I finally got some photos of our new Alpine does, Tin and Nauti, this afternoon! It's been raining nearly every night at walk time, so many of our walks have either had to be cancelled or cut short as we try to get everyone under shelter before we all get fried by lightning. But today I finally brought the camera! We still got rained on a little, but not too bad.
The two girls are doing great. They've established their places in the herd and aren't being kicked out of shelters when it rains. They consistently follow the troop around the property to browse, and they've formed a bond with Tigerlily in particular. Nauti is on the left and TinCup is on the right.
The girls adore Phil. He pets them and talks to them every morning when I milk, and he spoils them with treats the rest of the time.
Tin and Pluto share a moment. The girls were terrified of our dogs at first, but it didn't take them long to adjust.
Nauti needs to gain some more weight! She's a hard worker and has been putting every ounce of extra fat into the milk pail. I cut her back to once a day milking and hopefully that will help a lot.
TinCup is delighted to be up to her ears in eatables.
I've been feeding the girls a little supplemental alfalfa in the evenings before I let everyone else into the pen. They seem to appreciate it. Sometimes I let the babies in there with them. The girls are both wonderful with the kids. Nauti has been helping Nubbin by nursing a couple of the triplets every morning when I put her on the stanchion. As long as I supervise to make sure they're being gentle, she doesn't kick at them.
Hi Tin!!