Motherhood

One of the strongest instincts, I believe, is that of a mother protecting her young.
A perfect illustration of this is our newest mother, O'Malley.


Our maternity ward currently houses our three does,
Sissy, O'Malley, and O'Malley's daughter from two years ago...Sally.


These three live together all of the time and are the very best friends.

When babies are born, however, friendships are put aside.
Each mother's babies take precedence over any other previously formed bonds.


If another doe's babies get too close, a mother will give them a warning butt.

And if another Mama gets too close to another doe's babies,
a display of head butting ensues.


This picture is O'Malley and her two year old Sally (mother of the single buckling)
going head to head because Sally got too close to O'Malley's twins.
Normally, Sally and O'Malley share a goat house and sleep together...inseparable.
However, when babies are added to the mix,
relationships are reworked for a while.

This behavior continues for the first couple of weeks after birth.
Eventually, though, the Mama's calm down and relax a little...
which is good, because it isn't long before all the new kids are running amok!

Comments

SparingChange said…
Ouch! That looks like it hurts. But those little babies running around are so adorable! I just want to kiss them!
Country Gal said…
Our sheep used to stamp their front foot then butt heads and the lambs didnt have a care in the world at that point they probably thought their mums were having a deep conversation lol ! They are just so cute jumping around ! Have a great day !
Anonymous said…
I feel a headache coming on.
andy said…
Great pictures!!Have a great day
Junebug said…
I think it is so cute that the little ones could care less. They just keep running around having fun. Hope you have a fun day today!
Kris said…
Come to think of it, there was a time or two that I wanted to "head butt" another person for getting too close to my "kids"...
Thank you for sharing this video..
The kids are so darn cute! You could put that to music.
Yes, It looks like new mom is on top of it.. Very protective...
jean said…
Cute. The instincts are very strong. But, who can blame a mother for wanting to keep baby safe.