Vervain's Debut

On Sunday, the 22nd, Earth Day, right after breakfast, Violet gave birth to a single kid. The baby was huge, as big as her week-old cousins. Like all the rest, she was on her feet within ten minutes. We waited, but no twin came. When we peeked under her tail, we high-fived: another doeling! Her name is Vervain. Now she is three days old, and in a break between dramatic rain and (sigh) snow showers today, she joined her herd outside for the first time.

Vervain and Violet

Vervain was timid for a few minutes, but she was soon ready to explore. 

Violet is a Helicopter Mother

Hoppiness

Today was the first day outside for Juniper's kids, Jade and Jasmine. They got some exercise and met their herd mates, including Pansy's kids. Sorry for the lousy video quality; the cuteness comes through anyway.

The Cuteness

Cotton Hill Farm just got a lot cuter. Pansy had her kids on Friday the Thirteenth, a buckling and a doeling. Here they are like five minutes after they were born. That's the little guy taking his first steps.

 

Today I tried to get Pansy out into the sun for a bit with little Petunia and Billy Goat. They were all pretty cautious about leaving the shed, but they played outside for a few minutes.

 

All weekend, the vigil continued for Juniper. We started to think she had forgotten to have her kids, even though she was so wide she could barely walk around.

 

The waiting paid off, though. Yesterday after a short and simple labor, she delivered two little girls! After that, we saw the first rainbow of the year. Sometimes life is beautiful.

Jade

I can already tell she's an adventurous one; she was outside the barn when I went up in the morning. 

Jasmine

 Juniper's kids have pink noses and giant rabbit ears!!!

 

We have a short break now before Violet kids. Stay tuned for progress reports and more cuteness.

Suspenseful Spring Saturday

Mostly what we are doing is waiting for Juniper to give birth. Today might be the day. She is large.

Jumbo Junie

Last night we checked on her at 2 AM. The moon was so bright that we didn't need a flashlight. When we got back fifteen minutes later, the bed was still warm.