Precious Find

I was poking around the barn before going to bed, looking for duck eggs. I had recently let the ducks loose in the barn - nice for them but harder to find their lovely big round eggs. Thank you Lord I ventured kind of far back (my barn is 240 feet long!) and thought I heard a "muttering" in the dark, unlit extension of the East End. I had no head light but followed the sound into the darkest, coldest corner of the way back end and sure enough a tiny bleat of a baby pierced the blackness. I felt around with my hands and found a tiny, wet angora goat kid in the dirt! I instinctively felt the belly for a scrotum - it's a girl!! With the cold and dampness tonight she surely would have froze by morning, if I found her then. I tried to get mom to follow me into the lighter, warmer part of the barn but she was reluctant to come along. I put the baby in the dry hay next to Chris the llama and went to get Matt to help. When I came back with a sweater and my gear to get them situated mom had lured the baby back into the darkness. This is a mature doe, and, sadly, NOT one of the goats Jim sheared the other day. Mom is a mass of felted curls and had to be clipped or the baby would never find the teat. Took a bit of doing but we got Mom and baby girl in their jug with nice fresh hay and water, and a full belly of Nutri Drench and colostrum for Baby. She has a sweater on and should be fine until morning when I can make sure she's nursing. Angora goat kids are pretty quick to figure out where the teat is. This doe kid is a deep, rich brown and just gorgeous. Thank goodness for those duck eggs.