# Waiting For Our Groovy Kids...



## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Groovy Grunders' Farm is waiting on 4 (presumably) pregnant does. First up is our oldest doe, Annika. She's almost 8. This will be her 6th pregnancy and her 5th kidding. Last year she got bullied and rammed and sadly, miscarried.

This year, she's still low goat on the totem pole, but she seems to be hanging in there. She keeps getting wider and looser and pooch is getting poochier. And she also continuously exhibits her signature pregnancy "symptom" of yelling for her food 1 hour before chore time. She only does this when she's pregnant!

She's had twins (2 bucklings), triplets (3 bucklings), quads(3 bucklings and 1 doe), and twins (2 does). I'm thinking triplets this time. All does, of course. 

Annie is due (145 days) on April 23. Hopefully all the snow will be gone by then....

She's bred to a stunning buck: Valley's-Edge Dashboardlight (aka "Dash") He makes my heart go pitter-pat!


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Ooohhhh he is a hottie! And your girls are beautiful. Those will be some beautiful kids! I love that sweet smile in the first pic!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Oh those are gonna be stunning kids!!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Happy kidding


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Happy kidding


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

What a cute little doe!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Next up is Aviva. She's almost 3 and this will be her 2nd kidding. Last year we bred her for minis. But she milked and ADGA showed really well last year and is a definite improvement over her dam, Ditza. So this year we bred her for 100% LaMancha kids to Tag-Along CL Lobo.

She's due on May 2.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

While I was out taking pictures, Lola Lasagna was quite put out that I hadn't photographed her yet. Lola is almost 3 and this is her 3rd kidding. She is a small, 40 pound Nigerian. But she is mighty! She had a difficult delivery as a FF, but slid out twins with no trouble at all last year.

She is also bred to the exceptionally handsome Valley's-Edge Dashboardlight.

She is due May 8.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Pretty girls!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

And last of all is Her Majesty, the neediest Groovy goat, Queen Ditza.

Yes, I know she needs copper and zinc. She ALWAYS needs copper and zinc!!!!! And she's underconditioned. This is just who she is.

She is 5 years old and this is her 4th kidding. In spite of her "issues" she always kids easily and she ALWAYS gives us one buck and one doe.

It was hard to get photos of her because she kept try to get in close to me so I could scratch her itchies. She is a bundle of personality and we adore her. Even if she IS cull worthy on many fronts.

This year we chose to go the easy route and breed her for minis. So she is also bred to Valley's-Edge Dashboardlight. (Dash was a very happy man when he was here.)

Ditza is due May 14.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Do you use Replamin Plus on her? If not, you may want to.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All look great. 

I agree with Karen.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I started Replamin about a month ago for all the girls. I did the 5 days in a row and now they all get their dose once a week. 

Our water is really bad - high in iron, calcium, and sulfur. We're looking at options for catching rain water just as soon as this pesky snow melts off. Ditza just shows the deficiencies more than the others. I got lazy over the winter. She'll look better if I'm dosing the copper every 4 weeks. Though I'm hoping we'll be able to cut back on the copper if we solve the water issues.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

So...Not sure if it's hormones or Spring fever or WHAT, but the girls are all SUPER cranky this morning. The weather is warmer, but there's still so much snow that they're hemmed in - nowhere to go but in the pen or up the driveway.

I keep a close eye on Annika because last year she took a bully hit in the side and miscarried. This morning all 3 of the others were bristled and after her - either humping her or ramming her. So I put her in the little pen by herself with her own hay and water. She stayed bristled up and kept ramming the fence when any of the others came near. It took me a good 15 minutes to get her to settle down and enjoy her private brunch.

I put hay in the bigger stall for the other 3 of them to share but they kept running to Annie's gate and fussing at me to let them in. Obviously HER hay and water are better than theirs.

What a bunch of goons. They skirmish once in a while, but they were intense this morning!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

2 weeks to go for Annie. Gonna take the requisite butt and udder and belly pics tomorrow.

I was going to knock myself dead cleaning up and shaving backsides and stocking kidding kits and moving our trailer cage to use as a kidding stall when my 17 year-old said, "Mom, why do you need to do all that work? You have 4-H slaves!"

I love it when she's right!!!!

4-H over the next couple of weeks will definitely entail some shaving and cleaning and moving and fixing!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Here's Annika 2 weeks out.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Looking good


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Nice.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

So Yesterday I took advantage of our weekly slave labor team (aka: our 4-H club) and had them help us prep for kids.

They carried the heavy trailer cage out for us to use as a kidding stall. They shaved Annika's backside (she'll need some touch-ups today. They had trouble cutting through all that winter wool!) They set up the inside baby playpen. And they walked goats. Of particular note: One of the girls who will be showing goats for us this summer actually connected with Ditza, our resident queen/diva/jerk. Ditza even let her feel the babies! I AM JEALOUS!

