Twin doelings again!

Two nights ago, I checked Alexandria's tail ligaments, and they were soft enough that I went looking for my baby monitor. We got it hooked up before going to bed, and the dear doe was kind enough to let us have a good night's sleep. But shortly before eight, we heard something that got Mike out there rather quickly. But then he came back in and said that she appeared to be fine. Half an hour later, however, I asked him to go check on her again because I kept hearing bleating. He didn't come back this time.

"There is a long string of mucous hanging out, and she's pushing," he said over the baby monitor.

I got dressed and headed out. Alexandria did not look terribly happy when I arrived, although she didn't seem quite as freaked out as most first fresheners. She kept pushing, but we didn't see anything other than mucous. Mike asked if I'd like some coffee, and I said that would be great.

A few minutes after he left, Alexandria started to sound and look more serious. She stopped bleating, but when she pushed, you could hear this low sound down deep in her throat. I looked at her back end, and it was starting to bulge, but I didn't see a hoof. A few more pushes, and I saw a black nose. Although a hoof would be perfect, a nose is okay. And there was a tongue sticking out of the side of the mouth. After the head was completely out, there was a hoof next to the neck. The rest of the kid's body slid out easily. I moved it to a towel next to Alexandria's head, and I started to wipe it off. I lifted the hind leg and didn't see any testicles, so assumed it was a girl.

Mike walked in with my coffee, and I said, "We have a girl!" We were both quite happy about that because two doelings were already reserved out of this kidding. As soon as Mike handed me the coffee, I realized Alexandria was pushing again -- while still licking the first kid! Talk about multi-tasking! I took a quick sip of coffee and grabbed a dry towel. This kid was a textbook presentation with two hooves sticking out, then a nose. It was born quickly, and I put it next to the other kid. Mike said he saw testicles, but when I lifted the hind leg, I didn't see any. I lifted the tail, and it was definitely a doe. After the dreadful buck-doe ratio we had in the spring (29-19), I could hardly believe our luck had changed so much, so I double-checked the first kid, and yep, it was really a doe.

In a few minutes, both doelings were trying to stand on wobbly legs. They were bumping their noses all over Alexandria and screaming, "feed me!" (That's a loose translation.) But Alexandria was not standing up. Her belly didn't look terribly small yet, so I wasn't sure if there was another kid inside, but after ten or fifteen minutes, she finally stood up, and the kids were looking for breakfast. Alexandria did have me a bit worried initially because every time a kid latched on, she would start to walk, effectively pulling the teat out of the kid's mouth. She was fine with me milking her, so we put some grain in front of her, hoping that would distract her enough that the doelings could get a decent meal. She was not terribly patient, so the kids were getting small snacks. I kept an eye on her for most of the day to make sure the babies were indeed getting enough to eat, and within a few hours, she had calmed down and figured out that she needed to stand still while they nursed.

They're doing great today, so it is time to commence spoiling! I've spent so much time with the babies that were born last month that they are ridiculously friendly. Whenever I go near them, they start jumping on me until I pick them up for cuddling. It sure is fun to have only a couple of kids a month so I can spend lots of individual time with each one.