It's Go Time. . .

Well, this is it. Time to start my (very) short kidding season. This is my FAVORITE time of year. Well, really any time of year is my favorite when babies are being born, but this is typically the time of year that my goats kid. What it is not, is my favorite season. Especially this year.

Like any mommy-in-waiting, my nesting instinct has been going full-speed, and these aren't even really my kids! I've got the barn cleaned up (well, as clean as a barn can be, anyway), kidding supplies ready, baby monitor set up, and the alarms on my phone set to go off every 2 hours during the night to listen on the baby monitor for any funny sounds. The Husband does not appreciate the lull of Buck barking at random wildlife through the night over the monitor. I can't really say that I disagree since it sits right next to my head on the bedside dresser.

I'm ready.

Girls look like they're close to ready.

Yep. . . just waitin'. . .

Ok, so this period of kidding is not my favorite part. The waiting period. The up all night checking for sounds of pawing or low groaning. The sitting in the barn staring at goat butts and feeling around on rumps for any sign that labor may be within a few hours while the girls lazily munch on hay or lay around chewing their cud. The jumping up and running to the barn any time I hear noises that sound like some action is about to take place.

Tonight I was fixing dinner, listening to the monitor in the kitchen. I'm in the middle of peeling potatoes when I hear some low "maa"'s. I look at the clock, it's been an hour since I checked on the girls. I figure that I'll finish getting the potatoes ready and then go see what's up - what could happen in another 5 minutes, right? So I continue on, cutting up taters. . . I hear more "maa's". And they quickly get louder, and they're getting closer together . . . Oh shoot, sounds like someone is REALLY uncomfortable! I realize that I'm practically chopping the potatoes, trying to hurry up. I get the last of them done, throw on my coat and dash out the back door. I ran into the barn, "Who's doing what?". Piper and Bri who were already put in their kidding pens looked at me like, "What?". I still hear the moaning, so I head out of the barn into the pasture area and there's Annie, just talking to herself and enjoying the last bits of sunshine of the day. She's not even due 'till mid-March, but she's moaning like she's starting active labor. I walk over to her to see what's up and she suddenly awakens from her mantra and scuddles (make that waddles. . .) off all miffed that I interrupted her.

Stupidgrumblegrumble. . . whydoigrumblegrumble. . . messsingwithmegrumblegrumble. . .

I swear she does it on purpose. Cranky old goat. . .

I noticed last night that Piper had started to lose her mucous plug. This can happen hours, days, weeks, or even months (and then regrow) before a doe actually kids. I wasn't sure if this was a sign that she was closer than her due date on Wednesday, so I penned her up just to be sure. She still wasn't showing any signs of being close this evening so I let her back out with the others. No sense in dirtying up her kidding pen anymore than necessary and she doesn't care for being penned anyway.
Bri on the other hand is perfectly content in her pen. I think she's realized that she gets her own private feed and water buckets and doesn't have to be crowded around the hay bunk. I hope she doesn't decide to milk this for all it's worth. (no pun intended) She's due tomorrow and I really hope that she doesn't mess around about it. Mondays are grocery day and speech therapy day for Kindergartener. The groceries I can put off if I think that she's going into labor soon, but we can't miss speech. Wednesday is also going to be crazy. That's when Piper and Baerli are both due. We have speech for Bo in the morning and then speech again for Kindergartener in the afternoon. Luckily the morning speech is only 1/2 an hour and it's just a few miles away so I don't have to be gone for long. It's the afternoon speech sessions that have me worried.

And really worried isn't the right word I guess. . . I know my girls will be fine without me. Occassionally complications occur, but they're usually pretty rare. My girls are in good health and should be able to kid just fine without any assistance.

But still. . . I just like to be there. For one: I like to attend births in the case that something doesn't go to plan, but mostly I just like to watch. I love to be there the moment that a new little life comes into the world. I love to be there so that the first creature that a newborn kid sees besides it's mom is me. In my college equine classes we learned about imprinting. Most people are familiar with the term imprinting when they hear stories about newborn geese or ducks that imprint on the first creature that they see when they hatch. While that's not entirely true - they don't automatically think that they're humans if they see one as soon as they pop out of the egg - it's the same concept that an animal becomes familiar and bonds to other animals that are present near the time of birth. I think that it's a training process that can be applied to goats to make them friendlier and easier to work with as they get older. It doesn't guarantee that you'll have an easy animal - Penelope is still very standoffish and I was there at her birth just like I was for Miss Kay - some animals just have an easier temperament than others. But imprinting can liken your odds for success.

Well, I ought to be off to the land of nod. I have to try to get as much sleep as I can in-between barn checks and I still have to be able to function tomorrow.
It's Go Time ladies, I'm ready when you are. . .

Getting ready for baby. . .

**WARNING** There are some gross shots in this post. If you have a sensitive stomach, don't proceed. Don't say I didn't warn ya!


