# So excited



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

that I have to post somewhere and as I have NO fibre news right now can I post it here - please, please? 

My BT goat, who was due to kid today, just delivered me TRIPLETS 

one little golden boy just like his dad, and one black and white and one black and tan girls who are just like ......... er........ no-one. Haven't got a clue where they came from, or quite what the deal is with the genetics there.

But they are healthy, lively, and born easily - we were there at 11.30 and I told DD that I thought it would be either today or tonight. Went back at 2.00 to check them and they were all on their feet and bouncing and nearly dry 

Thanks for letting me share 

hoggie


----------



## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

You do know that we like pictures, right? But congratulations and many happy hours!


----------



## Madame (Jan 1, 2003)

Oh, enjoy them!


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Congrats hoggie!

So what is a BT goat??









(and can you spin the fiber???)


----------



## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Congratulations! Aren't colour genetics a trip? My Zoe just delivered today as well, just after noon, also triplet girls (the planets are aligned, right?). The first was a breech birth - but it was smooth sailing after that -gave me a scare tho seeing that little tail instead of a nose!









I've wondered about the cashmere like fluff but at 1-2" probably too short, eh?


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Hey Liese - congratulations to you and Zoe too  I can only assume that the 1/4 of the sire's breeding that has black in it has mega strong genes - I will have to look it up to see. It is the only thing that would explain it -- the mum is purebred so no black there, and dad is 3/4 golden Guernsey and looks like a pure bred, so the black genes must come from that last 1/4 - oh well - saves me getting bored 

I will try to do photos in the next couple of days, but I have been having major problems with my photobucket account and get pop-ups that I can't get past everytime I try to access my account there 

MullersLaneFarm - BT = British Toggenburg one of these http://www.britishtoggenburgs.co.uk/breed.htm. She is short coated BUT...... I have been eyeing up the long coats of the Golden Guernseys and wondering if they would spin LOL. 

Oh - we will have LOTS of fun  might not get any work done for a few days though 

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Hoggie Congratulations! Cyndi thanks for asking the question I was going to ask.

Liese, Congratulations to you to.

Hoggie we need pictures!!!!!


----------



## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

It must be goat-triplet time! On Sunday we went to check the goats for a friend (who was away at a horse show and worried about the mamas due to kid) and we found brand new triplets on the ground!

We got 'em dried off (the wind was picking up) and put in the barn, so everyone did fine. It was really quite a neat experience for us! We had only dealt with sheep babies up 'till then, but we figured it couldn't be all that different - you want to see two legs and a nose, right?  Get 'em dry, get 'em nursing, then sit back and enjoy!

Congrats on the babies. They are so much fun.


----------



## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

*YAY!!*

Congrats to everyone on their happy, healthy goatie families!!


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

LOL Marchwind - I will make sure I take cameras with me in the morning, and at least get pictures as far as my computer. Then if I can't get them onto photobucket, maybe someone else would post them for me if I e-mailed them ??

Frazzlehead - Must be something in the air - three lots of triplets 

Cloverbud - it's SPRING  (would insert a dancing smiley but I can't get the smileys to work  )

I have to say that I had a kid born three weeks ago, who was my first. He seemed very weak and wobbly to me, and his twin was stillborn, but being my first goats I wasn't sure. But now looking at these three, the first one is very lucky to be alive. These are skipping around at a couple of hours old. I don't think he even tried to skip for nearly a week. Was about two days before he could even stand up to suckle by himself - we had to support him to let him feed. He's fine now, but the contrast between him and these is amazing.

hoggie


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Isn't it wonderful when they do it on their own! All you have to do is admire the wee ones and praise the mama.


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

But Hoggie, what is a BT goat :bash:

Can't wait to see pictures. I think I love goatie babies better than sheepies.


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Marchwind - a BT is a breed called a British Toggenburg. It looks like this http://www.britishtoggenburgs.co.uk/breed.htm. Because some of our breeds are suffixed with "British" we quite often just refer to them as BA (British Alpine) BT (British Toggenburg). I will take a photo of mum at the same time as the babies so you can see her.

maura - I have been worrying myself silly - I had heard so many horror stories about goats and problems. Touch wood, 2 out of 3 have been OK 

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Ahhhhh! Okay he we just refer to them by Toggenburg or Togg and Alpine. Why the British? Just because they are in Britain? Or is this a whole separate breed? The color looks much lighter than the Toggs I've seen here. BTW they have always been one of my favorite breed.


----------



## Nellie (Oct 18, 2006)

Ooh, how exciting! Congrats!!! My dd (MissMenagerie) has a Nubian that's due any minute. And it's SNOWING!!! ack! Maybe she'll have trips, too, if it's in the air...


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

The "British" Toggenburg and Alpine are totally seperate breeds. The British Toggenburg is similar to the original Toggenburg and I'm not totally sure of the differences between the breeds. I believe the BT is a good bit bigger (mine is an ox  ) and it was bred from the Toggenburg crossed with other Swiss breeds.

The British Alpine is a completely different animal to your Alpines (I was a bit confused when I first came on here and people were talking about Alpines and they look NOTHING like mine  British Alpines look like this http://www.britishalpines.co.uk/ They are always black with the white swiss markings.

I went out and took loads of pics today, and have spent a large portion of th erest of the day battling with my photobucket account and installing a firewall. Still no joy though - sorry

LOL Nellie - here's hoping fro trips for you too 

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Hoggie those Alpine are very different from ours.