Annika looks ready. I'm hoping she holds out and doesn't pop early...


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Annika is due in 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Woot~!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Day 143!!!!! Ligs are soft, but still there. No discharge yet...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Looking good.

Her udder is getting bigger.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Ok...I moved her into a kidding "pen" (aka our cage trailer). We went to church this morning and then visited my mom. Came home about 1/2 an hour ago. Her udder is about to bust. Ligs pretty much gone. I'm thinking some time in the next 12 hours....


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Yay!!! :7up:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Happy kidding.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

She's picked a nice stretch of weather to do it in! Come on Annika!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Day 145



lottsagoats1 said:


> She's picked a nice stretch of weather to do it in! Come on Annika!


No kidding! Referring to both to your weather comment and to her lack of having babies yet. 

Checked her at 3:30 am and again after I woke up; She still hasn't popped.

Today is Day 145 and the weather is STELLAR. Sunny, 60's, no bugs. And I don't have to go anywhere today

And I just realized that none of my goats thus far have EVER kidded at night or in bad weather. And I've only had one kidding where we weren't right there when it happened.

I'm sure that's due to my amazing management practices. *cough*

*cough*cough*

I'm thinking twins. The times she had quads and trips, she kidded before her due date. She's gone as long as Day 149 with twins. But it will be raining by then. So I am encouraging her to have her kids today. Preferably this morning. One of my daughters has to work this afternoon and I'd hate for her to miss the big event!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

No ligs this morning, but SOMEONE has been drinking milk from that very full udder. (Someone being Annika herself. BRAT!)

Should I be worried about a lack of colostrum for the kids?????


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Depending on when she kids, probably.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Hopefully she will kid soon.

If she nurses herself dry, that is bad.

Maybe trying a goat bra or something to block her from self sucking in the meantime. Maybe a dog Elizabethan Collar?
But if you do, watch her close if she kids, that stuff has to be removed quickly.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

She is in labor now! Huzzah!! We're home and the weather is gorgeous and all the 4-H kids have been called.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Or maybe not... I swear there was mucus and she deeply concentrating, but then we let her out of the pen and she was all like "HAY! I LOVE hay!!!" and her backside is dry. She had ZERO ligs when I felt her in the pen. I let her out and they're back. 

:headbang:


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)




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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Sounds like this girl knows how to behave like a goat!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I took a nice long bath and put on some nice clothes hoping that would induce labor - but she's got nothing other than a LOT of wheezing and bulging. *sigh*


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Aaaaaaaaaand we have streaming mucus! Woot! (The bath and nice clothes worked!)


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

yeah! now be a good doe and give your human some does


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Or not. Again. She's messing with us. 

She is, however, uncharacteristically cranky this morning. She's usually a real love bug. But today she totally freaks out if I touch her anywhere but her head and neck which is TOTALLY unlike her.

I choose to ignore her for now. I have to help my mom with a few things. She'll probably kid then. (Annika, not my mom. My mom's all done kidding.)

I'm not going to post here again unless we have babies on the ground OR unusual kidding issues. So there. And in the meantime I'm gonna go watch that Goat Code video just to keep my sense of humor intact.:crazy:


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

I know that pain! Mine don’t even listen to the “she could do without me kidding so I’m going To kid” anymore though. They just... don’t kid. *sigh*


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Today is Day 150. OR -as my brilliant daughter pointed out - Day 145. I forgot that Annika did have a 5 day heat after she was bred. We put the buck back with her at that time. He really didn't seem very enthusiastic, but he did mount her once, maybe twice.

We've been on edge because we have literally had an "armed and dangerous" murderer hiding in the woods within a mile or two of our house the past 3-4 days. He murdered a sherriff's deputy and stole his squad car. Then abandoned the car a little too close to our house for comfort. Everybody anywhere near here has been on lock down. My husband usually works out of town Thurs-Sat, but he stayed home all 3 days. We barraccaded (however the heck you spell that!) the doors each night and kept everything locked up tight. We cancelled 4-H. And my husband - who is not overly fond of goats - helped us with chores because he didn't want any of us gals outside alone. He also went out to check on Annie a couple of times a night for the same reason.

Fortunately, the felon was caught today. Hallelujah! So I had a chat with Annika and she promised to share her babies with us soon.

In the meantime, Aviva is looking pretty darned close to going herself...


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Wow! Who needs that kind of excitement. Glad he was caught.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

ksalvagno said:


> Wow! Who needs that kind of excitement. Glad he was caught.


The relief in our neighborhood is palpable. We live in a semi rural area. You know, we have neighbors, but there's a bit of space between the yards. Usually you see kids out playing and people out working in their yards or on their cars, etc.

But for the last few days it's been silent. And the few people who were out were tense and watchful. Some folks were packing guns.

I took a walk today and just felt FREE. I saw kids riding their bikes and neighbors out chatting and working and BBQing. My husband sat outside and played his guitar. It's an awesome feeling!


