Kidding Watch in VA(aka goats are liars)--Pics

[ChksontheRun]

Here I am waiting and watching....grrrr. According to rut dates for Mr. Fritz, and witnessed breeding, none of these girls are due till Feb 13. I have my doubts as you will see. But as I have been so fondly quoting recently, goats are liars! I have clearly felt baby movement in Amber and Bridget, Uhoh is herd queen and not really in the mood much lately for standing still to have a belly rub.

All 3 girls are mini nubians

Amber, who has been huge for a month, and has been bagging up since mid Dec.

and for full effect....the hoo hoo and udder

Bridget, also known as "too hairy to see much of anything"
She is smaller than the other 2--75 % Nigi

And Uhoh who would not hold still for many pics at all. I am fairly confident she has been bred as her hoo hoo is very soft puffy, but she is not getting nearly as large as the other 2 and has noooo udder developement.

Just watch, Uhoh will go first

 

[ksalvagno]

Good luck with your kiddings.

 

[julieq]

Isn't that the way it frequently goes?! We have three bred mini's/ND's this year, all of whom should be due about the same time. One is so huge I can't imagine her going through until April (I'm wondering if I forgot to write down an earlier breeding date), one is just fat looking and the other one looks 'normal'.

 

[ChksontheRun]

Tried to trim hair on tails and udders. My clippers will not cut that course goat hair. Guess I am going at them with scissors later. I just want the hanging hair to be gone. I have to wonder how you all that actually shave get the job done. These clippers are only 6 months old and are cutting the dogs hair just fine.

Please give advice on clippers. Would love to hear what you all use.

 

[julieq]

Oster A5's work best for me. In fact I'd love to have two pair so one can cool down while I'm using the second set (that's on my wish list). I purchased a big pair of those heavy duty clippers years back and finally gave up on them as they were just too heavy for me to handle. They cut through the coarse buck hair wonderfully, but strained my arm something fierce!

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I groom for a living and use my Andis professional quality clippers with blades ranging from a #40 to a #7. Yes, the coat is coarse but if you're using good clippers and sharp blades it won't make a bit of difference. What I run into often enough with pet owners is that they want the $40 Andis clippers designed for light use (pet face/feet touch-ups) to function as well as the $140 Andis clippers you'd find in a salon. Actually, I want that too but the fact remains that they don't!

Can you get by with the $40 set in a pinch? Maybe. But it'll be a heck-of-a-lot more work, that's for sure! Particularly when the goats are not willing participants (and honestly, how many of them are? ) it's helpful to have a fast, smooth cutting action.

 

[ChksontheRun]

Actually mine were the $125 professional dog clippers that I use for grooming my schnauzers. Perhaps they are dull and I just need a new blade. My DH reminded me it was 1 1/2 yrs ago we got them. I knew it was June, just didn't realize how long ago it was.

 

[ksalvagno]

The blades need to be sharpened on a regular basis. You could probably find someone to sharpen the blades for you.

http://clipperbladeservice.homestead.com/index.html - this is who I have sharpen my blades and they work great. I have both large clippers and the smaller clippers.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

The blades need to be sharpened on a regular basis. You could probably find someone to sharpen the blades for you.

They should work great then once your blades are sharpened or replaced! I've recently started using Davis for my blades and have been happy with them so far.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I'm thinking Amber will go first.