Spring babies!!

The day finally arrived! Our Nigerian Dwarf Goat, Jane (officially registered as Janelle), was bred this last fall when we purchased her. We moved Jane and Claire to our urban farm in February, with the knowledge that they would both be kidding this spring. After a good month of observing Jane's behaviors, we knew right away that she was in labor yesterday morning. By 3 PM, she was delivering her babies. I went to check on her (for the 100th time that day) and noticed that she had already delivered one kid. I raced to get Eric, and then raced back just in time to clear the mouth and nose of her second kid. The third one came soon after when all of us were in the shed together. I was so excited and blessed to be the one to "midwife" the delivery while Eric and the little girls looked on. The experience was wonderful. Jane kidded two does and a buck.

Above is doeling Penelope on the left with our buckling Patrick on the right.

Hazel, above. Another sweet doe. Not sure if it is a trick of the camera, or if her eyes really are blue. Remains to be seen.

Eric picked up my youngest sister out in the suburbs yesterday so she could share in the experience. Lucky for them, they arrived home less than an hour before Jane gave birth!

And here's a laugh for your weekend. Selfie Saturday, anyone?

Milking for our own consumption begins in about two weeks. Couldn't be more thrilled that we are actually doing this! And while living in the city! Hopefully in 5 to 10 years we will be on a bit more land out in the country, but for now, while we are in the midst of foster parenting kids in Chicago, we are just excited that we can have the city life with a bit of animal husbandry mixed in. ;-)