For Jill Maple-Thomas, of Sinai Thunder Farm out of Wilmore, KY, this was, as she put it a “ “His cup runneth over” kind of week. To her shock and amazement, one of her Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats gave birth to seven live babies this week. Through out the years, Sinai Thunder Farm has seen lots of multiple births with the does, including three sets of quintuplets, but seven is certainly a first. It may even be a Guinness World Record.
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Based on the size of the doe, Jill was expecting her to have at least four or five babies, but certainly not seven! The doe named Goodie, managed to have six of the babies all on her own, but needed a little help by the seventh baby. The smallest baby weighed 1.89 lbs, with most of them averaging around 2 lbs.
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So far, Goodie has been able to feed all 7 babies, three does and four bucks, all on her own. Jill said it's been very interesting to watch. “We have a box in the stall that all the babies sleep in. Goodie will root around in the babies, smelling them and is able to tell which babies haven't nursed yet. She will wake them up and start nudging them out of the box until they get up and nurse.”
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Naming the babies is turning out to be a bit of a challenge. Jill said they had some names picked out but not all “because who has SEVEN babies?!?!?!”. The momma goat's is Rosasharn BH Good-n-Plenty and the sire's name is Little Tots Estate Bellissimo. Names they've come up with so far are Sinai Thunder Tried-n-True, Peaches-n-Cream, Bells-n-Whistles, Heart-n-Soul, Goodie-two-shoes, and Goodness Gracious Jill also said they were open to any suggestions on an additional name, just has to be 16 letters and spaces.
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Right now Jill said she is focused on keeping Goodie in good health so she can continue caring for all her kids. “I'm doing everything I know to do to help her,” she said.
Jill, who has raised registered Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats for years has found that the goats have better milk production when given hot water to drink, so she was making sure offer plenty of fresh hot water to Goodie multiple times through out the day.
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The current Guinness Book of World records has six live baby goats as the standing record. Jill said she's seen a that a few other people have reported having septuplets but none have applied for the record. She said she's going to fill out the paperwork and see what happens.
Best wishes to Goodie (and Jill) with all the kids!
It has certainly been a “His cup runneth over” kind of week. We are most blessed and beyond surprised (shocked,…
Posted by Sinai Thunder on Thursday, April 7, 2016
© Northern Ag Network 2016
Photos courtesy of Jill Maple-Thomas
