On yet another very cold day our first doe decided to kid down and we now have a set of twins, a doe and buck all though not from papered parents are non the less full blood Toggenbergs. Molly the mother already has more than enough milk so I am stealing a bottle a day from her and putting it in the freezer for any orphan lambs that we may have during lambing time.As it was cold we put the heat lamp on for the first few hours until the kids had dried off and had their first couple of feeds. The picture of all three with molly chewing red licorice is not what it seams. Most animals will eat their after birth as it is full of iron, vitamins and minerals, it is very beneficial but often folks get squeamish or grossed out and take it away from them. This is wrong as it is a completely natural thing to do. Along with all the goodness, in the wild it helps get rid of the smell and evidence of new born's and so helps protect the young from predators.
Take a look at my new milking stand that Molly is standing on, space age! Its is made of aluminium and folds up weighing 35 lbs, you only live once so I splurged and ordered it in from Sydell in South Dakota. My old ones at our other ranch were fixed to the wall made of wood and you needed a tractor to move them.
