The New Kids on the Block
Written by: Christie McGraw, Instructional Guide
Did you know that the term “kid” has been used to describe baby goats for centuries? Human children weren’t called kids until the 1800s… making humans the actual new kids on the block. Humans have a long history with goats. Goats were actually one of the first species to be domesticated by humans dating back to around 10,000 years ago.
At Bowers Farm, we are currently in a special season with our goats. This stretch of time is called kidding season. Every winter, the farm welcomes a whole new herd of goats. A herd of goats can also be called a tribe or a trip. The female goats (does) have a gestational period of about 150 days. As the clock ticks closer to that 150 day mark, all of the farmers on staff go on high alert. Lower barn is watched over constantly, and a team rushes in to be ready to help both the does and the kids once active labor begins. Our farm encourages our livestock moms to give birth on their own, with little to no intervention, honoring the natural birthing process.
Goats typically give birth to from one to four kids at a time, but the average number is two. These freshly born kids don’t waste any time beginning their adventures in the world. Their first steps are taken just minutes after being born. They start to test out their climbing and jumping skills at just a week old. At only two weeks old, these kids can be seen fearlessly running, jumping, and playing. Did you know that when goat kids are napping (and all cuddled up together) it’s called a “kid pile?”
The lower barn at Bowers Farm very quickly becomes a noisy and busy place once the kids arrive. The air is filled with a goat vocal sound called a bleat. This high-pitched call is often described as a “maa” or the classic “baa” sound little children make when they learn how to sound like a goat in storybooks. The bleat of a goat can express many things like hunger, excitement, or distress. Each goat's bleat is unique to that goat. In fact, a mother goat recognizes her own kid based on the sound of their bleat and their scent. Sight is not their primary identifier like it is with humans. Goats also differ from humans in the ways that they learn about the world around them. For a goat, their primary resource is their lips. They use their lips to explore items around them, similar to humans using our fingers, and will reject things they dislike or don’t trust based on that information.
If you would like to meet some of our new kids and see them in action, be sure to attend one of our Winter Birth Celebrations events at the farm in the winter! Also, when Open Barn returns in April, the farm will be filled with new life and adventure!