I get more nervous about my goats kidding than I was about my own impending labors. This will be my 4th kidding season, so I've had enough experience that I'm not nervous so much in the sense of being scared, more like anxious and excited nerves. I love watching birth. Cow births, goat births, chicks hatching. . . I've never actually watched a human birth, but I was present for 3, no need to watch.
I could watch animal births all day. I'm fascinated by it. Especially when it comes to multiples. Despite all the grossness, it's amazing to watch a new life come into the world. You never know what you're going to get: girls, boys, colors, spots, no spots. I look forward to the improvements that new breedings will bring to my herd.

And mostly I'm just a sucker for babies.

Cute, cuddly, fluffy little babies.

With this winter being so harsh, I do feel a little worried about making sure that the kids are dried off and taken care of right away. A lot of pregnant women (myself included) report having a surge of energy right before going into labor where they have the urge to clean the entire house from top to bottom in order to make a nice clean place to bring baby home to (or into the world for those moms who homebirth). Goats will do this some too. We call it the nesting instinct. While some women start scrubbing the kitchen floors, some does will start to make an actual nest. Yep, like a bird's nest. They'll paw at the ground and bury down in a nice dry spot in their bedding to make a nice area to have their kid(s). They don't usually have their kids in that exact spot because they're getting up and down and moving around a lot while in early labor and don't always make it back to their spot to start pushing, it's mostly an instinct behavior.
I've had the same kind of urges already. I'm already planning on cleaning out the entire barn, and even cleaning off the back porch in the case that I have to bring kids into the house if the weather gets too bad. (Just wait for that post - it'll be more like an obituary because The Husband will likely kill me. . .)

There are some signs that you can look for to tell that a doe is getting close to going into labor.

About 4-6 weeks before they're due, some does will start to make an udder. Where their udder was just a saggy bag before, they start to fill out and their udder will fill a little like it's fully of Jello. I usually try to give them a bikini trim around this time, clipping the hair around her udder and rear so I can see the changes more easily, but in this weather I'll wait 'till they're closer to their due dates. This also helps the kids find the mom's teats, sometimes they get confused and will suck on random tufts of hair if they can't find a teat to latch on to.

Piper's udder about 5 weeks out from her due date.

But not all does will do this. Annie and Baerli insist on waiting till closer to kidding before "bagging up". But if you don't know your doe's due date, be sure to pay attention to changes in her udder. If she starts getting full quickly, like over just a few days - she's probably much closer than 4 weeks.

My tried-and-true go-to is the ligament checks that I explained Here. Once the ligaments on either side of the doe's tail feel like they've disappeared, it's time. Sometimes this doesn't happen 'till right before or during early labor, sometimes it happens a day or so before she actually goes into labor. But when it does happen you know to stick around and watch her.

I could practically wrap my hand around Moonpie's tailbone, this was the morning before she went into labor.

Her rump will look sunken in around her tailbone and her tailbone will appear to stick out.

 When things get down to business, the steps of labor are a lot like they are in humans. The doe will have a thick discharge, this is her mucous plug. Again, like in humans, sometimes this can happen days or weeks before she actually kids. With my own kids, I would lose it within a day of going into labor.

Moonpie losing her "goo".

Annie with a full udder and losing her "goo" last year.

At this point she'll be getting up and down, up and down. . . over and over. . . She may stand with her head against a wall, facing away from everyone else, or she may be practically in your lap wanting attention and support. She'll do a lot of yawning and stretching and pawing, she may "talk" to her belly even.

Things are really hoppin' when you see a bubble start to appear out of the doe's vulva, you should see a pair of feet and maybe a nose in the bubble, or you may see just feet coming out. If you see a nose and no feet, prep yourself because you may need to help the doe.

"The Bubble" The white part in the bubble is a hoof.

Feet with the toes point down so they are front feet.

So long as the feet coming out are pointed down, they are most likely front feet. If the toes are pointed up, they are probably back feet and the kid is in a breech position. Kids are naturally born this way, it's usually the second or last kid. Be on hand nonetheless in case the doe seems to be having trouble getting them out. Toes pointed up could also mean that the kid is coming out upside down, and you may have to help pull the kid out.

Here is a clip from one of the triplets that Baerli had last spring. It's a pretty typical, eventless birth that didn't require much intervention. Recognize that baby? It's Miss Kay. And the Jennifer that I'm talking about in the clip is another breeder friend of mine who likes the sundgau color. I will apologize in advance for my annoying voice.

It's a gross, scary thing to watch or be apart of sometimes, but it's also totally worth it. 

Charlie the barn cat helping clean off babies.

Healthy babies!

Moonpie was a good momma.

Being a farmer isn't easy, it's not for the faint of heart, and it's not always convenient, but the rewards are totally worth it and there's a sense of accomplishment in having a hand in the cycle of life and where our food comes from.