Watch now: Nigerian dwarf goat turns out five healthy kids on Nebraska farm | Agriculture

SCOTTSBLUFF — The owner of a Nigerian dwarf goat found herself handling the rare birth of quintuplets this spring.

Mabel, a Nigerian dwarf nanny, successfully delivered five healthy kids March 19, a feat so unusual it occurs once in every 10,000 births.

Mabel’s owner, Sanna Loukonen of Minatare, started keeping watch on her a month before the kids arrived because of the nanny goat’s “alarming size.” Previously, Mabel had successfully delivered twins, which is an extremely common practice for the Nigerian dwarf breed.

After throwing twins, Nigerian dwarf nannies are prone to having three or even four kids at a time. However, five healthy kids is a rare occurrence.

“She (Mabel) just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger,” Loukonen said.

Just as Mabel’s discomfort and size were becoming a real concern, the nanny went into labor, with Loukonen keeping watch.

“So she started having them and I thought we would have triplets at the most, but they just kept coming,” Loukonen said.

She said that in her experience raising Nigerian dwarf goats, she has only ever seen twins born.

Loukonen’s veterinarian, Travis Van Anne, said that he has never experienced quintuplets born successfully. He said it is far more likely that if the nanny is carrying that many kids, there will be complications.

“When these five are born, there’s usually one or two stillborn or smaller ones,” Van Anne said. “And the fact that they’re all fairly sizable, the fact that they’re all still alive, it’s amazing.”