Little Mammas & Receiving Goat Worship

I am happy to say that I believe both Lilly and Annabelle are pregnant as neither have appeared to come into heat since their dates with Lux. I am considering either ultrasound or blood tests to be certain, and so I will be calling the vet this week to inquire about that and see what they think.

I am nuts with excitement! I have been reading as many articles as I can find about caring for pregnant goats, the actual kidding, and then the first several weeks of kid care. I have been watching kidding video after graphic kidding video to try and desensitize myself to the process - and I think it has been working because now I feel less terrified. I have drawn out kidding pen plans, and gone over the plans with my husband (the saint). I have updated the website but I wish I had better photos of my little mammas - that was something I neglected to get last summer. I am hopeful to find homes for the kids, although if each doe only has one kid I may not need any homes other than my own ;)

Behaviorally I think the mammas are more affectionate toward me. I have always said my boys worship me but my girls only appreciate me. Well, I have been feeling worshiped by the girls lately, too. With goats, appreciation looks like this: you sit down on a bench and they come over, curious to see why you are there. You scratch them, they like it, but then they wander back to whatever it was they were doing before you got there (eating, most likely). With goats, worship looks like this: you sit down on a bench and they come up and snuggle, looking for scratches. They nibble gently on your sleeve, and maybe even paw you if you stop scratching. They will hang out with you as long as you sit there. Receiving Goat Worship is better than any drug.

So this leaves me wondering: has the breeding made this change in the does' behavior? Or is it just their age? When they were little kids they loved to hang out with me, but then became more distant - maybe they went through a "teenage" stage where they were too busy to really snuggle, and now they have settled into their mature personalities? They will be two years old in May. I really don't have the answer but I do know I LOVE having my snuggly girls back!