South English goat delivers quintuplets

Four-year-old Bowen Bouslog’s dedication to caring for his Nigerian Dwarf nanny goat paid off in a big way. The goat, which Bowen calls “Black Show Goat,” recently delivered quintuplets. All were healthy and thriving and the five-year-old nanny accepted all of them,noted Dawn Bouslog, Bowen’s mom. That was a relief for the family as animal mothers who have multiple offspring often refuse to care for all of them.

The surprise arrived on the rural South English farm the night of Feb. 19. A barn cam showed the first kid arriving at 9:30 p.m. and the last one about 30 minutes later.

“Goats are quick to deliver,” Dawn said. “When they get started, it doesn’t take much time, not like cows.”

The three male and two female kids were born without complication, although two were delivered breech (back feet first), she said.

While it’s not unusual for goats to have multiple births, this is the first time the family has had a nanny deliver five at once.

“Generally, the better condition the nannies are in, the higher the birth numbers,” Dawn said. Triplets and quadruplets are uncommon in their herd. The nanny who delivered the quints had quadruplets last year.

Her bulging girth hinted she had a number of babies on board so no one was surprised she delivered multiples, but the family hadn’t expected the final tally.

“We knew she’d have more than two,” Dawn said, noting Amanda Cronbaugh, D.V.M., with Veterinary Medical Center, Williamsburg, had ultrasounded the expectant nannies and Bowen’s nanny goat was rated a “2+,” meaning she carried at least two kids and probably more.

Performing ultrasounds on bred nannies is part of the Bouslogs’ procedure during gestation. In addition to providing an approximate number of expected offspring in advance of kidding (birthing), ultrasounding allows them to better manage feeding their nannies in late gestation to avoid pregnancy toxemia, explained Dr. Cronbaugh. It also allows owners to make decisions about the future of females in their herd if they’re found to be not pregnant.

Typically, does of any size, either standard or mini (like Nigerian Dwarfs) will have one to three offspring, Dr. Cronbaugh added.

“Miniatures will have four more often than standards but five doesn’t happen as commonly in any of the breeds,” she added.

The pens in the Bouslogs’ barn bears testament to these facts. In addition to the quintuplets, their herd has delivered one set of twins, five sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets for a total of 38 kids this spring.

“We have goats everywhere,” Dawn joked.

Nigerian Dwarfs are heavy milk producers, but Bowen, his brother, Bryar, 6, and sister Maeson, 8, stepped in to bottle-feed the quintuplets and several of the other multiple deliveries to take some of the demand off the nannies. Several of the quintuplets have since been sold to young 4-Hers to be raised as Clover Kid projects.

Dawn and Adam Bouslog, raise beef cattle, and Dawn operates Pleasant Valley Green House. They bought four nanny goats for their children several years ago so they could learn about the responsibility of caring for animals. The goats were smaller and easier for the kids to work with than cattle.

“They require a lot of patience but it’s an easy chore for them to handle,” Dawn said. “The kids have learned a lot and it’s a little different than dealing with the cattle which they enjoy, too.”

“Bowen calls his nanny Black Show Goat,” said Dawn. “The rest of the family calls her Bomama, since she belongs to him.”

Cleaning the pens, feeding and watering the nannies and bottle feeding some of the kids are chores the children handle daily.

While the family started with four nannies, their herd has expanded to include a total of 20 registered Nigerian Dwarfs. The nine nannies who did not have kids this spring will be bred and sold as groups later this summer.

“Moving goats around is worse than herding cats,” Dawn said. “It’s a fun hobby for us.”

Comments: Melinda.Wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com