Baby Season Is Fast Approaching

Happy Monday, dear reader. We are officially one week away from Cindy Crawford's due date. Cindy Crawford is one of our beloved Lily's triplets. We have Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Iman. All three girls are long, leggy, and a bit high-maintenance. Cindy is the best mom of the three, but that isn't saying much. All three girls lack mothering skills. So much so that Claudia and Iman went to live at another farm where they were not wanted for babies, just for weed control. Cindy has remained with us and has gotten better at mothering with the help of her mom and grandmother. Cindy has gone from a "drop-and-go mom" to a helicopter mom.

Last year, Cindy gave birth to one little girl, and she would not allow that little lovey out of her sight. Cindy was bellering as if she were in great distress if she got too far away. Once her little one was found, she would settle down and hover over her. After six weeks or so, the little one was tired of her over-vigilant mom, and we swear she would hide to make her mom fuss. Multiple times a day, one of us would go to the pasture, locate Cindy's baby, carry her to her mom, and return to whatever we were doing simply because we were tired of hearing Cindy fuss.

There is no happy medium with Cindy. She is either a negligent parent who allows the baby to fend for itself, or she is smothering her little one with love. Cindy is also difficult on the milk stand. She fusses, frets, and finangles her body, so reaching her teats is almost impossible. She is not The Bibbed Wonders's favorite goat. However, she has some of the best genetics in our herd, so we make allowances for her neurotic behavior.

With Ace Ven-Churro as the new dad, I am curious about how Cindy's babies will look this year. This will be the first year we will have 100% Nubian babies in several years. Abu, our buck, was a Boer goat bred for meat. He was a beautiful boy but became increasingly more aggressive in the last two years. Abu is now living his best life as herd leader for our friend. Although this man takes good care of his herd, he doesn't spend much time with them like we do. He doesn't care that Abu is aggressive during the rut season.

Ace, aka Acers, is a bottle-baby Nubian buck. Bottle babies are super friendly. We have learned quickly how annoying and friendly a stinky buck can be. Poor little Acers doesn't realize his scent is off-putting and offensive. Despite his ripe odor, he continues to want scratches, hugs, and cuddles. Our little guy will not become aggressive any time soon...at least, that is my hope.

Although Ace is strong in gentleness and personality, he is not the beautiful specimen of a man, err, a billy goat, that Abu is. Acers is on the smaller side in build; he has lovely long ears and is a fawn color, which is uncommon in our herd. Jessica is our only fawn-colored nanny goat in the herd. I am curious to see what color combinations we will have this year. I am sure there will be fewer spots. I like spots, but let's be honest, all baby goats are adorable spotted or not.

Please send some good vibes out to our ladies, as baby season is fast approaching. I am most concerned about the weather. Freezing temperatures and swings from warm to cold are brutal on little ones. I pray the weather holds and remains unseasonably warm. We will spend the next week preparing for the arrival of little ones. Stalls must be prepared, our kidding kit has to be restocked, and the mamas' supplements must be purchased. We take every precaution to ensure our babies' and mamas' health and success. Still, every year produces a new scenario that teaches us another lesson.

On this sunny, cold day, stay safe, be smart, prepare for the worst, and hope for the best; stay tuned for baby goat picture overload, and keep washing your hands.