# And so it begins :) We have officially started our kidding



## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Here is a short video of da babies. Left to feed and came back to a 3rd which didnt surprise me. Going out now to make sure there isnt 4  No prospects in this batch though. All Does


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## SMaxwell (May 20, 2012)

Very Cool! From looking at the video of your dairy, it looks like you are gonna be a busy for a while! So far I got five boys & one girl with one doe left to go.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Grats on your babies! Going to be needing a bunch of good boys this year ourselves. Was really hoping this doe was going to have at least 1 boy. She is one of our most structurally correct show does we have and I wanted to know how well one of her boys would of turned out. She is one of our shorter does but I wanna start experimenting with some of the more correct Does. Wanna see just how much the dams size transfers over to possible prospects. 
We have 42 (41 now) Does to kid between now and late May. So ya we are going to be very busy. 4 hours of sleep a night for the next 6 months! But its all good. I only get about 5 or 6 now. Its amazing what you can get used to.

The 3rd doeling was a bit smaller and less active then the others so we brought her inside for at least tonight and will see if we cant get her kick started. If she does good she will go back out to mom and then be permanently pull off at the 2 week mark.

Next to kid is one of my first freshening coming two year old. She is part of my big Gabriel line (grand daughter) but she is nearly as correct structurally as the other Doe. Am hoping for a buck. But thats like 2 weeks away... hurry up and wait


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

It must be warm there. I didn't see any steam coming off the kids what would that be like??


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Actually it was a little colder today then it has been in almost 2 weeks. That being said, it was like 45 degrees today  But over cast and a slight north wind. Has been a super easy winter. Usually we get a week or two of single digit temps and then the rest of the winter is above freezing in the day and blow at night. This year we had a month of cold but it was much warmer at 20 for low and 27 for high during that month. For the past 3 or 4 weeks though we have been hitting 40s for highs and upper 20s and low 30s for lows. Very odd winter indeed. So light infact we started mucking in Jan. The clean poo from mucking has been selling like hot cakes  Guess we were the first to start it and its warm enough that people are prepping their gardens.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Babies! Man, their mother takes her kids' first bath very seriously! :lol:


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

LOL ya she does. It got worse when there were 3 babies on the ground. But it was to dark to video by then.  The little one is back out with mom and doing good. Though they all have the colostrum poops. Going to have to clean some butts before bed.


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## imported_Ozark Lady (Aug 25, 2010)

I had to smile...
I got 5 goats in a two hour period on the 12th of February.
I was excited about the does, and disappointed that I got 3 beautiful bucks... 
And I see that folks here are equally disappointed about their does! Want to trade? :mrgreen: If anyone is close enough, I sure would trade the bucks for does!
I only have 6 does, and I hadn't planned on kids this early, nature does find a way! I had 2 does kid at the same time, and have 4 more that might have "found their own way" too. They are looking like they are very likely bred. But one of the mama's barely showed that she was expecting and out popped twin bucks of good size and looks.
To thwart nature, all 3 bucks will be banded as soon as there is something to band!
I once had 35 goats, so I remember the sleep deprived days of having lots of babies on the ground... wow I do remember, maybe I should rethink expanding my herd of goats, that went from 6 to 11 in one day.

That said, I have dairy goats, so I have to milk them daily, even with babies nursing, they still have milk that has to be removed.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

hehe  Until we started selling pack prospects it was always cross your fingers and hope for does! But all that has changed  Not to mention we try our best to only keep around 50 goats. Granted we never get that low. But in the fall when it comes time to pick and chose who stays and who goes, its not a fun time when you have 25-50 or new Does to pick from  So the more bucks the better!


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## SMaxwell (May 20, 2012)

Ozark Lady said:


> all 3 bucks will be banded as soon as there is something to band!


If you are wanting them to be pack goats, don't band them young. Wait as long as you can, 5 - 6 months is preferable. I wait until 6 months then burdizzo them. The boys' urethra stops growing when you castrate them and if you do it early they are much more likely to suffer a horrible death from urinary calculi. If you let their parts continue to grow for a while, they have a much better chance of passing any stones they develop. :ugeek:


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

we had three does kid last night about 11:00 pm. the temp was 24. all 7 kids born last nigh are doing fine. 
there is a a snow storm coming tonight If you watch your barometric pressure and if it is falling ya better check your girls.
I had a friend laugh at me when i told him i would call him and tell him when to take his wife in to have there baby.
about two weeks later i called him and told him to get her to the hospital, he laughed at me and said nothing was going on. 4 hours later he was a papa


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## imported_Ozark Lady (Aug 25, 2010)

Nature finding a way, was a nice way to say, I kept a buckling too long!
I noticed that one is almost ready to be banded.
Unless I find a trade or sell these boys they will be going into the freezer as soon as they grow a bit.
I train does to pack stuff around my place!
I have cart training gear, and it is my intention to train does for the job.
I don't pack on trails, in other places etc. I just want to pack right here, like when I want to go to the back of the property and don't want to carry a lot of stuff.
I want them to pull a cart to deliver their own hay to the hay racks! ha ha
I don't have to get them to get along with other goats on trail or other campers.
My does are big and strong and smart... too smart for my good.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

The butcher stock we band at 2 weeks to 1 month old. The sooner the better the meat tastes.


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