We're Back on Schedule... Maybe Not

We have a schedule for feeding the babies when they arrive.  They get fed every 6 hours (4X daily) for the first two days, then every 8 hours (3X daily) from day 3-7.  We decided to adjust all the babies to 3X feeding yesterday.  That way we feed them at 6 AM, 2 PM and 10 PM and we get to sleep like normal people!  In addition we are training them to use a lambar bucket instead of bottles.  A lambar bucket is basically a pail with about 10 nipples all the way around it.  Inside the pail, each nipple has a hose that reaches the bottom of the bucket.  This way they still suck on a nipple to drink, but it is a lot faster and easier to clean.  When they get really good at it, we can feed 10 babies at the same time in under 1 minute.  We'll post a photo of the babies using the lambar bucket soon.  All of this means we can get in the house by 10PM, have time to catch up on a few things, and crawl in bed before midnight.

That's how is should work.  Not this time.  As I was going to bed about 10:30 I checked the camera monitor in the barn.  Claira, our Nubian herd matriarch, was clearly in the process of pushing a baby out into the world.  We got our there as fast as we could and in the course of 15 minutes we welcomed 3 new babies.  Claira had 2 buck kids and 1 doe kid.  They were a little slow to drink, but after we dried them off with towels and the blow dryer and re-warmed colostrum (the first milk from the doe that contains all the good antibodies) they took right off!  All are doing well today.  By the time we got back in the house it was 12:15.  I guess we could have fed at midnight after all.  So, for now, we are in between schedules again.