[ballingall]

Getting towards more kiddings now, we have two due in the next week or two, both Anglo-Nubian's, both will be second kidders. These two are both mine, Surf is due first, on Tuesday, and her udder is starting to fill up. It would be nice for me if she kidded at the weekend as I'll be at home of course! Evita is due next Thursday, and her udder isn't as full, although she has been struggling to get up and down far more than Surf. I am worried this might mean she is having boys, which are heavier boned 

Fingers all crossed for better kiddings and some nice kids!

Anke, your goats must be due soon as well.

Beth

[Anke]

Hi, the GG kidded on Wednesday morning, I was in at the beginning but got such filthy looks from her that I thought I give her half an hour to get on with it, and 20 minutes later kid was there! Unfortunately it is a single and male, but he is very cute! Trying to hop on all four legs a once into the air! The BT type was due today, but udder isn't that tight yet and she is probably going for a few days over... Am hoping for  female though (and preferably more than one.... but that's breeding)

So, one down one to go and quite a few sheep look ready to burst (lambing due to start on Wednesday nxt week)...

Anke

[ballingall]

Don't want to be pessimistic, but a overdue goat can mean boy kids. I will cross all my fingers though for you!

Had a good check of Surf tonight and her udder is much fuller, not really tight yet, but not far off. She could be over the weekend. I'm convinced she has girls and that Evita is going to have males. I already have females from Surf last year, and I would really like a female from Evita...

From what I have heard it hasn't been a very good year for lots of female kids, which is disappointing.

Beth

[Anke]

Oh well must have been the cold winter.... If it's all males for us we need to sell more of our lambs (or buy a new freezer!) I am looking forward to lots of milk though (unless my sheep produce a few triplets...)

[ballingall]

Surf has been keeping us on tenderhooks most of the weekend, and Alex has been getting up in the middle of every night to check her. However, she started in ernest late this afternoon. However, having started, she then didn't do very much! Pushed a few times and gave up. We went in to investigate, but both mum and I were pretty certian the problem was just that the first kid coming was breech. This proved to be the case and was therefore quite quick to deal with.

She had a girl first, pale creamy colour (as is becoming standard for my goats!), then a lovely chocolate brown boy (sadly). She then had a another even paler female kid, and mum checked to make sure that was it. We left all the kids with her for a wee while, but one of the females was quite weak, and she was moving around a lot nearly tramping on them, so we took away the girls into the house, leaving the boy with her. After I gave the wee lad some milk, I went back indoors to see to the girls. When I went back to check on her to get the afterbirth, I was a bit shocked to discover she had another kid! However, this one was dead and had been so for a while, she wasn't developed properly at all.

Sadly, the second female who seemed weak, had trouble sucking. We couldn't get her to take any milk to begin with, when the milk hit the back of throat she seemed unable to swallow. We tried to feed her again after a couple of hours, but again she hardly took anything and seemed to have trouble swallowing. We checked her palette to make sure she didn't have a cleft palette but that was fine. I moved her into a cardboard box on her own after the second feed, but she died about 1/2 afterwards, just slept away. Not sure what was wrong- something not developed properly maybe.

Although sad to lose her, it's not a great loss, as we have her sister, and we also have 2 of Surf's female triplets from last year. The boy is being kept as he will be Charlie's companion for our friend up the road, although he doesn't have a name yet. The little girl has been christened Spring.

Beth

[Roxy]

Sorry about your losses, Beth, but thats the way with livestock, and something we have to accept as part and parcel of it.  I have only ever had one goat kid triplets and that was a British Toggenburg, and she had all billies. In fact every kidding she had billies, usually twins.  But quads - definitely not had any of those.

I thought it was my year for all billies, having had one live and two dead ones, so I am chuffed to have Primrose and Poppy, the two girls.

[ballingall]

The little girl is now called Spring, in keeping with my naming theme for my S line. The wee boy has temporarily been christened Sherlock, but his new owner may change his name anyway.

Oh, and Alex videoed the birth. Its a little bit messy as she had to be helped, and noisy, and loads of us talking in the background!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Ballingallgoats#p/a/u/0/c265ZU40q-E

Beth

[Roxy]

I am sure that video will be of interest to those who have kids due, and are first time owners of kidding goats, although hopefully theirs will arrive without needing help.  How fortunate to have a resident vet for such occasions!!!

I am on standby with my neighbour for her lambing, cos she has very large hands, and says my tiny hands are just the right size if things go wrong with her ewes lambing.......yes, fine, so long as I do not get a 2am phone call  

Typical lambing weather here - pouring with rain, and snow expected later in the week, and lambs round here just about to start arriving!!

[ballingall]

Oh I know Roxy- most of the local farmers here are due to start lambing this week, and it's been snowing since this morning! Whenever we had sheep lambing they always chose the coldest day or worse weather.

I must say it is useful having a resident vet- everyone should have one!


Beth

[ballingall]

Its not just the sheep that pick the worse weather to lamb in! Evita, the other Anglo-Nubian milker has produced some discharge and is looking like kidding on a horrible, horrible night. The wind is dreadful- I had to tie the goatshed door shut earlier, but managed to sort it now.

Beth

[Roxy]

Oh, I will have my fingers crossed for Evita, and hopefully a successful kidding!!  Horrible night here too - been sleeting hard and hailstones all day, and now its snowing.

Horses are well known for waiting for a good day to foal - apparantly they can hold off the birth if the weather is not right. Although, this years colt was born on a very wet and windy day in June, but he was none the worse for his very wet arrival.

[ballingall]

She did hold off as it happened- after doing hourly checks from 9:30pm til 2:30am she settled down again. However, she started straining this morning (I was all geared to be late for work, but my mother shooed me off!).

Once again, like all of our kiddings so far, she had to be helped, as three kids were all trying to come at once. The first one out was a boy who wasn't breathing, but Alex managed to resucitate him for a while. Then followed another 2 boys  One of these boys was twisted round when he came out, and had very bad muscle tone. Having produced 3 males already, mum put her hand back in, and found another kid, much bigger than the other 3, so naturally she thought, oh no another boy...... BUT it was a girl!

The boy first out who wasn't breathing did actually die, as did the one with bad muscles, he actually never got up, although his cause wan't helped by his mum who lay on him as well!

It's been a funny year, we actually haven't had any kids put to sleep, but have lost several through them just not making it. Thank goodness the female kid is the strongest of them all.


No pictures or videos of this lot, but I will try and take some pictures, as the newest wee girl is very cute.


Beth

[Roxy]

You are having some multiple births at your place, aren't you!!  There is no way I could manage at my house with all those arriving, and having to bottle feed .....it would be a good excuse not to go to work though

As you know, I have not had a good year with kidding.  Out of three nannies I have two live nanny kids and one live billy, and then two dead billy kids.  Next kids are due in the summer hopefully.

Is that all your nannies kidded now - must be getting a full barn by now with the new arrivals!!

[ballingall]

Oh no, we still have another 3 to go in the next 2 weeks. And another maybe, but she might not be due until July if she has held (a 3 year old that hasn't kidded yet!).

That's all my one's done though. Of the next 3, 2 belong to my neices and are both first kidders, and the other is my mum's BT 2nd kidder.

So far we have had, 7 males, 3 of which died and 4 females of which 1 was born dead and 1 other died. We wouldn't have kept as many as that anyway, but it isn't a good total.

Beth

[Roxy]

I have people waiting or my goat kids, and some people wanting billy kids for the freezer, and others wanting pygmy kids ......typical, all wanting what I do not have, this kidding time!!!