Hello from another newbie to goat momma-dom (the goats and me). Sarah (the goat in the middle) is on day 130 (I'm positive of the date..... watched her get bred & removed her from the buck pen after). Her ligs are very soft but not gone entirely, her udder filling considerably and her tail is doing that straight out thing. Do you think she'll make it? From what I understand she's gotta make it at least another 10 days but she looks so uncomfortable I don't know if she will......... no discharge, no obvious signs of contractions, but she sleeps standing up propped against the wall and isn't interested in grain (there's a first) but I have seen her eat fresh hay and drink. Your thoughts please? Ophelia and Dolly (to Sarah's left and right) are due 5 days later.
AAWWWW, I just love that last picture. You can sure tell they love each other also. I have to say you would be amazed at how long they can go from when you think that they will just blow right open. I say she will be fine, but I do not think she will make it to her due date if that is day 150.
Thanks for the reassurance. Her ligs aren't as squishy tonight & they all had much more energy this evening. I've got the girls in the "maternity pen." Athena, our LGD, can see them from the general pen, but not reach them. That has her a bit upset. After her evening feeding, she wanted to go in the pen with the girls instead, but Norbert would scream his bloody head off all night if he didn't have his pal.
Re: Sarah - kidded at day 138! Sarah had one buckling yesterday at about 11:30am. She's excellent at keeping him clean, but she isn't standing very well for him to nurse. About the time he latches on, she walks off :hair: Any suggestions? So far, we've been making her stand still for him to nurse every couple of hours. that's gonna get old quick.
congrats on the kid!!! What day did she end up kidding on (140?) I would keep holding her till he is strong enough to get the latching on quickly and she realizes she needs to stand for him. I take it she is a FF so it may take her a day or so to get the idea. Is she in a kidding stall or with the other goats?
congrats on the little boy! - or should I say BIG boy??? Good job on holding her so that he can nurse, that will be important until she gets the idea. FFs are sometimes like that - I'm assuming she's an FF? LW
yes she is a first freshener - kidded on day 139. She is in the maternity pen with her sister - Dolly - who is due to kid on 4/19 (that's day 150 anyway). She loves to keep him clean, but she's not understanding the 'stand still' to let the little bugger eat. She nudges him back to the teat, then promptly walks ahead a few steps after he latches on. He's a pretty big guy - legs that go from here to the next county. he's identified us with feeding time so as soon as we walk in the pen and hold momma, he's right there to munch. I knew the babies would be cute...... but he's just adorable And I got called into jury duty tomorrow so will miss a whole day of playing with him :angry:
WOW if he is that big on day 139, I would guess that somehow the date was wrong. Have you weighted him? He is big and cure. I would hold her like you said, she will get the hand of it. She might be sore and engorged and it hurts, so give her a little time to gut use to it. She looks like a wonderful mom. Congratulations
He is big, but unless my math sucks worse than I thought, it's day 139. I watched her get bred on 11/14/08 - took her in, saw StinkyButt do his thing 3 times, then took her back to the doe/general pen. She only had that one exposure. My fan-dancy scale broke after being left in the barn all winter.... trying to round something up cause I can't guess weight for ****. He is tall enough to where if he wants to "look up" to nurse, he has to lay down.
yes ...I agree with the others.....make sure ... she doesn't have anyone else in the pen.... just her and baby......she is a new momma and doesn't know ....what she is suppose to do quite yet...but she will soon.. they need that bonding time.... :wink: .........seeing him as a single ...please teach him to eat from ...both sides...you may want to also milk some out of the side... that gets ignored ..keep an eye on it.....you don't want a blown out teat....or mastitis..... :wink: He is sure big......and such a cutie......... :greengrin: would make the due date around april 12, 2009 wow..... :scratch:
I am gong to second keeping her milked out -- she is probably sore and when he latches on her first reaction is to move away but she knows he needs to eat so is trying to encourage him. I would milk her out till the pressure is released adn then see how she does
He's doing very well, thank you for your suggestions. I beginning to think momma is only pulling away when I'm around cause his belly is pretty full and he's certainly got plenty of energy. Hence the name Tigger cause he bounces all over the place! It's just a blast to mess with him. "Auntie Dolly" is in with them still in the "maternity pen" - whenever I've tried to separate the two (Sarah and Dolly) Dolly gets just plain distraught to the point of hyperventilating (I didn't even know goats could do that!). She is very, very sweet with the baby & is nearly as attentive as Sarah. I am going to split some cattle panels today to make individual stalls so Dolly and Ophelia have their own spot when it's their turn around 4/19. That way they can see and smell each other, but that's it. It's a 12x20 pen so it's plenty big enough. That project was on the DH's "honey do" list & he didn't get to it before Sarah kidded early. I guess I get to drag out the duct tape & zip ties & do it myself :angry:
