Anyone Interested? UPDATE - LGD 1st Kidding

[Devonviolet]

Awwww! How sweet!!!

Look at the white fur rugs, in the background, in the last photo! Looks like our white fur rugs!

 

[goatgurl]

only question i can think of is... can not leo come live with me. i just love that dog.
ok another question, how do you handle the placenta and the dogs wanting it? last year was the first time Katie was allowed to be present at the births and after the placenta was passed i would toss it over to her but am kind of rethinking that. she started showing to much interest in the goats butts before the afterbirth was passed. thoughts?

 

[Ferguson K]

Look at all those babies:

 

[Southern by choice]

Look at the white fur rugs, in the background,

LOL I was going to mention- those boys are doing amazing--- you can't see it in the pic but just to the left of them is the "kennel" where Callie is because she is in full blown heat
Yes I am crying because we have had perpetual heat with one dog after another... so tired of heat cycles right now. Callie gets psycho i heat... it is a wonder she ever got bred

can not leo come live with me. i just love that dog.

He really is special... it is very hard to put into words- I would say he is a one in a million but yet Chunk and D are very much like him... so calm a truly delightful dog. You would adore him. Everyone who meets him loves him... Except @babsbag she likes naughty Silver.

how do you handle the placenta and the dogs wanting it?

she started showing to much interest in the goats butts before the afterbirth was passed. thoughts?

I think this is one that each owner needs to look at closely... if a dog is on open land with livestock that lambs/kids with little to no human interaction during the process then allowing them to clean up the land so predators aren't attracted is probably more desirable.

BUT

I do believe in first training the dog with the first kiddings (regardless of age- be it 5 months, 7 months, 1 yr 2 yrs whatever) to NOT even think about licking back there. I also think teaching them to leave it (afterbirth) is best.

BUT

If the dog does well , leaves it and then the doe leaves it and doesn't touch it ( field kidding/lambing) THEN they can have it.

What we do:
First timers will sniff rear when goop is there or amber ( prior to birthing) we tell them uh uh, leave it alone. Depending on the dog of course - some will look at us and move back with the simple words we speak ... others that are more hard headed will sniff, ignore us like we said nothing even though they heard ( think Blue for this one ) and I just simply tug at his collar and say uh uh. I said No- leave it... that was enough for him. So far he is the ONLY dog that I had to tug at. Yet he would not lick the newborn kid til we told him too.

They are taught NOT to touch that afterbirth- they are allowed to lick the fluids off the ground but no touchy on the rear at anytime - no placenta.
First we stall ours for kidding. I like to be there and see everything I want to know afterbirth passed. Two, the bacteria and other junk in the afterbirth is really bad for dogs to eat. Three, I don't want them getting a "taste" for it because the does are going to "weep" for several weeks after kidding... so if they learn up front NO TOUCHY! then I feel better about it when in their future a doe kids out in the field unexpectedly or on purpose ( Kiko's).

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I just thought of something that hadn't occurred to me before... you know our field dogs cannot be bribed so I am wondering if this is why they really don't go after the placenta... kind of like that thing is foreign don't eat it ... anyway just a thought. Now I could be way off on that too.

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I do think this is very important though as there are quite a few people that actually have to separate their dogs from their livestock during lambing/kidding because they will eat it right off the goat/ewe. IMO what is the point? You need your dogs MOST during that time, kids/lambs are at their most vulnerable...
I think it is something overlooked and then there is that ah ha moment but too late.

Glad you asked the question... good for new LGD owners to know. You are seasoned and this dog is a different dog and you are looking at it which is also good for beginners to see... each dog is different and Katie is her own dog. Evaluating or changing something is great ( you already know that though).

That is why I like the interaction- thanks for your post @goatgurl .

 

[Ferguson K]

Do you ever have a problem with the dogs getting over excited when the girls start "alerting" and "screaming" like new moms can do? Does that aren't sure exactly what is happening?

Example, surprise birth in field with new mom... She's screaming because she doesn't know what's going on... Excited dogs could lead to complications, yes?

 

[Southern by choice]

A good sound dog will not get over excited. A sound dog will sound the alarm if there is a problem. This is where you always want to evaluate the dog before kidding and be there during it's first experience if possible.

A dog that gets excitable when goats do dumb stuff is not ready or trustworthy. Dogs that micro-manage, dogs that chase, dogs that cannot read their goats, dogs that do not have good relationship with their charges will be a detriment not an asset during kidding/lambing.

Last year we had a Kiko kid in the field with Chunk out there, he was 9 months I think... on his own when we found out she had twins on the ground already up one nursing one being cleaned. We knew she could go anytime but did not have exact dates like we do with the dairy goats... anyway ... we were not concerned because Chunk was already so sound there were no worries. At 5-7 months he had been around baby goats and no issues. Having said that I will give Silver as an example of why I will make sure I am with Silver and ready to correct- Silver loves baby goats, he also likes to keep them where he wants them. Silver I suspect will invade space in all likelihood. That is a no no- he MUST respect the doe and move back and let her do her thing.

We will see... Next round Silver will be there.

 

[babsbag]

"My" Silver will do just fine

 

[goatgurl]

thanks Southern. she doesn't bother them before or lick behinds after but last kidding season she sniffed at a couple of placentas that hadn't passed yet. I corrected her and she left things alone but hadn't really come into her own until last fall. she has been really slow to mature in some ways but I can see such a difference in her from last spring to this. I won't have kids for another 5 weeks so time will tell as my mom use to say.

 

[Southern by choice]

OK! So first kidding of the year...

@Goat Whisperer 's doe had quints- My buck is the sire....

"Blue" and Chunk were in for kidding... it was crazy hectic. all 5 in 35 minutes.

Blue did awesome as expected... more details tomorrow- busy and tired!

Did get video but they still need edited.
Here is a still shot...
View attachment 13663

Saw this scrolling ... awwwwwwwwwwww.... what great memories! Amazing it has been almost a whole year. Quints were so tiny! Looking through seeing the dogs too! How sweet. Just love what we do!

 

[NH homesteader]

This was a really interesting read! I never get around to going back to read old posts so you commenting helped me out, lol!

I'm showing all your gorgeous dogs to my husband. Don't tell them but Chunk is my favorite (I know there's no pic of him here but every time I see one I go awww!)