SIGNS OF IMPENDING DELIVERY

[danetschool]

I am new to keeping goats. yesterday I noticed that one doe has a very developed udder and is about as big around as she is tall; maybe more so. It seems a sure thing that she is pregnant with her first kids. The weather here has been dropping into the teens and twenties at night and I am worried she will go into labor when I don't know it. I've already heard about a couple who had kids born only to die of the cold and wet.

I have no idea when she was bred. Is there a way to know when delivery is imminent/soon? I do not want anything to happen to the kids and, because she is so small, I'm worried she will need help with delivering.

 

[Alaskan]

I am new to keeping goats. yesterday I noticed that one doe has a very developed udder and is about as big around as she is tall; maybe more so. It seems a sure thing that she is pregnant with her first kids. The weather here has been dropping into the teens and twenties at night and I am worried she will go into labor when I don't know it. I've already heard about a couple who had kids born only to die of the cold and wet.

I have no idea when she was bred. Is there a way to know when delivery is imminent/soon? I do not want anything to happen to the kids and, because she is so small, I'm worried she will need help with delivering.

Hopefully if she is huge she has 2 or 3 in there. 2 or 3 kids are way smaller than a single... so easier birthing.

Teens and twenties are plenty warm, as long as they are dry. So she needs a dry place to kid... and it is nice to be there to dry them off.

The only definite sign that I have found is checking the ligaments.

There are ligaments that go between the hip points and the tail head. If you feel them they feel just like pencils, one on each side of the tail head.

When she gets close to kidding they soften... when they feel as if they vanished you will have kids in 24 hours or less.

 

[danetschool]

Hopefully if she is huge she has 2 or 3 in there. 2 or 3 kids are way smaller than a single... so easier birthing.

Teens and twenties are plenty warm, as long as they are dry. So she needs a dry place to kid... and it is nice to be there to dry them off.

The only definite sign that I have found is checking the ligaments.

There are ligaments that go between the hip points and the tail head. If you feel them they feel just like pencils, one on each side of the tail head.

When she gets close to kidding they soften... when they feel as if they vanished you will have kids in 24 hours or less.

Someone told me this yesterday. Thank you for verifying it as the person was unsure. It is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks again.

 

[Alaskan]

No problem, and good luck!

 

[Finnie]

So have you checked her ligaments?