A Vancouver Island ranch owner has been saddled with an unusual responsibility after delivering a rare hairless baby goat.
Conny Rohr of Maple Heart Ranch, south of Shawnigan Lake, says the hairless kid — named “Precious” — was born on Friday, April 29.
“We thought it will not survive, as her mom didn’t take her on,” said Rohr. “But we tried anyway, as she seemed to have a very strong survival instinct.”
A veterinarian that checked out the animal told Rohr he had never heard of a goat being born without hair. A similar birth has recently been recorded in Turkey, but otherwise Rohr said she has not been able to find any other cases.
It’s left Rohr and her family scrambling to try to figure out how to care for Precious.
“We took her in the house, bottle feed her and make sure she is warm. This sounds simple, but not if you have to run the generator to have power or keep the fire going to have the house warm,” she said.
The Rohr family is bottle-feeding Precious, a rare hairless baby goat born last week. (TikTok/@mapleheartranch)
Since her mother rejected her, Precious needs to be fed every two hours and essentially requires around-the-clock care.
“We also have to purchase a lot of clothing, diapers, puppy pads and a cage to keep her safe in the house. Probably a baby monitor as well,” said Rohr.
And because of her unique condition, Precious won’t be able to stay outside with other goats and will need to have a special shelter or addition to the house, as well as clothes and special creams to protect her from the elements.
Prepare for something you’ve never seen before on @CHEK_News tonight. I just came from meeting this surprising little bundle, born at a Shawnigan Lake farm & see why everyone who meets her is awed. “No fur, just weird,” she was first described as is now named “Precious.” pic.twitter.com/vhuE427tL1
— Skye Ryan (@SkyeRyanCHEK) May 2, 2022
Adding to the burden is the fact that Rohr has suffered an injury in a horse-related accident, so the rest of her family is picking up the slack.
“So the work of four people had to get divided by three and now we have an extra high maintenance task,” she said.
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As a result, the family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of caring for Precious.
“We try to be as self-sufficient as possible on our homestead and be able to sustain our day-to-day bills to take care of all our animals in the best way possible, but now with the extra expenses and the limited workforce, we do need financial support,” said Rohr.
In the meantime, the family is sharing Precious’ journey on their TikTok page.
@mapleheartranch Our furless baby goat got born April 29th. #furlessgoat #precious #homesteading ♬ Funny Song – Cavendish Music
The GoFundMe page can be found here.
Jeff Lawrence
Skye Ryan
