Mantis Kidding Thread - WE HAVE BABIES!!!!!

I don't use coats. If it is below about 15 degrees, we put up heat lamps. We are ultra careful with the lamps. They are secured with metal pipe clamps and screwed directly to the wood with 2" screws. Last year with the freezing cold we had four, 500W heat lamps in the creeper, which is about 4' x 8'. All the babies would go in there and snuggle under the lamps. Goats are tougher than you think! It was -4 degrees this morning and the babies were out in the sun bouncing around the yard. It looked like springtime.
 
OK, so questions now... lol
Say I DO bring them in as bottle babies - how long do I keep them in the house? I can't put them right back outside or they will freeze, I understand this. So - until spring? two weeks? until its warm? help lolol Also - won't they run around and poop all over? (Give me an excuse to bring them in! haha) I have a mudroom where I could keep them in a playpen. It's not a heated mudroom, still cold but no where near as cold as outside. I do know water doesn't freeze out in the mudroom... and it's 3 outside right now. I could possibly secure a heat lamp in there (at least a lot safer than I could in the goat pen the way I'm set up right now).

As for Betty Lou, she's munching away on her hay quite contentedly. I read up on the ligament thing and tried to find them on her. Is it possible for a goat to be too fat to feel? haha or am I not pressing hard enough to feel them? She's like an easter ham back there... lol Maybe I have longer than I thought?

I'm gonna need more popcorn....
 
Our triplets are in as we are bottle feeding this group and our temps are unusually cold for our region. We have a playpen, it is in an area that is not heated but hovers around 45-50 degrees. In the day we have a kennel set up 5x10 that gets sun and has a wind block and they go out. We don't like too much temp change either but we are in a cold snap but in a few days we will be back to our "normal".
They are Nigies and so tiny... they just don't stay as warm as our bigger dairy goats or the Kiko babies that we wouldn't even think of bringing in. They don't have their mommas to nurse off of all night to keep warm.

There again I could probably find any reason to bring a baby goat in. :p
 
These will be Nigies also... or single Nigi... hoping she holds out for a week or two so it warms up a little....

Any advice on the playpen berries issue or the chunky doe ligament q? hahaha
 
We wrap the bottom of the playpen insert in plastic and put and old sheet down then hay on top. Clean it out everyday. We do take them outside to poddy. They will often hold their pee pee til we take them out.

On the ligs... I stink at ligs, and some of our goats are fat so that doesn't help. I look at the hollowing out around the hips, drop in the belly, udder and then the white goop.
We hand/pen breed for due dates so I generally only have that 145-155 range to look at. Most of our Nigies go at 145-150.
 
Pee is more of an issue than poo. Baby goats pee A LOT!!!!! My bathroom is a big lake right now from Cleo's babies. Once their temps are holding and steady I turn off any heating devices in the room. If they stay good I open the window. I watch for a few hours and if they are holding steady and it is not too super cold out (say over 20 degrees) I put them back with the rest of the goats. Of course I have big, hardy kikos and nut cute little bitties. I only do this when I am going to be home for the day and I check on them frequently.
 
WELL... When I went out with food and water this morning I checked everyone out, and Betty's bag was full, but no discharge. Ligaments were about gone... but I thought, no discharge I have a couple days probably. Have a doe with a leg injury so I went to the store to get some meds for her. Came back to dose her - only to find Betty Lou in active labor and a nose appearing!!!!!

We have TWINS!!!!!!

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