My Nubian has not kidded yet but I think she must be getting close.

She is bagging up, her flanks are very hollow looking,her ligiments at times seem very soft and then at other times seem to not be to soft and yesterday she had mucous coming out, but no mucous today. Her stomach is so low to the ground now that I can't imagine her being able to hold off much longer, or her stomach being able to go much lower.

Are there any other signs that will give me a good indication of when the time is near so that I do not have to make so many trips to the barn? We have a lot of ice and I just know that on one of these trips to check on her I'm going to slip and land flat on my --- I've been lucky so far, been able to catch my balance :-)

-- george (bngcrview@aol.com), December 30, 2001

Answers

Can you afford a baby monitor? They are invaluable for this purpose. If you have electricity in the barn, you just plug it in, and plug the receiver in at the house and it sends the signal through the electric wires. Our house and barn are on separate electric meters, so we plug an extension cord in to the barn outlet nearest the house and run the cord through a slightly open window into our house. You can hear when she starts pawing the ground, which most goats do. All goats are different, as are all pregnancies, but we may hear some bleating, or hard grunting, as in when they push to get the baby out. Almost always, even if they are very quiet otherwise, there will be a loud beller as the baby arrives. We first bought the monitor because of a doe who always had triplets or quadruplets, and even though she never had trouble delivering, they would come in such rapid succession that she couldn't clean them fast enough, and one sometimes was lost because we weren't right there to make sure it could breathe. If you have more than one other goat, it is noticeable that the doe about to give birth usually stays off to herself. We have often seen the doe who is ready to give birth in the barn by herself, and all other goats and sheep are outside, as if they were asked to leave and complied.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), December 30, 2001.

Great deals on baby monitors on ebay.

-- sherry (chickadee259@yahoo.com), December 30, 2001.

Careful on that ice! I did that a week and a half ago--tried to catch myself and sprained my ankle instead. Still hoping I can walk by the time my goats start kidding next week.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), December 30, 2001.

Hi George!

About the only things I can think of that you didn't mention was if the udder is tight and shiney (When did she start to bag up?) Some does start to bag up a month in advance. Also, is her vulva looking swollen and pinkish? Usually when the kid moves to the birthing canal you can see a change in the vulva and within a day or two before kidding the vulva opens somewhat and starts to look saggy and loose. Sorry for being so graphic. The signs you mentioned sounds like she is very close and also the ones I go by. The others mentioned a baby monitor...good idea, if you can rig one up.

Good Luck! PS: Be careful on that ice, we've got lots of it around here too!

-- Lorna (clstuckless@thezone.net), January 01, 2002.

George, most of the does I've worked with will give birth within a week of the onset of discharge. (Note that I said MOST...some just refuse to read the books and follow the instructions.) A REALLY good investment in our neck of the woods is metal cleats for your boots. They are literally a lifesaver!

-- sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), January 02, 2002.

Well... its been pretty much covered so i thought I would give you one of my links on kiddings with pics. I did have more sites but when my old computer wore out and crashed last April (an just before my 30 page research paper was due, but hey, whats life without procrastination!)! Soooo here is one link to help ya. Good Luck http://www1.ics.uci.edu/~pazzani/4H/Goat-labor.html

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), January 02, 2002.

My Lilly had twin boys yesterday. She is Saanen and the dad registered Alpine. I was so hoping for black and white spotted does, and I get 2 snow white boys! The rest better give me girls! Oh well, maybe a matched team for a cart?

Usually the little drippy thing hanging out the back is the best way of telling it's close for me. She had it Tuesday, so I knew it was close.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 03, 2002.

George, I have loved reading about your decision to get goats and your goat saga so far. So what is the kid status at this point? I keep wondering if your doe has kidded and she's keeping you so busy that you haven't been able to post! Or, she may be keeping you waiting with baited breath too.

My doe that was theoretically due the first week of December was lying. Fortunately, I always do a back-up breeding and so she is currently large enough to hit both doorposts on the narrow paddock door and I'm now waiting on an early March due date. Oh well, I'll try for the continuous milk theory again next year!

Hope we hear about you wonderfully healthy triplet girls (or some such thing) shortly!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), January 05, 2002.