We have another set of new quadruplet purebred Nigerian Dwarf kids here at Fair Skies, courtesy of MCH Sandy Hollow UK Chesire Cat *S *B and SilverAurora JC WhisperSweetly 2*D 2*M. Whisper delivered last night at 145 days, 12 hours gestation.

First buckling was 3.25 pounds, first doeling was 2.50 pounds, second buckling was 4.00 pounds, and second doeling was 2.25 pounds at birth, for a total of 12.00 pounds of kids from Whisper's little belly, not including placenta and birth fluids!!

Whisper is a very excited mother. She doesn't seem to know what to do with quads! Born a quintuplet herself, last year she had triplets and the year before that she had twins. I had suspected she had at least triplets due to the size of her udder, which was much larger than the prior year when she delivered triplet bucklings. Then I though, oh no, what's more demanding than triplet bucklings? BIG twin bucklings or BIGGER triplet bucklings or - gasp - quadruplet bucklings! Imagine my happiness when I discovered the two doelings! Judging from the size of her udder pre- and immediately post-freshening, she should easily break her all-time record set last year at 3.8 pounds of milk in one day.

All four kids are healthy and strong, each standing quickly and nursing on their own. They are also EXTREMELY vocal so they kept me up all night as I listened on the monitor. We are already very impressed with their length, flat bone patterns, and strong statures. The first and smaller buck is a black/brown or chocolate buckskin like papa, the first and larger doeling is a rich, reddish gold and white, the second ENORMOUS buckling is a rich gold and white, and the last smaller doeling is a black and white. They all have frosted ears and the two bucklings have wattles like papa. One doe will be retained and one is available. The boys will be available as wethers.

More information and pictures on the 2009 pairings available at

http://fairskiesalaska.com/kiddingschedule.htm

This is our fifth set of kids under our herd name, Fair Skies. Here are a few pictures, taken just a couple hours after birth. As is typical for new kids born at these temperatures, they were all hunchy last night. It was about 3F with blowing snow so we added a lamp to help supplement heat.