Asheville Farm Photo (29 of 142)
Adorable baby Dairy goat with floppy Ears
'Bunny's' backstory: We were expecting a snowstorm the night of New Years Eve so I took Lulu our dachshund for a late walk. Out in the field, I noticed one of the female goats, Sunny, licking a clump of something so I went to investigate and... there was newborn 'Bunny.'
Sunny (a Saanen mix) had been active all day, butting heads with the other goats and showed no signs of being pregnant. And, being a Swiss breed, she was supposed to come into heat only during months with an 'R' in their name (SeptembeR through ApRil) -- so we thought it would be safe for her and the other goat girls to share a pasture with the bucks during June and July. (Unlike Swiss breeds that are bred in winter months, African goat breeds CAN be bred anytime of the year, as I understand it.)
But, since gestation period for goats is 6 months, Sunny must have gotten pregnant during those summer months.
Luckily, Sunny is only a few years old, so an unexpected birth isn't a problem. But doe goats never stop 'cycling' as they get older so it could have been risky to both the mom and baby if Sunny had been an old goat.