First time with a pregnant goat

[dwarfgoatmama]

Hello! I have two nigerian dwarf goats; both purchased within the last month. One of our goats, a 4 year old, was more of a rescue than a purchase and has now been showing many signs that she is pregnant; significant increase in milk, swollen udders, ground pawing etc. I have stopped milking her due to my concern that she is pregnant and needs milk for her young but we have no idea about the buck she bred with or when she was bred due to her previous living situation. Her udders are so huge! I was hoping for some advice on kidding and what behavior usually indicates labor. She has successfully kidded three times before we had her but that is about all the information we have, she was tethered on a cement pad most of the time with her previous owner and was being fed horse feed, we now feed her countryside organics grain, fresh hay, and an abundance of forage. Thank you for any information!

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Good move on the stopping the milking. Do you have any photos that you might be able to post, one from the back, top, and sides?

I am not sure if you will be able to answer this but do you know if the buck was at least a Nigerian or Pygmy? If he was not,, I am recommending that you stop grain and offer hay, browse and water only so you don't risk having kids getting larger than they already will be if they are from a bigger buck. Additionally, you might want to get in touch with a vet because she may have a hard time delivering kids if they are by a different breed.

When we were first waiting on kids, I watched dozens of YouTube videos on goat births and read over everything on the webpage Fias Co Farms.

 

[dwarfgoatmama]

Thanks for the reply; Fias Co farms is a great resource! We have no information about the previous buck, however her previous owner says that she kidded three times previously, all nigerian dwarf kids, I am assuming that since this was the case her current kids will be nigerians as well. I only have the one photo from above but I can take more soon.

 

[madcow]

Don't know about whether she's pregnant or not, but she sure looks comfortable in that chair in the second picture!LOL!

 

[pridegoethb4thefall]

Sounds like she is ready to go anytime. Watch her rear for goo, white goo first, then a string of whiteish yellow (amber too) to come out. Check her ligaments if you can- lots of info out there on that one. Good thing to learn, and once you experience it, you'll be a pro at checking them in no time!

Put her somewhere safe to kid with a roof and dry floor. Dont put a water container in the room that baby kids could fall into and drown.

Definately check out Fiasco Farms website- the info is invaluable and helped me learn how to pull a baby goat when my doe (ND) was struggling to birth quads that were not positioned right.

The pics look like she is having a single or maybe twins. Remember that babies should follow about 15 to 30 minutes from each other. Have molasses on hand to give her- MIX with warm water, give AFTER the birth when all have been delivered. Dont leave it in there where babies could drown in it.

I hope all goes well! I cant recommend the Fiasco site enough, and like another poster mentioned, youtube videos! Its amazing how much seeing it happen can help!

PLEASE keep us posted- we love to see pictures! If you can get a picture of her rear end (vulva and udders) it would be helpful. I have a feeling she will deliver very soon by what you are describing. She is very pretty by the way!

 

[BarredRockMomma]

Here are my 3 got to pages on the forum. All by Rolls

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=586-goats-kidding

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=586-baby-goat-info

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=586-doe-code

 

[dwarfgoatmama]

Thank you so much for the help! I will be posting pics as soon as we get some; of course we just had a cold snap and I had to break through ice in their water this morning. Everything I have read suggests she will wait until midnight of the coldest night of the year LOL.