Updated Weds, February 11.
Just when you thought spring would never come, along comes an email with signs of the (upcoming) season: the birth of barnyard animals. Twins were born on Jan. 29 to Scapegoats goatscaper Willow and her partner, Jumbo, at their home in West Tisbury. Owner Kristen Patnugot, who with her partner Joe van Nes owns Scapegoats Goatscaping, named them Linus and Lucy.
Kristen answered a few of our questions:
Which one is Lucy and which Linus?
Lucy has the pink nose and ears, and Linus has a little black on his nose and inside his ears. Lucy was more curious from day one, and Linus likes to snuggle more.
Did their parents have an “arranged marriage,” or was it love at first sight in the goat yard?
Their mother, Willow, did have an “arranged marriage” with their father (our buck, Jumbo), but it seems they had a “date” a few months before, as we were aiming for late-March deliveries.
How long was Mom pregnant?
Mom was pregnant approximately five months (a normal gestation period for dairy goats is about 145–155 days). We think she got pregnant in late July, early August. [That’s well before the goats visited the Oak Bluffs library. See story here.]
Is two a typical size of a litter? (Is it called a litter?)
Kidding occurs in twos usually, but single births are common as well. Triplets also occur, but less frequently. The babies are called kids, but I haven’t come across a name for a bunch of baby goats.
What do the babies do right out of the gate, so to speak? Walk? Run? Eat ivy?
The babies are really funny when they come out. They stand awkwardly, shivering on shaky legs, cringing from the daylight and dewy with birth fluids. Their first few steps are tentative and wobbly. With Lucy and Linus, we had to show them how to nurse. Willow tried, but they needed a little help. Some of our babies have nursed right away. Lucy started eating hay at around five days. Linus has since started eating a little hay.
If there were poison ivy on the ground right now, would they be nibbling it?
Newborn goats don’t usually eat poison ivy or brush right away. Baby goats mostly nibble and taste things, but typically, the bulk of their diet comes from nursing for about three or four months.
