One kid born. Should I check for more babies?

[gibbsgirl]

I bought a pregnant boer at the end of December. She had a kid at about 10:30pm. She passed what I think was afterbirth about an hour later. But, she still looks pretty big to me. I don't think she's in distress. And, I've got her and the new baby in a kidding stall with feed and water and hay and a heatlamp.

I helps the kid get latche don a few times. I just checked on them again (it's 12:30am now). Mom's eating again and the baby is working on nursing while mom is standing.

I know nothing about her kidding history. I think she may have kidded before, because I bought a buckling with her and he follows her around the way my young wethers follow their moms.

Anyway, I just don't know if I should go in there with my hand and check for more kids. Like I said she doesn't seem to be in distress, but she's still pretty big. I also don't know when to go in if that's what I need to do. I don't want to go in prematurely if I should wait 5-10hours. But, maybe I should not wait more than 1 or 2?

Please give me instructions.

 

[20kidsonhill]

She is very likely done, a big rumen(stomach) is pretty normal on some of these boer does, especially as they get 3 or 4 years of age on them.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

If she's not in distress then she is likely done. You don't want to go in unless you have to because there is always a chance of infection and if you do, they need to go on antibiotics.

If she's up and eating and letting the kid nurse then that is a good sign that she's all finished. Similar to pregnant women, it will take a bit for their belly do go down. My doe kidded last Wed and it was just yesterday that her belly looked normal again.

 

[gibbsgirl]

I did not go in and check last night. She is still awfully round today.

Thank you for the replies, you are a big help.

I have called our vet and left a msg. So, I will tell him what I know and see what he says.

I read that goats can stop labor due to stress. I was wondering if going out there to be with her last night might have stresses her into stopping labor.

I also don't know what she would be like if she had kids in her that have died.

It's totally possible that things are normal and fine and she just had one baby. But, this is the first time I've ever been with a goat that has kidded, so I don't have a lot of past experience to draw from and help me assess what's happening.

It's been 12 hours since she kidded.

Do boers usually have singles or twins?

 

[jodief100]

Boer have twins more often but singles are not uncommon.

I agree with everyone else. If she is eating and acting fine, I wouldn't worry about it. A doe with a retained kid, live or stillborn will act distressed.

I have ones who stay round for weeks and a few that always look pregnant.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

Boer have twins more often but singles are not uncommon.

I agree with everyone else. If she is eating and acting fine, I wouldn't worry about it. A doe with a retained kid, live or stillborn will act distressed.

I have ones who stay round for weeks and a few that always look pregnant.

I agree, she sounds fine.

 

[gibbsgirl]

Thank you all. Our vet agreed with you guys and she seems fine. Her udders aren't very full, but the kid is suckling and seems okay. My vet said that since she's a boer, she might not look like she has an udder that's as full as some other breeds.

Would you mind telling me how often you've had to go in and help the mommas giving birth. By help, I mean with the glove on and your hand inside or pulling the kid the rest of the way out. I'm guessing that especially in winter it will be good if I'm there 100% of the time to help dry off the kids and get them into the kidding stall and to help them get latched on the first few times if they can't find the teets.

But, I'm what other people's experiences have been with actually helping the kid birthing. Do you have to help 10% of the time? 50%?

 

[Queen Mum]

With my does assistance is rarely needed. 1% Most does do it by themselves. If it's extremely cold, I dry them off. It assures that the kid is not going to get cold and die. I like to have my hands on the kid so the Mama knows that I won't hurt their babies. I am there to check on the mama and make sure she is OK.

Where I live now, the kids are taken away from the mama at birth. So we are there at birth.

 

[20kidsonhill]

A good part of our does are older, and last year we had to assist 5 does out of 20 and reposition kids. That was a little high of a percentage for us. We also had changed our feeding program and had some monster big kids and out of the 20 does we had 6 sets of triplets. Triplets always increase your chances of needing to untangle a someone. Bigger kids are more likely to not have enough room to turn into proper position and end up trying to come out in a U=shape(back first) or with their head cranked back and just their front legs trying to come out first. Those are all easy fixes.

In 15 years of raising goats, we have yet to loose a doe during child birth or had to have a c-section, but we have had a couple close calls and it took my husband a lot of time to get the kid out. We grew up framing and we both have a lot of experience with livestock.

I don't always dry them off, even in the winter, we let mom do all of that, but we do have heat lamps available for cold days or kids that are born outside and need to be warmed. I do in the winter make sure the kids are up nursing and get a full belly and check on them the first couple of nights every 3 or 4 hours, because if they aren't getting enough to eat, they wont make it through a cold night. We pen up all our mom's and newborns in the winter months for a day or two, to make sure the kids get a good start. Often we pen them up after they are born, we don't pen our does up until they are in labor or kids are on the ground.



In the summer months, we let our does kid in the field and just observe, I give the kids much longer time to latch on to the udder. Of course we would still assist a doe who has been in labor for too long. And we may still need to pen up a doe and her kids, if the doe seems confused and isn't showing good mothering skills.