tendon question

[Suburbanfarmer]

Ok, so our new goat is due soon. Because we got her this weekend I don't know how her tendons have changed. What exactly am I looking for? I think I have found them, but I don't know what they are supposed to change from and to.

I can still find the tendons (I think) and they feel hard coming off of the back bone, but there is a big empty space between them and the dock of the tail. Do the tendons themselves go away? or is it the space around the back bone? I can reach completely under the backbone at the tail dock.

Does this mean she is within 24 hrs?

Thanks,
Kristin

 

[Mamaboid]

Ok, so our new goat is due soon. Because we got her this weekend I don't know how her tendons have changed. What exactly am I looking for? I think I have found them, but I don't know what they are supposed to change from and to.

I can still find the tendons (I think) and they feel hard coming off of the back bone, but there is a big empty space between them and the dock of the tail. Do the tendons themselves go away? or is it the space around the back bone? I can reach completely under the backbone at the tail dock.

Does this mean she is within 24 hrs?

Thanks,
Kristin

Usually, those tendons will get softer and softer until you actually cannot even feel them. Once they get that loose, she is pretty close and if her tail sets at an odd angle combined with lack of any tendons, it is usually a 12 hour window from that time. Of course, doe code and all comes into play and goats make up their own rules and don't tell the rest of us, so be alert. My last one had ligaments a half hour before she gave birth, and she was 9 days past her due date.

Good luck.

 

[BlondeSquirrel04]

It's less about reaching around the tail, and more about the softening or "squish" of the ligaments. They make a /I\ around the tail, (the tail being the I), and when you don't feel the tightness of them, you're getting close. Feel another doe who's not bred to compare. All of mine went within 24 hours of the ligament squish this year, but like mama said, anything goes with doe code.

 

[daisychick]

It took me forever to figure it out. I would feel my 2 pregnant does daily. I didn't understand it at all until I actually felt the ligaments being "GONE". It was the day my first doe delivered. The first thing I noticed was her tail looked like it sunk more into her back, and then when I tried to feel around it, I could no longer feel the pencil like ligaments running on the sides of her tail. It was really neat to actually get to feel what everyone is talking about. Try to do a daily feel and I think when it happens you will feel the difference.

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

Thanks! I can still barely feel them. They are thinner and looser this morning, but still definitely there. I will keep checking. *sigh

-Kristin