# Will I need a seperate birth pen?



## Our7Wonders (Jan 4, 2011)

I've read several posts where a doe is put in a birthing pen and a gentle friend is put in with her so she's not lonely - but I only have two does total, so is moving her necessary?  

I understand the concept, the idea is to keep a cleaner, safer area for her - but if I move the other doe in with her, there's going to be just as much pooping and peeing as there would be in their main shelter - so would there be any advantage in my case?

Just curious.  My sweetie is going to build an addition to our goat shelter - another *wing* that will be my milking area and feed storage.  Since I won't be milking until after kidding I can design it for a kidding area too, just don't know if it would really be necessary.

Thanks,
Debbi


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## AlaskanShepherdess (Jan 4, 2011)

Don't forget to plan ahead, if you ever have more goats then you will want it, and I have read many, many, people say that goats are addicting, it's hard to stop unless you have to for feed costs etc. I can fully understand too. I would love to have 15 more.


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## Our7Wonders (Jan 4, 2011)

Oh yes, I fully understand the addictive bug the goats give us - I've only had them for a month and I'm already trying to figure out how to talk DH into more.  BUT, does he need to build my wing as soon as weather allows, or can he wait a bit because a birthing "suite" might not really be necessary with the kidding of just these two?  They are due about 10 days apart.  

I'd love to have it done as soon as possible, but DH has a huge "honey-do list" that I've created and wondering where in the order of importance does the goat addition need to be added.

Thanks.


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## Roll farms (Jan 4, 2011)

Another reason for kidding stalls, if you want the moms to raise the babies is to allow a bonding time.

Some does, if not confined, will wander off and leave newborn kids, or refuse to let them nurse.

If they're 'stuck' w/ the kid in a small area, they are more likely to bond w/ the kids.

I mainly put them up to keep them from wandering out to the pasture to be alone, and kidding there.


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## freemotion (Jan 4, 2011)

You won't need to convince your dh to get more goats.  You will have more goats shortly!  Trust me, there will come a point (soon) where you will be trying to convince your dh that you have too many goats and you need to sell some!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jan 4, 2011)

You don't *have* to have a kidding pen, but it sometimes comes in handy.  Your girls have kidded before, right? If so, it's likely they won't need kidding pens to bond, but the downside of that is when one kids the other might want to try to claim the kids.  Sometimes that causes confusion and chaos.    

If you wanted, you could always use a hog panel or cattle panel to create a semi-circle pen against a wall of the barn or shelter they currently have.  That way the goats can still see and be near each other and you can move the pen after kidding is over.  

I prefer to let my animals lamb/kid outside when possible.  Last year I had to have a couple of them lamb/kid inside the barn since we had 2' of snow on the ground, but hopefully this year won't have that problem.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jan 4, 2011)

I sounds like you could get away without adding a second pen in the next month, but I wouldn't forgo the stall even if it's something simple.  Our first kidding season we build a basic 8x8 hoop house with solid sides.  It was ugly as all get out, but it was dry.

Dry and relatively draft free are a priority as is having an extension cord reach so you can have a heat lamp (if necessary), or a regular white light if not, and a baby monitor (if you're using one), etc.  Some of the things that make it cushy for them also make it more comfortable for you!

I start locking the dam up at night a week or so before I *think* she's going to kid.  I feed them their grain when I put them inside in the evening so they go willingly and are relaxed and used to being confined.  It also gives them a place to recuperate if they need a little extra time for whatever reason.


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## glenolam (Jan 4, 2011)

I don't have a separate kidding stall and this year I'll have 2 possibly 4 kid within the next few months.  I have 5 does total and their due dates spread from Feb - June (June was an unplanned due date btw!).  My goats share a "barn" which is basically just a large one-room shed with a gate-type door I built from 2x4s.  I made an awning out of boards and a tarp (which is to become a permanent awning this spring/summer) so when it's kidding time I can lock out the other goats during kidding time and give momma and the kid(s) time to bond.  Of course - in bad weather I close off the sides of the awning and give the other goats plenty of room to get out of the elements.

I did have my milking stand in the goat barn, however that was moved to underneath my deck where I plan to make a milking room type area.  I think, though, that I'll just make another area off the goat barn for the milking/feed storage area like you were describing so I don't have to walk the goats across the yard to be milked/get their feet done etc.

You just do what works best for you and your does.


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## poorboys (Jan 4, 2011)

I have 3 kidding stalls, and a baby pen. but i have several that will kid within days of each other so I have to rotate them thru. I do try to give them some time with their mamas, but they are bottle-fed. I have a corner with my milking stand, and a fridge close by. I found an old school desk for $1.00 and set that next to my milking stand so I have a place to put my pail for milking and teat dip. also nice cuz I can put things inside desk that I might need. But with two goats, as long as that don't kid at same time one stall might be fine.I just have way to many!!! Yours problably will get more bonding time then mine and that's a good thing!!!


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## jodief100 (Jan 4, 2011)

I keep a kidding pen mostly fro winter.  It is also nice becuase some of my girls are wild and I really do not want to deal with trying to catch a wild one with a new baby at her side to weigh and tag.


