s.z.ichigo
Chillin' with the herd
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2013
- Messages
- 50
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 36
Story time!
Around noon we were up in the barn feeding and watering everyone. We had moved our buck and Sugar, our non-pregnant doe who was keeping him company, back into the barn from their pen because he kept escaping. Then we had moved our buck into the tack room, along with a hen that the roosters were too rough with, because he was stressing our VERY pregnant girls out. So Sugar was in there with the other girls again.
So I was in with the buck, feeding him, and my husband was looking at the girls over the stall door through the bars, and he called me all panicked. "I think Sugar is giving birth!"
I figured he had to be mistaken, that he was looking at the wrong goat, or that there was something terribly wrong with her. But nope. I looked at her and she had a big bubble coming out of her end, just like all the pictures I'd seen online of kidding goats.
Fortunately everything went by the book. We had a container of supplies we had JUST bought put together in preparation for our other does to kid next week. I had puppy wee-wee pads and washcloths, iodine, paper towels, etc.. My husband prepared a bunch of hot molasses water, which she LOVED. I dried the baby off as best I could, since it was in the 30s. I couldn't believe what a good little mama she was!
While I had seen the buck mating with the other does, I had never seen him successfully mount Sugar. She was about 6 months old when we got her, last October, so I assumed she hadn't been in heat yet. It was very obvious that he was interested in the other two. I assumed that at some point during the winter, since until a few days ago they all shared a stall, she must have come into heat and he had impregnated her. But looking at the dates, he must have gotten her less than a week after we bought her! She was pregnant this entire time, and we had no idea. While our other two are as big as apartment complexes, she's stayed a small, trim little thing, with only the slightest round belly.
I'm so glad that the buck escaped from the pen! Otherwise we would have kept those two down there, and since we hadn't been keeping a very close eye on them while we focused on the obviously pregnant does, she would have given birth in the little house and we might not have noticed for hours! Plus, it's a lot more drafty down there and may not have been safe at all for the little one.
So, I just thought I'd share my story! We named the little one Cocoa. She is so beautiful! It's 26 degrees out now, which from what I've read is okay fr the baby. I've made her a little sweater to wear out of the leg of my daughter's thermals. I can't help but worry about her up there, but Sugar is being such a good mom, so I'm trying to relax and let nature do its thing.
Around noon we were up in the barn feeding and watering everyone. We had moved our buck and Sugar, our non-pregnant doe who was keeping him company, back into the barn from their pen because he kept escaping. Then we had moved our buck into the tack room, along with a hen that the roosters were too rough with, because he was stressing our VERY pregnant girls out. So Sugar was in there with the other girls again.
So I was in with the buck, feeding him, and my husband was looking at the girls over the stall door through the bars, and he called me all panicked. "I think Sugar is giving birth!"
I figured he had to be mistaken, that he was looking at the wrong goat, or that there was something terribly wrong with her. But nope. I looked at her and she had a big bubble coming out of her end, just like all the pictures I'd seen online of kidding goats.
Fortunately everything went by the book. We had a container of supplies we had JUST bought put together in preparation for our other does to kid next week. I had puppy wee-wee pads and washcloths, iodine, paper towels, etc.. My husband prepared a bunch of hot molasses water, which she LOVED. I dried the baby off as best I could, since it was in the 30s. I couldn't believe what a good little mama she was!
While I had seen the buck mating with the other does, I had never seen him successfully mount Sugar. She was about 6 months old when we got her, last October, so I assumed she hadn't been in heat yet. It was very obvious that he was interested in the other two. I assumed that at some point during the winter, since until a few days ago they all shared a stall, she must have come into heat and he had impregnated her. But looking at the dates, he must have gotten her less than a week after we bought her! She was pregnant this entire time, and we had no idea. While our other two are as big as apartment complexes, she's stayed a small, trim little thing, with only the slightest round belly.
I'm so glad that the buck escaped from the pen! Otherwise we would have kept those two down there, and since we hadn't been keeping a very close eye on them while we focused on the obviously pregnant does, she would have given birth in the little house and we might not have noticed for hours! Plus, it's a lot more drafty down there and may not have been safe at all for the little one.
So, I just thought I'd share my story! We named the little one Cocoa. She is so beautiful! It's 26 degrees out now, which from what I've read is okay fr the baby. I've made her a little sweater to wear out of the leg of my daughter's thermals. I can't help but worry about her up there, but Sugar is being such a good mom, so I'm trying to relax and let nature do its thing.
Surprise.
