First timers!

[KaliMoran]

Hello all-
Our NDG is pregnant and due in late April.. second time for her, and first time for us! We're obviously a little nervous, but mostly excited. She had one kid her first time around and reportedly had a very easy birth.
So my question... If you had to give ONE bit of advice or a comment (aside from "RELAX"), what would it be? Is there a piece of information, birthing kit tool, story, or other factoid that you consider essential?? Please share!
Thanks in advance

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Kali, I don't think this is essential, but might prove valuable and that's to do what you've probably already been doing:

Read the various threads on here, especially the kidding/help threads, to "see" what complications and experiences others have had before you so you can read the recommendations they've received and what they did & the outcomes. There's so much valuable information here already and more posted monthly!

Best of luck with your first kidding! May you wake one morning to find your doe cleaning up twin doelings!

 

[goats&moregoats]

For those of us not much more advanced in our goat experience than you, Relax is not in our vocabulary. You can & should read as much about kidding as possible, but don't let the stories scare you to death. Use them for preparation for any event. Hopefully you will be there when it's time, but more often than not(from my own experience) they will kid without you. Third year of kidding and I have only attended two full births, showed up right after two births and missed several completely. With that in mind I also only have a small hobby farm. Those with larger farms most likely get to attend more births.It's a wonderful experience.

I have lost two kids and one older dam.

I still worry, wait and watch & watch & watch. They drive you insane with the waiting. It's all worth it in the end. Good luck and wishing for doelings for you.

 

[lkmartin1230]

Usually you just need to stay calm and not stress the doe out and just watch her. If you are lucky you will get to watch her have them, also considered lucky if she has them in early morning when nobody is awake and she has no problem. I'm a Nigerian dwarf breeder. I will say this, not to scare you, things CAN and WILL go wrong so go ahead and find a good vet before hand (I don't live around any vets that want to mess with goats) so I'm my own vet. Mostly just keep an eye on her, have a small kidding kit made up, usually all I have is a flashlight and some towels. I run my hand down their nose to get the gunk out and let the doe finish up and bond with her babies. If you plan on milking, you can start milking after the babies are 2 weeks old, either twice a day or once a day. I usually only do once a day because I don't have time to milk ALL my does in the morning. But anything else you need to know, ask. Or if you need me to explain something more in depth, I will try to explain the best I can.

 

[KaliMoran]

Usually you just need to stay calm and not stress the doe out and just watch her. If you are lucky you will get to watch her have them, also considered lucky if she has them in early morning when nobody is awake and she has no problem. I'm a Nigerian dwarf breeder. I will say this, not to scare you, things CAN and WILL go wrong so go ahead and find a good vet before hand (I don't live around any vets that want to mess with goats) so I'm my own vet. Mostly just keep an eye on her, have a small kidding kit made up, usually all I have is a flashlight and some towels. I run my hand down their nose to get the gunk out and let the doe finish up and bond with her babies. If you plan on milking, you can start milking after the babies are 2 weeks old, either twice a day or once a day. I usually only do once a day because I don't have time to milk ALL my does in the morning. But anything else you need to know, ask. Or if you need me to explain something more in depth, I will try to explain the best I can.

Thank you for the advice! I agree that the possibilities of the unexpected are definitely important to be prepared for. I have a local vet who I believe is willing to be on call, but I plan to double check with him shortly. I definite'y want the assurance of some experienced back-up for our first go-round.

I have a question about milking (assuming all goes well with birthing!). I plan to eventually separate the babes at night and milk in the am only, but I also travel a fair amount for work. Not compatible, I KNOW! I do have a wonderful neighbor prepared to get involved who wants to milk when I'm away, but I know from past experience my doe will give her an ever harder time than she gives me (we -the doe and I- are a stubborn, inexperienced pair; last summer was our first foray into milking). What I'm wondering is... considering I'm a hobby goat owner who DREAMS of fresh goat milk but doesn't really need optimal production, is it the worst thing ever if, in the early phases of milking when her babies are still nursing heavily, there are some days where she isn't milked out and the kids take over instead? I know this isn't ideal for consistent milk production but I'm also trying to be realistic about my work schedule and her difficulty to milk. I assume she will become more cooperative with time for both myself and my neighbor, but I'm expecting lots of challenges for this first year.

 

[lkmartin1230]

Yeah, as long as the kids are on her you can skip a few milking that's totally fine.

 

[archerobx]

Cinnamon had her's and our first kid.
I was nervous. Here I am a retired big bad fire/medic and I'm constantly checking on her. I set a wireless camerea up so I could check on her via phone. I put her in garage several times because I thought it was cold.
Guess what?
I came home and looked and there was cinnamon with her new baby .

I'm a newb but I'm going to say relax and enjoy .

 

[Jenn27]

I did the same thing myself a couple of weeks ago. Didn't even realize our doe was pregnant (just thought she was finally gaining some weight)! But when we noticed her milk had come in, we were like....hrm, I think she's pregnant. She gave birth two hours later!! Everything went extremely well, and we now have a happy, healthy kid (doe) that's two weeks old.

Good luck!! Oh, here's a pic of our kid about 12 hours after she was born.

 

[Latestarter]

She's a pretty little thing!