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## Ariel301 (Jan 4, 2011)

With only two, as long as there is a nice warm, dry area available for your doe to kid, you could do without a kidding pen/stall. BUT it's a good thing to have something like that, just in case. I like to have an extra pen available all the time for kidding or quarantining a sick or injured goat. You'll need a place eventually for weaning the kids if you're going to let mom raise them instead of bottle feeding, she might not necessarily do it herself. I get all the free wooden pallets I want from the local hardware store, and I keep a big stack of them, they can be screwed together in a hurry and stabilized with some of those green T-posts in the ground to make a fast temporary pen for anything you need. Slap some plywood on the sides and roof, and you have an instant portable stall.


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## Our7Wonders (Jan 5, 2011)

Ariel301 said:
			
		

> With only two, as long as there is a nice warm, dry area available for your doe to kid, you could do without a kidding pen/stall. BUT it's a good thing to have something like that, just in case. I like to have an extra pen available all the time for kidding or quarantining a sick or injured goat. You'll need a place eventually for weaning the kids if you're going to let mom raise them instead of bottle feeding, she might not necessarily do it herself. I get all the free wooden pallets I want from the local hardware store, and I keep a big stack of them, they can be screwed together in a hurry and stabilized with some of those green T-posts in the ground to make a fast temporary pen for anything you need. Slap some plywood on the sides and roof, and you have an instant portable stall.


Good idea!!!  We have all the pallets we want, as well, from a local electic supply company - I hadn't thought of making a temporary stall - that may work very well and save the construction on the *wing* for sunnier weather.

Thanks all!!


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## PattySh (Jan 5, 2011)

We use large dog expens and attached them to our wooden walls for kids and or moms ready to pop.


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## Our7Wonders (Jan 5, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> We use large dog expens and attached them to our wooden walls for kids and or moms ready to pop.


What are expens?


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## mossyStone (Jan 5, 2011)

Our7wonders I see your in Washington State!! So are we  we are North of Seattle.... 

Nice to see some one else from the PNW



Mossy Stone Farm home to

PB Nubains and Pygora's


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## PattySh (Jan 5, 2011)

Expens are portable dog playyards.  The ones I use are about 36" tall. They are 8 panels of wire that can be configured in different shapes and fold up when not in use. You hitch them together with bolt snaps and you can combine them to make a larger area.I bought them originally for my dogs but now  I use them all over the barnyard. Excellent  also to bring  goat kids outside and to enclose ducks etc.  check www.petedge.com they have the best prices on them. 36" one is about $50 thru petedge which is the cheapest place I've found.To use for adult goats I hitch panels to a wall for stability.My barn is built as a horse barn so I have a 10 foot aisleway, that is perfect to set my pens up in for births, or older kids etc. I keep my new kids in my tackroom in a similar pen.


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## Our7Wonders (Jan 6, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> Expens are portable dog playyards.  The ones I use are about 36" tall. They are 8 panels of wire that can be configured in different shapes and fold up when not in use. You hitch them together with bolt snaps and you can combine them to make a larger area.I bought them originally for my dogs but now  I use them all over the barnyard. Excellent  also to bring  goat kids outside and to enclose ducks etc.  check www.petedge.com they have the best prices on them. 36" one is about $50 thru petedge which is the cheapest place I've found.To use for adult goats I hitch panels to a wall for stability.My barn is built as a horse barn so I have a 10 foot aisleway, that is perfect to set my pens up in for births, or older kids etc. I keep my new kids in my tackroom in a similar pen.


Those sound like a great idea - I like the idea of temporary/portable enclosures.


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## Our7Wonders (Jan 6, 2011)

mossyStone said:
			
		

> Our7wonders I see your in Washington State!! So are we  we are North of Seattle....
> 
> Nice to see some one else from the PNW


Howdy Neighbor!!

We moved from the wetter side about 10 years ago - lived in Puyallup.  We're now right in the middle of the state near the Columbia river - I enjoy the distinct seasons and the nice long hot DRY summers - sometimes maybe a little too hot, but the humidity is usually low, so not so bad.  We've been having lows in the single digits this past week and I really feel it more now that I'm out feeding goats in the earlier mornings - before I would just *watch* the weather when it was cold - the goats force me out into it - but they're worth it!


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## mossyStone (Jan 6, 2011)

I would love to get out of the wet zone, hubby has a few more yrs before he can retire then we are out of the soggy side and moving east!!!!

I went over to the East of Oregon to buy a young Nubain doeling last summer from Hermiston Oregon now thats a nice place 


Mossy Stone Farm home to

PB Nubians and Pygoras


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## Our7Wonders (Jan 6, 2011)

Come on over!!!!  I'd love to have more goat people this way!  We are smack-dab in the middle of the state, which makes it great when we need to travel anywhere.  We're somewhat of a geographical oddity - no matter where I need to go it seems we're about 2 hours away (2 hrs from the Canadian border, 2 hours from Seattle/Tacoma, 2 hours from Spokane, and just under 2 hours from Yakima).  We love it here.


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## julieq (Jan 8, 2011)

Since we bottle feed all the kids and our does are housed in a large stall in our barn, we don't have a separate kidding pen.   Since goats are such creatures of habit, for our does it's just too upsetting to attempt separating them (we tried it earlier).  We keep a baby monitor on full time so we're right there to lend assistance with the kids and milk colostrum from mom right in the stall the first time.  At the next scheduled milking time we'll get mom out, onto the milk stand and clean her up a bit if needed.


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