LSN



VILLE PLATTE – Graham and Barbara Deville got a surprise recently when two of their goats, who happen to be sisters, each gave birth to a set of quadruplets.

The Devilles were surprised when the first sister had quadruplets, which is fairly rare among goats, but the real shock came a few weeks later when the second sister did the same.

While Graham is a native of Ville Platte, he and Barbara were living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck. The hurricane brought them here and here they stayed. Several years ago they both decided to rescue a goat and have fallen in love with them.

“It’s our hobby,” Barbara said. “We love looking after animals. We sit on our porch some days and laugh at all the crazy things they do.”

When goats have four children it creates a fight for food ,Barbara said, as their goats only have two teets. To remedy this problem and keep the babies healthy, they feed the baby goats from a bottle with a special mixture of goat milk and heavy cream. Since becoming so attached to her animals, of which they have over 20, Barbara said it’s hard to lose one.

The Devilles are currently looking for ways to share their passion with others. Graham said he believes animals bring joy and happiness into people’s lives and he would like to show his goats to children or bring them to a local nursing home for the residents to spend time with.

“I think there’s a lot of therapeutic value in having animals and I’d like to bring that to someone else,” Graham said.

In the meantime, the Devilles will have their hands full with their eight new additions.