# seventeen (ish) days and counting



## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Chocolate, my two year old Togenberg X, was serviced on the 24th of July. So we are hoping for our first birth at Vanaheimr just before Christmas. I have totally become a pregnant goat stalker! Constantly surveying her puffy pink fanny, assessing her ever expanding udder, scrutinising her every blet.

I do have one question, for the last week, Choccy's tail is leaning off on a jaunty angle off to the left, is the a pregnancy symptom?


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

That is a sign that she is getting closer to delivering


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Here is a photo of her this morning (note tail), I was a bit disappointed because she doesn't look as pregnant as she did a week ago. But reviewing this photo, I noticed the hollowed hips and I was sure that was a sign  So I am guessing she has 'dropped' in the last day or two- so exciting!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

When was she first put in with the buck?

I have a doe due around the same time (Dec. 20th)!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Awww, such a pretty girl! Is she a Nubian/Toggenburg cross? 

My doe has been more hollowed out in the last week or so as well.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> When was she first put in with the buck?
> 
> I have a doe due around the same time (Dec. 20th)!


24th of July 2017 and only that day (for 15mins)


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> Awww, such a pretty girl! Is she a Nubian/Toggenburg cross?
> 
> My doe has been more hollowed out in the last week or so as well.


Her mum was Togenburg, the billy was likely a New Zealand feral who jumped the fence. I love her, she is the more aloof of the two girls (twins) we have, but time spent quietly with her is so worth the effort. 
What breed is your girl?


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

That's great! I saw the picture of her twin on your other thread. They are both gorgeous.  Oh, and welcome to TGS, so glad you joined us!

My doe is a purebred Nubian and this will be her second time kidding. I am very excited to see her kid(s)!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Good luck!!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck!


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

Hope all is going well!


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

We have a show! 
I was doing the evening feed and Choccy had evidence of a show- looked like dirty dry snot stuck to her vulva. She ate her wee heart out, so I am thinking labour might days away still.

So the big question is do I bring her into the stable? It is summer, the weather is dry, stable and warm- not dropping below 62F over night. And I think she more be happy staying out.


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

I would leave her out if it was me, moving around would be good for her.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Some discharge is completely normal in the weeks (sometimes months!) before birth. She shouldn't kid quite this early, before 140 days (Dec. 11) would be quite uncommon and risky for the kids.

Here is goat gestation calculator: 
http://www.americangoatsociety.com/education/gestation_calculator.php

I would consider putting her away in a birthing stable for the nights around starting about Dec 16 depending on how she is feeling & acting. But yes, exercise is critical for getting those babies in the proper position so you don't want her cooped up too much!

Best wishes!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All good advice. 

If you can watch her I would allow her to be out and about. Happy kidding.


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## cbrossard (Oct 4, 2014)

She is so cute!! I'm goat stalking these days too  My first is due Dec 29! It looks like a few of us will have kids around Christmas!! :happygoat:


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

I'd let her stay out and about. They really need the exercise in late pregnancy.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Thank you all and yes I left her out.
More show today- a very mucky tail


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

so Choccy, my lovely shy aloof goat has turn into a right lady dog. She used to need to be hoaxed over for a head scratch or ear rub, now she is demanding them and if they are not provided quick enough, i get a wee (little) shove.

I think her back end is looking as it should for 12 days to go- I realised today, she is due to kid on the solstice, to that is pretty cool.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Aren't the temperament changes amazing?!? I always look forward to my aloof gals coming around in late pregnancy. Doesn't work with all of them!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh yeah, some are quite affectionate.


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I have a doe who doesn't like to be touched when she's open. Within a week of being bred, she's a love hog. She surprised me the first time with her dramatic personality change.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 144, six more days and nothing much to report at the moment. Everything seems to be ticking along as it should be. Regular mucus making an appearance, Chocolate is rotund and low, her udder it full, so full her teats are point slightly left and right. And her fanny (that means vagina here) is pink, puffy and wrinkly.
I just wanted you all to know- cause the waiting is killing me!


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## cbrossard (Oct 4, 2014)

Thanks for the update! At least we have Christmas preparations to distract us a bit!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

If her udder is super tight, busting at the seems, it won't be very much longer. Does it have a shiny appearance at the bottom area?


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 145, five days to go. Chocolate is more swollen at the base of her teats but I wouldn't say her udder is engorged. I noticed one teat is leaking/has leased a bit of milk, so I guess that is promising

Otherwise she is coping with the summer heat the same way I am, wandering round trying to find so place cool to be.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Summer heat, where are you located?? It's the middle of winter and I am freezing. Send some of that heat this way lol


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Summer heat, where are you located?? It's the middle of winter and I am freezing. Send some of that heat this way lol


We are from New Zealand, it is summer here and an exceptionally hot one too. Our three year drought broke last summer, so I thought it was an ideal time to start kidding (with the drought behind us) now I am thinking maybe the drought isn't behind us, it just went on holiday last summer. We are on water restrictions already too, typically our hotest and dryist months are Jan to March.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 146, Choccy is happy enough at the moment, got some cute picture this morning. 

I think her vagina is more open today (3rd photo) preparing for labour, maybe (fingers crossed), can I leave for the day? Or should I hang around?


