, Capri (formerly Allie).
Looking on is Summer who is Capri's daughter from last year (one kid of three).
Capri's full name is Capriola RB Italian Sunset and was born August 12, 2009.
Daughter's full name is VerandaBeach CRW Summer Daze, born January 7, 2011.
Capri's new kids are due on April 1st, perhaps as early as March 25th.
Fortunately, this is her second litter and all went well last year, but it is my first.
More photos in the future.
Video
Barely 12 hours old - you gotta admire that heart and determination.
She tried and tried to get on that bale, went to her big sister for help and kept right on trying.
Finally, convinced Mom it was time for lunch.
She did finally master scratching her ear. :-)
The talking you hear in the background is Mom talking to her.
She does that nearly continuously - likely part of the bonding process (coupled with the frequent grooming). Towards the end, you hear a different noise - that is baby talking. It sounds almost like a baby cough.
| Baby
Diary [Ginger's Pedigree] |
|
| Tuesday, March 27th, evening |
Baby weighs 4-1/2 lbs. this
afternoon. Evening brought mischief from the two adults. Early evening, I had lain down on the sofa and fell asleep briefly (little sleep last night with new baby born), woke up and noticed on the goat t.v. that neither Capri nor Summer were visible - that could not be. I went out to check. I had forgotten to secure the "gate" and both of them were on this side of it waiting to get back in, especially Capri (Baby on the other side; they did not take her on their adventure). As I looked back into the garage, I noticed a carrot laying on the garage floor. Those mischief makers had found the two boxes holding my veggies from the produce drop and helped themselves to carrots! Also took a couple of bites out of apples but must have like the carrots better. I really did have to laugh! Given the amount of trouble they could have gotten into, this was minor (and healthy). They now know where the good stuff is and they most assuredly will not forget. <g> (Didn't think I needed to put my veggies in the feed barrel.) I wonder if last night when Summer was following me everywhere if she scouted it out for later! |
| Wednesday, March 28th |
Baby finally made it onto the
bale of hay, quite an accomplishment for such a tiny girl. The
4-6 inches of straw and hay on the floor give her a bit of a head
start; we won't tell her, however, she is so proud of herself. |
| Friday, March 30th |
Baby weighs 6 lbs. and is
munching at hay - she is a big girl now. Now that she had
mastered getting up on the hay bale, she runs and jumps on the bale,
spins around and jumps back down. She is quite
proud of herself. She also jumps straight up in the air, like she
has a built-in pogo stick. |
| Saturday, March 31st |
Gave baby her own little bucket
of water today; someone drank the water but it is unlikely it was her,
too much for such a tiny tummy. I had seen photos of a "warming
hut" made from a 50-gallon plastic barrel and thought that might be the
answer for keeping her little things away from others and giving her a
place where her sister cannot reach her. The design was great and
I was going to make one. However, when I was at the chicken yard, I
looked over at my compost bin - it would be perfect! Without the
lid, it has the perfect space for the heating lamp (postioned just
above it, not in it), has the vents to ensure it does not overheat, and
its access door for a little body to run through. It also gives more
floor room than a barrel. Perhaps the compost bin can now be sold
multi-purpose as a kid hut. <g> (Mine is similar to the one
here
though mine has two sections versus one and no advertising.) Today she is definitely munching on the hay though she undoubtedly is still too young to actually eat it. She is being like the big goats though, she jumps on and off the hay bale and can "eat" hay just like them. Her favorite thing right now seems to be running at the hay bale and jumping up, turning around quickly and jumping back down alighting at a run. It is not currently raining so the door to outside is open so she has been engaging in her second day of seeing a much bigger world. |
| Sunday, April 1st |
Today, baby is named -
Ginger. Still to decide on her full name for registration
(limitations because of requirement to include the breeder's herd name
as the first part). Also, found Capri coming out of the warming
hut; Victoria saw her do it later and said she "army crawled" out -
that pretty much described it. So much for Ginger's own hideaway. Lots of company this afternoon, Rachel and Matt come to visit (and took great photos). Darin and family were here for dinner so Ginger had lots of attention as did Capri and Summer. |
| Monday, April 2nd |
When Ginger was born, I said she
was about the same size as my cat. Tonight, I verified it. I brought
her inside for about five minutes (yes, risky, I know). Taylor
and she would be the same size if Taylor were to stand all the way up.
