Finally...

I've been hoping for a black doe kid and finally it's happened.  As I was doing morning chores before work I saw my lovely, aged black doe pawing at the ground. Then she made her "I'm hurting" goat call. That was it - I called Fawn, my aide, to make sure she was okay with my being out today, and called in "goat."  It was a while before a little black gooey bundle was lying on the hay.   Mom was vigorously licking the babies off - a very good sign.  I waited a while to do my clip-dip-strip, as I did not want another reluctant mom on my hands.  Not to worry, this girl not only wants her babies...she wants to kill anybody getting near them, namely me.  I managed to dodge the chopping teeth trying to take a chunk out of me enough to get the baby cords clipped and dipped in iodine ( to prevent germs from traveling in).  Squeezing the waxy plug out of mom's teats was another matter.  I grabbed her horns and put my knee firmly on her neck with my face on her body while I gently nursed out some colostrum into a cup.  Luckily, mom has plenty of thick, wonderful milk for the babes.  I let go and moved away quickly then heard the clamping down of the teeth near the back of my leg.  That would have been a big ouch, but I would have forgiven her because I adore little black angora goats.  Black mohair is my very favorite fiber.  I made sure this girl had a nice belly full of colostrum to get her started.  Typically, her brother, a buck kid, went for mom's teat first.  Some things never change.