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

She was keeping her babies safe! So glad all is well, now she can get down to business!


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

At least everything is back to normal! I think some more bubba goats are well deserved.


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## Maureen Harmon (Jul 19, 2017)

I’m glad he was caught! This story was all over our news station as well as my FB page!
It’s a nerve wracking experience! We are right in tge middle of where the Dannemora prison escape happened a few years ago.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

I can't even imagine how scary that was for everyone there! I am so glad he was caught and you can get back to worrying about goat babies. GIRL goat babies!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

New-goat-mom said:


> I can't even imagine how scary that was for everyone there! I am so glad he was caught and you can get back to worrying about goat babies. GIRL goat babies!


Absolutely. I lectured both the bucks and all four of my does, so we are optimistically planning to have ALL doelings.

Annie is still holding out on me...

Maybe she'll kid while we're at church this morning and we'll come home to babies. *sigh*


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Glad he was caught.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Annnnnnnnd....She's in labor!!!!!! 

For Real.

No, seriously.

Pushing and the whole nine yards!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Anything yet?


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Quads! 2 bucks, 2 does!!!!! All very healthy.

I'll post pics tomorrow.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Oh my goodness! Congratulations! I couldn't even get 4 with two mommas! Lol


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

That’s my luck too newgoatmom!


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## Maureen Harmon (Jul 19, 2017)

Congratulations!!! Can’t wait to see pics!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Congrats!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Long night. She had a long labor because the first gal was rather reluctant to make her way into the world! Here are Annie's quads. I'll post their names, etc in the birth announcements.










And THEN...I got up at 6 and fed all the littles. Then I looked outside and I saw too many legs out there. Aviva ALSO kidded right before I got up!

Here's her darlings!










Aviva seems a little off. Gave some warm molasses water, grain, and a shot of B vitamins... It doesn't look like she had any complications, so I'm going to keep my eyes open for ketosis or hypocalcemia...


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

They are all gorgeous! Love all the colors!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

They are so cute!! Congrats


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

2 of the quads (both of the does) are polled. HUZZAH!!!!!!!!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Excellent!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

That is great!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

So cute.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

OK...Lola is up next. She's at Day 143. She's a tiny little goat and I think she's wider than she is tall.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Congrats on the kids! Beautiful babies. Come on Lola, we have a stretch of nice weather coming our way, perfect for newborns!

It was a tad tense for a few days in Central Maine. Cpl Cole was one of the good guys, always helping others. He treated my son well when he was incarcerated in the Somerset jail. My son actually shared a cell with the murdering slime 8 years ago until the guy said something my son didn't think was right and he slugged him, breaking the slimes jaw

Because of my work hours (1500-2300) I do a round of chores starting around 2345. Usually I love being out there at night, but while that slime bag was out and about, I made sure my Great Pyrenees was out on patrol while I was out in the dark.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Here's her royal short-and-wide, Miss Lola lasagna. I took the pics last night.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck!


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## Goat town (May 6, 2018)

groovyoldlady said:


> 2 of the quads (both of the does) are polled. HUZZAH!!!!!!!!


This may seem silly (new) but how do you know they're polled so early?


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Goat town said:


> This may seem silly (new) but how do you know they're polled so early?


The hair on top of their heads lays differently. Also - no horn buds - no matter how often you look for them or feel for them. More to the point, at least in my case, I have a friend who is familiar with the buck we leased and she said he throws polled kids (also blue eyes, but none of Annie's kids got the blue gene. Lola's might...) This friend checked their heads and said they were polled.


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## Maureen Harmon (Jul 19, 2017)

Pretty sure Leia is polled too! She has nubs but so does dad. Almost a month old and nothing yet. Mom had them breaking through at 9 days old.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Maureen Harmon said:


> Pretty sure Leia is polled too! She has nubs but so does dad. Almost a month old and nothing yet. Mom had them breaking through at 9 days old.


It's SO NICE to not have to disbud them!!!!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Day 146. Still waiting on Lola. *sigh*

If she gets any wider we'll have to prop her sides up on skateboards.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

ANNNNNNNNND...We have babies! Lola is my tiny 40 pound goat. She just had 2 HUGE babies - a doe and a buck. I can't believe how much bigger they are than Annie's!

Mama and babies doing well. The little buck was born with one leg back, but is standing and moving great. They both have a great sucking reflex.

Here's a quick photo. The boy has the white. More pics tomorrow..


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How cute.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

OK. All our Groovy babies are on the ground. Ditza kidded at the tail end of my daughter's 17th birthday party while all the teens watched. Methinks it will hard to top THAT party!!!

She had mini LaManchas: a boy and a girl and both have blue eyes. They are both stunning! Pics soon...


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## Karen Kuntz (Apr 25, 2018)

Congratulations! They are beautiful!


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