Well this was a surprising weekend. But I'm going to make a short story long and begin on Thanksgiving day when David came in saying "we've got a critter in the shed." It was a sick raccoon in the boys pen and we had to get Max (our buck) and Scotchy (our wether) out so the guys could shoot the raccoon. And, since they were out, and since Alice had been acting a little bit interested in Max lately, we decided to just put them in the pen with the girls to see what would happen. Sure enough, Alice and Max were very interested in each other. Mark ALICE - Thanksgiving day on the calendar and start counting. I would have staked my life that no one else saw any action. I'd be dead.
A couple weeks later (Pearl Harbor Day to be exact) Alice was acting very interested again so there was another supervised visit and we have another ALICE marked on Pearl Harbor Day.
We were still trying to encourage our other does so Max went back in for his final visit on January 30. Alice didn't care but he and Hazel were very interested in each other. HAZEL January 30 marked on calendar.
Hazel is a FF Nubian and Alice is second time around mini and both have been getting very round. "Knowing" that Hazel wasn't due til the end of June I was surprised that her bag was filling last week and was very warm on Saturday. That ligament has been getting softer but we're first timers so what do I know. Maybe Nubians just do that? Alice, on the other hand who may or may not have been bred Thanksgiving or Pearl Harbor Day seems fine. No change other than getting rounder so forget Thanksgiving.
So it's Sunday morning, May Day, and our plans are to feed the critters and enjoy a day laying around doing nothing. I'm feeding the chickens when David says the now familiar "there's a critter in the shed" and heads in the house for his gun. Meanwhile I see Hazel heading back into the shed so I hurry into their pen to keep her from going in. Imagine my surprise when a goat baby stumbles out! I grab it up, look inside and by golly there's another one! Both babies are mostly dry but cords are wet and birthing area in the shed is just soaked. Hazel seems calm but as confused as I am because I'm looking at Alice trying to decide if she looks any smaller. She doesn't. Then I notice that Hazel has definitely given birth.
At that point David is headed toward us with the shotgun and I turn around with two baby goats in my arms. We were both pretty much laughing and crying and trying to figure out what to do. I made an emergency run to Walmart for iodine. (I know goats have been born for years without it but that's the only thing I could think to do. Is that the goat equivalent to "get towels and boil water"?)
Hazel seems to be a great and caring mama but she keeps looking at me like "where the heck did these things come from and what am I supposed to do with them" but she has protected them from our curious chihuahua and the neighbor's curious dachshund. (She's perfectly fine to have Finn next to them.
So we've survived our first couple of days as goat grandparents. And yes, Hazel and the babies spend the night in my laundry room last night. They seem to be taking to the pen fine today. The other goats are being nice.
I'm still trying to figure out the whole Immaculate Conception thing and counting the days from Pearl Harbor Day since Alice hasn't popped yet.
Wow! What excitement!
Oh MsDeb that is AWESOME!
I look forward to following you on your journey, as I work toward getting my own dairy goats - hopefully this Summer. 
Actually I think she wanted to fly. Scared the living daylights out of Tripod and Hazel. 
They must have thought she was chasing them so they ran, so she ran with them which made them run faster. That got the boys all excited (what doesn't?) and they were running around in their pen. It was quite the show! Of course I'd left my phone inside and by the time I thought to grab it to take pictures they had all calmed down. Alice wants to make friends.... and dominate. Tripod (who is usually a little bully) kept trying to hide under the glider 
and.... dominate. Hazel just wanted everyone to be nice. Domination is not her thing.
So may we have an update? Finn has now been with you for a while and I really enjoyed that journey as well. How is he doing? Have he and Alice come to a truce? I am so eager to start my goat journey but still have a few months to wait.