Have you tried Flickr.com? I have never been able to do photos online until I got a Flickr account. Just a thought.


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2426207832/

try this 

hoggie


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

UGH no - that didn't work - I have the photos uploaded to flickr and now can't figure out how to post them here  Did anyone ever mention that I can be slow sometimmes 

hoggie


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)




----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)




----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

neither did that - i give up 

hoggie


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)




----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Hey - I've got it - right - that is Dad 

I'll go and put up the others now 

hoggie


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

This is mum 










Baby no. 1 The boy - just like his dad 










The first little girl 










And number 3 - excuse the mess in the background - we have just had easterly gales and I have stuffed my back and can't go around picking up pallets at the moment 










And just for good measure - this is Chestnut who will be 4 weeks old on Monday - he is pedigree Golden Guernsey 










hope I am forgiven for the delay 

hoggie


----------



## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Toggs and Alpine are different breeds altogether, actually. And Swiss Alpine are different than French Alpine (I used to have a Swiss - now I have a French. The Swiss are prettier.)

How sweet, hoggie! Oh, the goaties are cute, too .


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Sorry - I worded that badly - I meant to say that British Toggenburgs and British Alpines were totally seperate breeds from Toggenburgs and Alpines - if that makes any sense ? LOL

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yea Hoggie :bouncy: You figured it out! Handsome dad, beautiful mom, and adorable babies. That golden boy sure is a looker. Is he one of your own breeding or did you get him from someone else?

Sorry to hear that you threw out your back .

Oh yea, cute kid (child, human kid) too :cute:


----------



## holleegee (Mar 3, 2005)

Wow, nice looking goats! Your daughter is a doll!


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Marchwind - I bought his mum already in kid, but he was born here. 

hhmm - my back is a real pain - I have so much to do in the garden and am having to put some of it off at the moment, and had to take time off work as well  Luckily all the ground is ready prepared for the new fruit bushes/trees so I can put them in, as they arrive, without too much pain.

Rose - DD is so proud of those babies  It has been such a long wait for her.

holleegee - thanks 

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Hoggie just take care of that back. I bet your DD would be happy to help with any of those chores that need to be done. Can you get some villagers to help out a bit. So nice young boy who thinks his muscles are the best  I only speak from experience as my DS is one of those type of boys/men.

Do you have a local chiropractor or someone you can go to for some relief?

Kiss all the fuzzy heads for me and you daughter too. I bet she is so excited to have the babies.


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Thanks Marchwind - I am nurturing the back as much as I can. DD is being a great help, and it is amazing just how much she can do. Funny how they suddenly get all grown up while you're not watching 

If it goes on much longer I am going to ask my nephew if he would help. Only trouble is they are back to school on Tuesday so he may not have too much time. I have already organised for him to build me a milk stand as, now that my back is bad, I really need one and of course now can't build one for myself.

My mum is trying to get me to go to the osteopath - but I hate going. She always insists on "setting" my neck which terrifies me 

DD is so excited with the babies - only trouble is, now she is angling to keep one of them. The plan was that all of them bar the Golden Guernsey were going in the freezer, but she is falling in love with the triplets and is begging me to let her keep one  I sort of feel that to let her keep one would be setting a precedent and she will want to keep one every time LOL

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Can yo sell the doelings and allow her to have the money from one? Didn't you have 2 doelings and one buckling? I would think the does would fetch a decent price especially if their breding is proven to produce good milk. I know how your daughter feel though. It is a very hard lesson to have to learn. But maybe a good compromise would be to sell the girls and eat the boys or sell them too. Maybe she will learn to like the $$$ more than the goats or however that is supposed to work. Bless her little heart! 

I don't blame you for keeping the Golden boy he is very handsome and I bet he will make for fine breeding stock. What do they look like as adults? Are they known for having good milk? I have never heard of that breed until you brought it up here.


----------



## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Marchwind - it is something we may consider. I am not even really averse to keeping one, it is just that if I let her this time she will be always wanting another LOL

The Golden Guernsey is one of our Channel Island "specials"  It is, however, a breed that has had it's share of troubles. It very nearly died out during WII as both the people of Guernsey, and the occupying German soldiers were starving and a lot of goat got eaten I believe.

A lot of their survival is down to one lady and her family who used to take their goats out to the common (and watch them) to graze by day, and then take them into the house by night. Apparently the adults were tied to teh stair rails, and the kids were housed in the bathroom. There's dedication for you. 

They are officially listed as a rare breed here in the UK. I believe that at one point it was said that for a breed to be "viable" you needed at least 4 distinct male lines that were unconnected for 3 generations back. At the time they were unable to find more than two that weren't connected to each other. But somehow the breed is still around.

They are a little goat - my GG nanny is tiny beside the BT - quiet natured, but not the best milkers in the world I believe. I will tell you when I am milking in full 

Having said we are keeping him, he is having some problems and isn't thriving quite as well as I would like. But we will see how he comes along 

hoggie


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Bless that woman's heart, is she still alive and living on the island? Wouldn't she be a hoot to meet. I think in her shoes I might do the same thing. I'm sure the small gene pool has something to do with the health problems they have. Either way it is a very handsome breed.

Do you not think that if you give her sole husbandry chores of the one (or more) she keeps she might not change her mind about keeping any more? Not sure what your schedule is but if she had to get up with you and milk and do the work for the caring of them she might change her mind. If not right away I'm sure the romance would wear off when she wants to play and she has to work. That is of course unless you have one of those rare children who actually likes work


----------

