UPDATE! My goats had their babies!

[Plunky]

I'm so excited! I've had horses my whole life but I'm new to goats. It's amazing how different they are compared to horses! This is my first experience with pregnant livestock so I'm a little nervous. I've been reading & researching a lot & talking to friends that have goats so I can learn as much as I can. I'm hoping these pregnancies & birth go smoothly

 

[misfitmorgan]

If they are due in August they would only be 2-3months prego...i often cant tell for sure if my does are bred until the last month of pregnancy so you may not see anything definite.

For the goo test...that would no longer apply as it is generally only effective shortly after being bred not months later.

i've also had first timers who got the little squishy bag but ended up not being bred, so never 100%.

As the other mentioned if you wanna be positive you can wait or send in a blood sample to get the pregnancy verified, its pretty cheap.

Those darn goats can be so tricky until you know them, even then the butts can still fake prego pretty good when they want too

 

[Goat Whisperer]

If they are true ND's, they should be bred. They cycle every 18-21 days.

I don't understand why the breeder would just let the bucks and does run together full time. Does need at least a small break between kiddings to stay healthy. The earliest I have seen a doe get bred back was 11 days, not my doe. That was way to early IMO. I hope they don't have any doelings out with their buck

Watch that doe with the lopsided udder closely! Keep a close eye out for mastitis.

Keep us updated on the progress! Be sure to post some pics along the way. Kid pics are always a must. Don't leave us hanging

Start assembling you kidding kit, this is something that is always good to have on hand. I can post what I keep in my kit if you'd like.

 

[TAH]

We let our buck run with the does but they are not year round breeders. Are the year round breeders?

 

[Goat Whisperer]

ND's cycle year round. Every 18-21 days.

Their heat cycles seem to be stronger in the fall/winter.

 

[TAH]

ND's cycle year round. Every 18-21 days.

Their heat cycles seem to be stronger in the fall/winter.

Okay.

 

[Plunky]

If they are true ND's, they should be bred. They cycle every 18-21 days.

I don't understand why the breeder would just let the bucks and does run together full time. Does need at least a small break between kiddings to stay healthy. The earliest I have seen a doe get bred back was 11 days, not my doe. That was way to early IMO. I hope they don't have any doelings out with their buck

Watch that doe with the lopsided udder closely! Keep a close eye out for mastitis.

Keep us updated on the progress! Be sure to post some pics along the way. Kid pics are always a must. Don't leave us hanging

Start assembling you kidding kit, this is something that is always good to have on hand. I can post what I keep in my kit if you'd like.

I would love to know what's in your kidding kit

The girl that I bought them from free ranges all of her animals. True free range, not even in a perimeter fence. When we drove up there were free ranging goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, & even free range rabbits

 

[misfitmorgan]

We got free range rabbits too....on accident lol. We shall be harvesting about 14 this month from the free range group since we dont really want them running loose.

So i just learned something today...apparently Alpines and Nubians can also breed out of season
I'm thinking perhaps this is just some of them because our Alpines have never kidded out of season and our buck always runs with them. Our one ND doe has had kids all different times of the year but to prevent immediate breed back her and her kids are put in a kidding stall for a few days before birth usually and at least two weeks after..we try to make it over 22 days so she will cycle in the stall then we let them out. So far that has been working she had twin does that are 2yrs old, then twin bucks May, and twin does roughly a month ago.

So i dunno maybe my ND is just a werido and only cycles certain times.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I have heard that too, @misfitmorgan . I think it depends on what part of the world you live in.

You ND's may not be PB. Lots of crosses that are claimed to be PB.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

This is what I keep on hand. You wont need all of this, this is something that I have been building over the last few years. I like to kid out in January and have at least 10 does kidding a year. Retained lots of doelings this year so next kidding season should be interesting. LOL

When raising goats, you should have needles, syringes, antibiotics, thermometer etc. already on hand. I list them on the kidding kit as a reminder. This year, we have several late night calls from fellow goat breeders that are in desperate need of antibiotics, jumpstart, colostrum etc. It is better to be overly prepared than to be under prepared. You aren't kidding in the middle of winter so that takes away a lot of the stress!

My kidding kit includes:
Towels! Lots of em!
Paper towels
Trash bags
Floss (for the navel)
Iodine+ a cup
Scissors
Rubbing alcohol- I use this to clean the scissors before cutting the navel
Flashlight
Thermometer (for taking goats temp)
Bulb syringe
Bottle/nipples
Frozen colostrum
Disposable gloves
Shoulder length gloves
Lube

Weak kid syringe-I haven't had to use it and I hope I never will, but it is a great thing to have on hand.

Small dog sweaters for the baby goat kids- if it is cold outside

I also keep on hand-
Jumpstart Plus paste, I got it from TSC and I don't think several of my kids would be alive without it. It was a rough birth and they were very weak and this stuff helped a lot.

Nutri-Drench

Molasses- I give some in some warm water after the doe kids.

Penn G* (antibiotic)

LA 200* (antibiotic)

CMT mastitis kit along with TODAY mastitis treatment tube*

*These antibiotics aren't really for kidding- I always keep them on hand and if the doe had an issue such as a retained placenta or stillborn kids, an antibiotic may be necessary.

NOTE: Do not give molasses or Nutri-Drench to an animal with a fever, it will only make it worse.

Other things that are great to have are heating pads, premiere1 heat lamps and other safe heat sources.


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