Winter Babies at the Ranch

My mother-in-law Julia's ranch is a working goat ranch. Her daughter Kathy and son-in-law Richard run a thriving ranch, with many goats running all over the place (sometimes even where they're not supposed to). Some years the goats give birth at odd times, spring being the most common time to increase the herd. These twins were newly born this week, at the start of winter, and just in time for the first cold snap we've had here.

Frank (grandpa), Kevin (dad), and Isabella, John, and Francesca came by this morning and wanted to see the "new goaties," so we trekked across the goat pen to the nursery, a small barn equipped with individual pens for moms and kids, and warming lamps to ward off the cold. There were several pens occupied, some with single kids, some with twins.

These two above were the cutest of the bunch, and I was very careful not to wake them up. Momma goat watched me closely, but did not move and so the twins slept on.


This newborn kid just couldn't resist chewing on mom's chin whiskers, but she was very patient and let him chew away. Here's another picture of the pair. Doesn't it look like mom is smiling?

All in all it was a nice day at the ranch, the overcast skies and drizzly weather notwithstanding. I understand that tomorrow the weather will be more "normal" for Texas. That means, windy and warm. High of 80 degrees F.