She wasn't sure exactly what the new critter was and it is clear that
Ginger will soon be much taller. Interesting enough is that because
Taylor is part Manx and Ginger mostly walks with her back legs bent,
right now
they walk much alike. Ginger would have like to play and may have
attempted if I had been braver and left her inside longer but, alas, no
diaper so her time was limited. |
| Thursday, April 5th |
Brought a new bale of hay in
today and put it in the outside shelter. Summer was laying on it
and Ginger decided to get up also and was quite surprised when she
didn't quite make it. It is higher than the one in their stall
because it isn't surrounded by 4-6 inches of bedding. She,
however, will keep trying until she makes it. It so fun to watch
her play/practice and it never ceases to amaze me that she can be
standing still and jump straight up and alight running. Her legs
are getting noticeably longer so that jumping is getting higher.
She is also really eating hay now, not a lot but she has figured out
that if she chews it enough, she can swallow it and even "chews cud"
like the big goats though she likely doesn't really have a cud to chew
but is definitely going through the motions. She sniffs at the treats
but isn't sure wha tto do with them. After her weight staying at
six pounds for several days, she finally put on another pound and is
now seven pounds. She truly likes to
climb onto laps. She and her mom have their doctor's appointment
next Monday. |
| Wednesday, April 11th |
Ginger made her first trip to
the veterinarian today; she officially weighs 8-1/2 pounds. She
got all her well-baby shots (really, just like human babies only
different shots). She also went through the not-so-pleasant
experience of disbudding. Her sweet little horns were just
starting to grow so it was time. There is a lot of controversary
about whether or not goats should have horns so I was on the fence
about it, really leaning toward disbudding not wanting to ever risk
injury to Sienna's eye since she will be playing with the goats.
Then I learned in addition to catching in feeder, often horns are used
to disable other goats by catching the opponent's leg between the horns
and breaking the leg. |
| Monday, April 16th |
Today, we all went to the front
side yard where there are some blackberries growing again and
dandelions. Ginger chewed on a blackberry leaf, thought about it
for a moment or two and decided this was great and munched more!
Everyone liked being out but were ready to go back "home" when it was
time. Of course, berry treats on the "home" side may help a lot. |
| Wednesday, April 18th |
We all went to the front side
yard again today. All three, yes three, were eating blackberry
leaves and new rye grass. Ginger watched the older ones eat
dandelions and decided to try them. She dove right in and ate
more so her diet has expanded to include blackberries and dandelions
as extra good things. When she wasn't eating, she was running to the sidewalk and down the alley to the "home" gate and back again. She really loved the long stretch to run and seemed to enjoy hearing her little hooves clip-clopping on the pavement. She certainly has boundless energy! The way she was running all out was very much like a puppy - she is about the same size as well. She was sure having fun. She will need to be leash-trained very soon to ensure she doesn't go into the street - now I need to figure out how I am going to take three goats on leashes at once! |
| Monday, April 23rd |
Ginger was squealing loudly and
objectingly, the first time that loud so I went out to check what was
going on, picking up the video camera on the way out. When I got
out there, they appeared to be playing. However, after a few
minutes, Capri was being a bit contrary to Summer. Because this
is not usual behavior for her, I wonder if Summer did something to
Ginger and Capri was "putting her in her place" as mother to both of
them. Video at YouTube: http://youtu.be/sKIhzVEYVhI |
| Friday, April 27th |
Ginger thinks she is a big goat
now. Yesterday, she ate a berry treat. She has been sniffing them
for some time now and watches the big goats thinking she wants some too
so this was a big deal to her to actually eat a little bit. This
evening she ate a little bit of grain from my hand, until now it has
been only sniffing and thinking. She really is growing up way too
fast. |
| April 1,
2012 Neighbors Rachel and Matt came
to welcome Ginger to life and all three to the neighborhood.
Matt brought his camera and took some wonderful photos which we are
sharing here.It is Rachel who manages our buying club produce drop from whence came the carrrots and apples Summer and Capri helped themselves to Tuesday night. |
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| Ginger 6-1/2 days old |
Rachel
holding Ginger |
Summer,
Ginger's big sister, now 14 months old |
Rachel with
Summer and Capri, new mom with her last year's baby |
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