pulling kids

[heathen]

Ok so I have had to pull two kids this year out of pygmies/ brush goats. Both first time mothers the head came out no legs. In My nubians I have just ben able to push the kid back in and readjust and pull it. On both of these I could barley fit my hand in the birth canal and could not regardless of how hard I pushed get the head back in. Is there a difrent way to pull the kids I was able after a long while about an hour and a half, to finger a leg out and pull it that way. Both mother and kid are fine but I dont really have the room to work on these small goats. Both mothers are about 13 months old and the billy is a little bit larger than them by like 2 or 3 inches. He has thrown all sizes of kids the does all eat the same amount of the same feed and are in the same pasture. Both the kids that I pulled were single billies and by far the largest kids born. Both seem to be doing fine now but I can see this being very bad for both a mother and kid. I have watched the videos I have pulled out of nubians and lamanchas and not had any issues but these little goats scare me I dont have enough room to work and I dont know any women that would be willing to assist. Thanks for any guidance or links.

 

[heathen]

This is the last baby I pulled He wouldnt get up or nurse for almost two hours The mom normally is skitish and dont want to be touched she let me milk her and feed the baby. Small goats are fun and easier to keep in but if these are the problems with them I dont think I will keep anything as small as I have been to breed with.

 

[poorboys]

no expericence in those small ones, even in nubies I have a hard time sometimes finding all the parts. You did a good job, you got them all out and alive congrats!!

 

[dreamriver]

cute babies. My thought is that they were first time moms and things hadn't stretched out yet from any prior births. Chances are very good that any future kiddings will be much easier on mom and you! Another thing to keep in mind is that unless you have 'freakishly' large hands they are still smaller than goats head is, so even though it's an extremely tight fit to assist, gentle slow entrance to the birth canal of your hand is still smaller than the kids head.

good job and good luck going forward

 

[ksalvagno]

If the legs are totally back, you could probably get them out with just the head coming. You would want to do it carefully. With Pygmies, you may want to consider not breeding them until they are 18 months old. They have the hardest time kidding and just aren't mature enough physically at 13 months to deliver kids.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Was your doe bred to a larger buck? Sometimes the kids that result are larger than what the doe can deliver without assistance.

Good job on the save, though!

 

[heathen]

Thanks for the advice. No the buck was not that much larger he was actually only 2 or 3 inches bigger. He is half fainter and half pygmy I was thinking maybe he was throwing Fainter genes in the mix and that why the kids have been bigger than usual. I was always told to breed does by one year of age so that they can crack the pelvis before theyfully mature, and if a goat is 2 years old and has never kidded not to breed her. Is that true? Great Gandad always told me stuff like that alot seems to be true most of the time but if a pelvis cracks wouldnt that be hard on the doe? lol.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Crack the pelvis?

We wait until 18 months or 80 pounds to breed. Does can breed for the first time any year you want them to start.

 

[vermillionoaks]

We wait until 18 months or 80 pounds to breed. Does can breed for the first time any year you want them to start.

I think that is the weight for full-sized goats? I think if you breed by weight for miniatures it is usually around 35-40 lbs? Not sure because weight was not the deciding factor for us.