Bella’s Triplets

Our Nubian dairy goats typically give birth to twins. Only once in a great while do we get triplets, and long ago one of our does gave birth to quads. Our doe Bella has given birth twice, both times to twins.

So this spring, when she produced a little doeling, then a little buckling, we figured it was twins again. Bella still looked a little big, but then she’s a big doe. And when she unconcernedly started eating hay, we were sure she was done kidding.

To help us keep track of the relationships among our goats, we give kids names that start with the first letter of their mother’s name. Accordingly, we named the doeling Bandi and the buckling Bingo.

We left mama and her babies to rest a short while. When we went back to see if the kids were ready to nurse, imagine our surprise and delight to see that Bella had given birth to a second doeling. And she was virtually identical to Bandi.

Now we had to come up with another B name. We studied the two doelings and the only difference we could see between them is that Bandi has a round tan spot in the middle of the black stripe down her back, while the other doe had two tan spots, or bubbles, on the stripe. So we called her Bubbles.

As similar as Bandi and Bubbles are in appearance, they’re quite different in temperament. Bubbles, like Bingo, is more adventurous, while Bandi often finds herself left behind.

Bandi also more often seeks out human company than the other two, although all three are naturally friendly, like their mama. And if they turn out to be anything like Bella, all three are keepers.