My goatling cloudburst twice in Autumn, once in October and again in mid November. Then she came into season and was mated towards the end of November and missed her next season so I thought she was definitely pregnant. Then, in early January, I found a large splash of bright red blood in her pen and assumed she'd miscarried. Ten days or so later, another red splash seemed to confirm it. Then a month later she'd had a small cloudburst - probably a pint or more but not as much as her earlier ones - which pretty much settled the matter. I planned to get both my girls scanned but, probably because more sheep farmers were scanning because of schmallenberg worries, the scanning man never came.
Eventually, with my milker clearly pregnant and the goatling still looking slim and jumping about with ease, I concluded one was carrying and one wasn't. A couple of goat-experienced friends cast an eye over them and agreed the young one didn't look promising.
She also had one side of her udder enlarged and warm and clearly uncomfortable and I posted here for advice, which was to reduce her feed, which I did. She had adlib hay and no shortage of branches and brambles all winter but not much in her bucket. Luckily what she did have was balanced with Brinicombes Minerals - I'm even more convinced that was a good idea now!
Her udder began to enlarge a couple of weeks ago and yesterday, while her companion was giving birth, it reached tight red shiny proportions. My nearest goat-friend came and suggested milking to relieve the pressure but keeping the milk (or in this case colostrum) in case it was needed.
And lo! 6.30 this morning, she produced a well-sized female kid who is now up and feeding. Both seem to be doing well but I will watch mum carefully in case her less than lavish diet means she has depleted herself suring her pregnancy.
Topic: Goatling kids after all! (Read 3110 times)
