Frustratedearthmother's 2025 Kidding Thread

[LazyLambsFarmstead]

No clue when or how our mini nubian got pregnant by our Nigerian dwarf! Had them both since last April, she (Vermillion) was 1 and Cash (The goat in Blaaaaack) was two months. I have pretty much doubled her feed and she gets a whole bunch of Berru alfalfa horse treats and they have full access to a goat block for mineral. I still feel like she's too skinny, but um this is 100% my first rodeo, and hers too! We just came out of the winter from hell, (hubby had two dental emergencies and broke his foot and our dog broke her leg fighting with our corgi ) so now I'm scrambling to find a livestock vet since I do trimming and CDT vaxxing n deworming myself etc. So now we get to get to play, how far along is she?! The close up pix of her udders and tail and Lady bits were today, the others were only two days ago. Is she eating enough? how far along does she look? When should I seperate her? Where Would it be better to move him instead and just give him the little shelter? (He decided to take over our duck house.... it's his now) so any help figuring out how much longer we have is appreciated!

 

[Baymule]

Goodness, you did have a hard winter!
You have asked the right person here. She’ll be back and can answer your questions.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sorry you had a rough winter!

This is a very comprehensive guide of things to watch for and can answer a lot of questions. Pay particular attention to the "Doe Code."

Goat Kidding

How to Help a Goat Kid

www.thegoatchick.com

She's got pretty good udder development. Watch for it to get much firmer and tighter. Also check her ligaments as they will progressively soften as she gets closer to delivery. Your buck may give you clues too. If he starts to get very interested in her rear end - move him out. He will be a pest and she doesn't need to deal with that.

I don't think she looks terribly thin, but it's hard to tell from pics. If her spine is prominent, she might need more groceries. But from what I can tell in the pic she doesn't look bad. You don't want to overfeed her as it tends to produce larger babies and no first freshener needs that. But, since dad is a dwarf and she's half-dwarf I don't predict you'll have a problem with huge babies.

She'll definitely need more groceries when she's lactating. Takes a lot of calories to make all that milk. Being of Nubian descent she'll probably produce a lot of milk and she'll need some high-quality groceries. Do you feed hay?

Not sure what kind of goat block you're using. My experience with them is that the goats like them, but they are generally not adequate for overall minerals. For one thing - they don't offer enough copper. Your doe has some rust color on her hind legs and that has been implicated as a sign of copper deficiency. Don't panic but consider offering a loose mineral that contains more copper.

Can't give you a due date, but just a general guess is that she may kid within the next month or the next week. Sorry! Learn to feel those ligaments.

Good luck!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Got caught in the barn this morning by a rainstorm. Took the opportunity to try to remind the babes that there is free choice feed waiting for them in the creep area. They've been a bit slow to figure it out - but today they had a light bulb moment. These 4 get it - only 8 more to convince, lol.

Love the colors!

 

[fuzzi]

Got caught in the barn this morning by a rainstorm. Took the opportunity to try to remind the babes that there is free choice feed waiting for them in the creep area. They've been a bit slow to figure it out - but today they had a light bulb moment. These 4 get it - only 8 more to convince, lol.

Love the colors!

View attachment 115678

Inkblots!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Inkblots!

Truth!