Pitter Patter Of Little Feet

The past few days I've noticed Xena Warrior Goat has become rounder and rounder and her udder hanging lower and lower. This morning she wasn't standing near the front fence as she usually does and she didn't run over to meet me when I opened the gate to her paddock but I managed to entice her out with some pellets and shut her and the two others in the hen house field for the day.

On arriving home from Otane in the mid afternoon I busied myself lighting the fire and feeding the bunnies before I headed out to see what the goats were up to. Gretel and Heidi were waiting by the fence but there was no sign of Xena. However when I went to feed the chooks I saw a flash of white under the macrocarpa shelter belt and there she was with a little kid drinking from her.

I was sooo excited that I rushed to put the others into the orchard field and took Xena some pellets to entice her out. I didn't need to however as she brought her new offspring over to say hello. The baby was wobbly on its feet and still wet so obviously only newly born but it bravely came towards me and allowed me to touch its tiny face. On dark I went out again to check on mother and child and had to make my way through the undergrowth and under the trees to find them. Xena got up and wandered over and her kid began bleating before walking over to me and saying hello again. Once again I was allowed to touch it without Xena becoming aggressive which was so thrilling considering how wild she was just a few weeks ago (the photo to the left shows Xena, Gretel and Heidi their first day here). She is such a proud Mum, licking the baby constantly and standing patiently while it suckles.

Since then I have been on the phone ringing my friends and leaving messages for those I can't contact to tell them I'm a proud grandmother.