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NEWTON, Utah (AP) -- A mother goat in northern Utah is suddenly very busy.
Lavella gave birth to five baby goats, or kids, on Friday at a farm in Newton, near Logan. Four are boys and one is a girl; all weighed only a pound apiece.
Tammy Macdonald, who cares for nearly 100 goats, which she breeds as a hobby, says she's surprised the smallest of the group have survived.
"I've raised goats for 23 years and have only had five (kids) born at once three times," Macdonald said. "The two other times, they didn't all survive."
Macdonald is using a bottle to feed the two runts of the litter to make sure they get enough nourishment, a process that has bonded the animals to her. "They think they're people," she said.
The Nigerian Dwarf breed goats will be up to 50 pounds when full-grown, when they'll eat things like apples, old bread and potato chips.
Kerry Rood, Utah's extension veterinarian, says goats usually have one, maybe two kids and that five is rare, though not unheard of.
Lavella's new arrivals are already nursing, bleating and trying to jump on logs in their pen.
They'll go up for sale in May along with about 50 other goats from Macdonald's herd. They're bought for milk, meat or companionship.
But Macdonald will keep Lavella, who is now 3 years old and has had a steady career in the Cache County Fair. "It would be fun if she had eight (kids), then we could call her Octomom."
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Information from: The Herald Journal
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
