Preparing and Waiting for kids...

Waiting is the hardest part about kidding season.  The does are getting so big now, and having more trouble breathing around those bellies full of kids.  It's fun to speculate on how many each doe will have, and what they may look like.  Cupcake seems pretty uncomfortable.  She's often reluctant to move from her favorite spot now, and it's easy to see why.  As she should have about two weeks to go now, I've begun a bit of grain for her.  Just 1/2 c. per day for now, 1/4c in the morning and 1/4c in the evening.  I'll also be offering her a little alfalfa in about a week, when I can start all the pregnant girls on it without the risk of having huge kids.  I like to stay away from the chemical wormers as much as possible, especially when milking, so I try to get that over with before I start milking for the family.  I will be administering a wormer to each doe the day after she kids, and hope that combined with the earlier start to our kidding season will give us a better spring in terms of parasites.

I plan to clean kidding pens this week, and have one more kid safe hay rack to build.  We used these little wire hay racks
 
our first kidding season, and won't do that again.  Way too many close calls with the kids.  They want to jump into the racks and curl up on the hay, and can so easily get a leg, or worse, their head, caught in them.  I had one kid nearly hang himself that year, and the same month a friend of mine had a kid break her leg in one.  I made the racks in the following photo with old crib rails.

Much better, and no danger to those always curious and busy kids! :)

I'll also be getting my kidding supplies ready this week, and getting the baby monitor set up so I can at least hear what's going on in the barn.  I'd love to be able to see as well, but that will have to wait for now.
For anyone curious, I'll try to post about what I keep in my kidding kit soon.

Visiting Goats, Urine Scald and the Final Stretch

We have had two visiting goats at North Forest Farm this month. They belong to a 16 year old girl who really wanted her doe, Irena, to kid this year.  I had a separate kidding stall that wasn't being used yet, and felt like helping her out.  The buckskin is the doe, Irena and Willie, her companion, is black with some white.  They've been fun to have with us, especially Willie, who is always up to something and a big snuggler as well.  We are just waiting to see if Irena goes into heat again, which I don't expect, and then she and Willie will be going home.  I'm really excited to see what her kids are like.  She's been bred to Aspen and should be due around June 3rd.  If you'd like to keep an eye on her progress, you can find her here.

Willie and Irena

We've been struggling a bit with one of our bucks lately.  The bucks are...bucky.  They do "bucky" things, such as pee on themselves, especially on the back of their front legs.  It's less than attractive to us humans, but I guess the does are supposed to find it irresistible.  Unfortunately, it causes a condition called urine scald, where the hair falls out and the skin becomes very irritated.  Shamrock has some bald, inflamed skin that has needed treatment.  It is less than pleasant to have to wash, blow dry, trim and medicate a stinky buck, but it is required to keep them healthy.  Right now, I'm using bag balm with lavendar oil in it to treat the area, but when I get some zinc oxide, I'll make a salve from lanolin and zinc oxide for him.

We are down to the last month of waiting for new babies!  We may have our first kids on the ground around March 1st.  Our girls are getting round!  Well, two of them are.  Starlight is less rotund that Cupcake and Japanzy.  She still seems pregnant, judging by her udder, behavior, and vulva...I HOPE!  She was, after all, my best milker last year.  This last month of waiting is the hardest.  It gets so exciting!  There's a lot more to managing the herd before kidding starts as well.  I like to deworm does about a week before they give birth, and again the day after.  I also begin to feed a bit of grain and alfalfa about a week before kidding.  This means more moving goats around, so they can eat their individual diets without interference.  There is no such thing as feeding something to one or two goats when they are all together.
Once, I tried to feed them each their dose of copper in a little "sandwich".  I was mauled by five does at once, ten little front hooves all jumping up on me, and a melee the likes of which I've seldom seen. :)  It was fun!  But, not effective.

Update on the Girls

I think I can say with certainty that all the girls are bred, and due any time after April 22. Woohoo! :) They are all looking big, and beginning to get udders. I can also feel and see their babies wiggling around. I'm breathing a sigh of relief and doing a happy dance at finally meeting this first goal. Now for healthy, safe kiddings, and handsome bucklings! :)

Uncomfortable Pregnant Girl(s)

My girls are all looking a bit more uncomfortable these days. It's really gotten warm here in MN. Well, warm for MN, anyway. It's 60 degrees, and the girls are still wearing warm winter coats. They're shedding now, but it seems they'd like to be shedding faster. :) It doesn't help that they've got little heaters inside keeping them warmer, and they're big and uncomfortable looking. Cupcake (white) is looking like a basketball with a head when she lays down, and she's breathing heavily. Her kid(s) are really moving a lot today. I can say for sure (I think) that she's pregnant now. :) I never want to say anything "for sure" when it comes to goats. They seem to be out to prove their caretakers wrong about most things. Gotta love 'em!

New Pics of the girls, and waiting...

This waiting is just too much for a farmgirl! ;)


Starlight



Japanzy



Cupcake



Cute Cupcake



Japanzy always worried about her stomach :)

We should have 2 months to go until we can expect our first kids to arrive. I don't know if I can stand the suspense.

Twiddling My Thumbs

I haven't posted anything here because I haven't anything to post, really. I'm in the world of waiting and watching. Waiting to find out if the girls are actually pregnant. Waiting to see/feel movement of kids. Waiting to see udders filling. Waiting to (hopefully not) see signs of heat.
So far, all looks good. The girls were with the bucks from December 1 to 23. I haven't seen any signs of heat in any of them. I also don't see any sure signs of pregnancy, FOR SURE. I keep feeling for kids, hoping to FOR SURE feel something that feels like a kid. I keep touching udders, hoping for a swelling there that would indicate that we're gearing up to feed kids.
I'm a bit over the top, I know, but this is my first time, and I'm just super excited, as well as super thirsty for that good milk that we've been waiting so long for. We did get a taste of it with Cupcake, our FF doe last year. It really wet our appetites! Getting goats, and then actually getting to the point of milking, is a long term goal that takes a lot of patience. I'm not big on patience, so...I'm twiddling my thumbs...


The stuff we're waiting for. This is from Cupcake last September.


But while I'm twiddling, I'm loving every minute of having these dear little goats. I'm so far wonderfully happy with our choice of breeds. They're so much fun for all of us. The kids enjoy them, and they're safe for all of us to be around.


our littles with the does