Quadruplets?!

We knew that our goat Nibbles was really big but not THAT big! I wish we would have snapped a picture of what she looked like beforehand but we were thinking triplets or two big twins. The first year we bred Nibbles, she didn't even look pregnant and she surprised us with triplet boys. Last year, we thought she looked quite large and she had two big baby boys. Here's what happened this year.

Monday morning, I was feeding the animals as usual and noticed Nibbles acting a bit unusual. She was secluding herself and making little noises and she doesn't generally make noise. She only ate a small amount of hay and that too is unusual. We decided to put her in the birthing pen along with some fresh, clean straw. My daughter sat out there and watched her for about an hour. I came out to check on things around 11:00 a.m. and could tell that labor was moving along and Nibs began pushing. The first baby came out and it was a big girl so that made us think twins again. Her colors were surprising and delightful! She was almost completely dry before Nibbles began pushing again.

This time it was a big baby boy. She hadn't got very far with drying that one off before she pushed again. This baby was born completely encased in the bag which I ripped open and cleared the airways of the baby. It was a tiny little girl.

Just a couple minutes later, Nibbles became distracted and laid down to push out what I thought was the placenta, only to find another baby completely encased in its bag. I ripped that one open and got her breathing. Quadruplets??!! That came as a total surprise to all of us. They all look different and are easy to tell apart. The two black ones both have cute waddles.

Nibbles is a fantastic mom and has been attentive to all four babies. The runt of the bunch is always concerning so we kept a close eye on her but she is now bouncing and jumping all over the place and nursing great. We are quite confident that Nibbles' milk supply will be able to sustain all of the kids since in the past, she has had an overabundant supply of milk. Again, Shakespeare to the rescue with some names for these little ones. Cordelia, Horatio, Titania, and Viola. So happy they all made it safe and sound!