We are still trying to come up with a name for this little cutie and are open to suggestions.

Her coloring gets darker and smoker looking as you move from her golden face to her tail.  

Her name doesn't need to reflect her coloration but it wouldn't hurt either.   She almost has a heart on her side, but it isn't anywhere near as noticiable as her sisters.  My sister has already suggested "Smokey Bottom" - not happening Tia!


UPDATE:  Well that didn't take long!  A Facebook fan suggested "Nutmeg" and my husband added "Waltz" so she is now known as "Wags Ranch TC Nutmeg Waltz".

Rita and her babies are all doing well today.   These pictures were taken at 24hrs old.   All for of the babies are running around but the boys are just bouncing off the walls and enjoying kicking up their heels.

Baby #1 is a doe kid that has been named "Wags Ranch TC Corazon Bonita" which means beautiful heart.    The other babies are unnamed at this time and since the two boys are being sold as wethers the names don't matter so much.   And the fourth kid has such a cool smokey color too her coat that I am trying to come up with something that reflects that.

After days of anticipation Rita finally went into labor about 6pm Sunday evening. 

It was pretty clear from the start that she was having great difficulty.  I finally was able to locate a baby, but they were obviously stuck.  

I wasn't sure what I had a hold of and though it was a breach kid, until I found the teeth and realized the kid had it's head twisted back over its shoulder.  I managed to get the head in the correct position and then had to reposition the leg but out came a beautiful doe kid with a big heart shaped mark on her side.

The next kid out was a buck kid that also needed help out as he was breech and tangled up.  I got him straightened out and then out came a very colorful red and white boy.

Once their siblings were out of the way the third and forth kids were born without any need of assistance.  Number 3 was another buck kid and the final kid was a cute little doe.

At least one of the doe kids will be staying here, and the boys will be available as bottle baby wethers.    More pictures tomorrow when they are completely dry.

Today is day 146 for Rita and still no kids despite her dialation.   Yesterday we would see her udder fill only to have it loose up and stretch out even more.  And then there were all the times she made a nest, laid down and appeared to be having contractions....

Oh well at least we have been having great weather, with day time temps in the low 80's which  makes for a pleasant day spent in the pasture.

Nothing better than kicking back, and enjoying the sounds of nature and a cooling breeze.  :)

Poor Rita, she just looks so miserably large right now but she still has a couple of weeks to go until her due date. of June 6th.  

The children will be out of school by then and along with me are eagerly anticipating this kidding.  Last year she gave us quads and it sure looks like this year will be a repeat of that!  Plus these will be our first kids out of Cadence and we are really looking forward to seeing what we get from him.

We are still up in the air over whether or not her daughter is pregant.   Ityy-Bitty looks slightly pregnant, and it is possible that she could have only miscarried one kid back in March and still have one in there, but she really isn't developing an udder.  I keep debating about doing a pregnancy blood test, but at this point I think we will just wait it out until the end of June when she is due.

Yesterday afternoon a friends doe "Cookies & Cream" who was bred to our buck "Basil" kidded here at the ranch.   I was away at the time so Bekah handled the mid-wife duties and did just fine helping get the babies cleaned up and making sure Cookies had the warm molasses water we always give our does after kidding.   The black & white doe kid has blue eyes, and the chocolate & white doe kid has brown eyes.   I'm not sure at this time which if any of them she will ultimately put up for sale.

Now comes the hard part of raising goats - not being able to keep them all!

Midnight Blues is going to be staying on as a buck - which we are very excited about, but that means his sisters will need to be sold. 

Goldrush has been traded for a proven buck that will be arriving in the next month or two.  That brings my buck total to 4 which is more than we really need, so since we have several Mojo daughters already in our herd he is now for sale. 

Pumpkin Pi (a Mojo daughter) is staying and will be my replacement doe for Mame' instead of Levana.   Pi and I just clicked  from the moment she was born and like her dam (my favorite doe) she will leave the other goats to seek attention specifically from me.   Gotta love that!

We love Confetti - her personality, color, blue eyes and the fact that shie is polled, it is just that her body type isn't matching up with where we are trying to take our herd.  Ari has reluctantly agreed to give up "his" girl.

Finally the cutie pictured here and three cute little guys  will be available as wethers.  Either as bottle babies, now or in about 4 weeks when they are weaned.

We have more goats still to kid this year and so we haven't decided yet if we are going to keep or sell Roni's doe kid "Shirli" yet.  The three pictured below, Midnight Blues, Pumpkin Pi and Roadrunner are all definately staying!

The does have only had their "maternity haircuts" but I thought I'd snap some udder shots anyway.    When the weather warms up I will be giving them full body trims and take more pictures, but I wanted to get some now when they are all about a month into this freshening.   Well except for Roni who kidded less than 48 hrs ago, but I thought I would include her anyway.

Maple's udder 12 hours in milk and 30 days into her 2nd lacation.  She is giving about 4# a day.   She tends to squat on the milk stand so it is hard to get a good picture that really does her udder justice. 

Mame's udder 12 hrs in milk and 28 days since freshening for the 5th time.  She is giving about 4# a day right now.

Choc-o-latte's udder 12 hours in milk and 24 days into her first lactation.   We are quite pleased with her capacity as she is milking a little over 4# a day right now.  Her large orifices makes her so quick to milk, and the texture is so soft!

Roni's udder just under 48 hrs since kidding for the 3rd time.  She only had a single doe kid, so there hasn't been much demand placed on it.  She milked out the equivlent of just over 4# shortly after these pictures were taken. 

Roni finally kidded on day 149 with a single doe kid.   Right now she has hazel eyes so I'm not sure what eye color she is going to end up with, but it won't be blue.

She is a cute little girl with one big spot in the center of her back and two smaller spots on either side of it. 

I think it was one of the oddest labors I have ever witnessed.   Roni's udder filled very rapidly between 6am and my next check on her at 10am.  So I was resonably certain she was going to kid that day.!   She was very restless and calling to her babies off and on most of the afternoon and having visible contractions but never laying down.   For a couple of hours she would only allow my friend Dorothy near her,  and was making the oddest noises.

Finally at 3:30 she lay down and gave some really big pushes.   At that point I thought we would be seeing babies momentairly.  Boy was I wrong!  She repeated that pattern, of 3-4 really hard pushes followed by her getting up and walking around until she finally kidded about 7:15pm.   I was really hoping for twins so I wouldn't have to worry about a lopsided udder, but I am happy that at least her single kid was a very cute doeling.

It seems that Jr thinks that he had something to do with all these bouncing babies running around.  He likes to hang out with the babies and frequently crows over them.

The 10 surviving kids are all doing well, even little Hershey who it turns out is a fearless little thing that is always up for a new adventure.

Tonight we will be seperating the kids from the moms overnight, a process that is sure to be rather loud.   In a day or two everyone will have the routine down and if the kids don't run into their overnight accomadations on their own their moms will send them.  Plus four of the buck kids are being pulled and will be bottle babies as four kids is more than Maple seems to be able to handle and it will be eaiser on Mame' and Choc-o-latte to only have two kids and of course 4 kids snuggled together at night is better than just two.

And while it will seem a bit empty to only have 6 babies in the pasture with the adutls, it won't be empty for long as Roni is due the 5th.   She isn't very large so she could have just a single, but we are hoping for at least twins - preferably doe kids of course.

Also I have added a photo gallery for this years kids under the 2013 Kidding Schedule page.