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Very fat Choccy, enjoying respite from the Sun (it 9.30am and over 25C, we are heading for plus 30C today)


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Counting down the days! :happygoat:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Looking closer.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 147, Chocolate is in the stable, on my choice. Her and her sister, Caramel decided to wreck up the place last night and broke the chicken coop. I woke to chickens everywhere bar the hen house and coop, a giant hole in the netting and two toggenburgs laughing their heads off. After some quick repairs, the hens were mostly rounded up (3 are still on the run) Caramel was banished to hang with the sheep and Chocolate sent to confinement.
Chocolate is now acting weird, but I am not sure if this is due to being annoyed at me for locking her in the stable or if it is labour weird.
She wants lots of cuddles, lots of head rubs. She paces alot then paws the ground in the corner then settles, then up for more cuddles, eats, paces, talks then back to the corner. And she is doing this weird thing with her fore legs, she places it straight out in front of her on the stool (like a ballerina do a stretch) I patted the extended leg for a while and clean out between her toes then she swapped legs (so she was definately doing it of purpose!) I patted that leg a while too.
Nothing much to report from the business end just pink, puffy and jiggly (same as yesterday and the day before that), no mucus.


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

Sounds like she is going to pop soon


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Sounds like prelabor to me.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Happy Kidding.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 151- she still has us waiting! A jiggly fanny, but no mucus- so probably not today. Tomorrow is my son's birthday and we are going to the city as a treat. Please send all your labour vibes to us, so we get a kid tonight.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I was thinking about you today and wondering if your doe had kidded yet!
My doe is still pregnant too (day 151) , so we are on the same page...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Anything yet? 

Happy birthday to your son.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 152 and nothing.

We did, however, have a lovely birthday celebration for my son.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)




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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Day 153, Choccy's udder has doubled over night, and there is a small but growing collection of mucus at her vulva. She does have other 'soft' signs too (loose tail, yawns, stretching, chewing/nibbling her flanks) but she has had those for a good week now. So super double-triple crossed fingers for us, please!

 Happy Christmas Eve for the first country fully across the dateline


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Yay! Hopefully she'll go today!


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Artsy photo of Chocolate, this morning


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

I would say she'll go today or tonight


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

fingers crossed- if she holds off until tomorrow, any buck she produces might have to be called Jesus


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Is this labour breathing? She is mouth open panting after bletting and heavy rapid nose breathing otherwise. She is also licking her lips a lot. But also calmly chewing her cud


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

maybe, is she doing anything else unusual


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Panting in the corner of the stable


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Her tail is hooked! And her is pawing the ground. She half gets down then gets back up again


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

What do I look for to spot contractions? And is it for the first contraction I start the 30minutes time?


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

sounds like labor to me can you post a picture of her standing up


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

For contractions Look for back arching and lip curling up sometimes the arching of her back will be a large hump like a camel our just a tiny one


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

When my doe Semi first had contractions, she would arch her back and her belly would go up, then down, up, then down lol. The first time I saw it I wasn't sure what she was doing. :/ (it'd been too long since I last had a pregnant doe!)

I *think* that you start the 30 minutes thing once she has hard contractions - every 1-2 minutes or so.


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Stamping her hindlegs and liking being in the corners at the moment


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Can you feel her ligaments? Her tail head looks sunken in...


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

Well from the picture it looks like her rump is very steep and her back legs are stiff. would say she's in labor


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

@Goat_Scout the hunch stretch hunch stretch is contraction push contraction push


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> Can you feel her ligaments? Her tail head looks sunken in...


She has had a loose tail for over a week, I did a comparison on her sister (not bred) and could not get my fingers all the way round


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

goat girls said:


> @Goat_Scout the hunch stretch hunch stretch is contraction push contraction push


Yeah, I didn't realize that until after the first contraction/push.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I agree, her legs do look "posty". Hopefully she won't keep you up all night!


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

It's one o'clock in the afternoon in New Zealand ￼


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> I agree, her legs do look "posty". Hopefully she won't keep you up all night!


My does do this all the time. Have you read the does code of honer


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

It's 5:07 p.m. here


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

goat girls said:


> My does do this all the time. Have you read the does code of honer


Strange! My does don't do this until they are reeeeaaaly close to kidding (a few hours).


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

I mean keeping me up all night


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

And yes, I have read the doe's code of honor, and I can tell you this: when any of our cows show signs of impending labor, they actually calve within 12 hours or so - no tricks or anything!  Goats give you much more anxiety, yet, somehow I still prefer them to cattle!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

LOL, it's 6:17 p.m. here in Louisiana!


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> And yes, I have read the doe's code of honor, and I can tell you this: when any of our cows show signs of impending labor, they actually calve within 12 hours or so - no tricks or anything!  Goats give you much for anxiety, yet, somehow I still prefer them to cattle!


I wish goats where spot on then on doe watch night we could get sleep if we could sleep instead of worrying


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Any news?


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Maybe a couple of contractions nothing regular, leaving her to it with half hour checks at the moment.


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

once the contractions get a lot closer together make sure you check her more often


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

How's she doing?


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Mucus hanging, some full on contractions that have her lying her head upside down on her belly or back. No observable pushing yet. I remember this part of labour!


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

poor girl keep us posted please


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

In the throes of labour


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

poor baby is it dark there yet


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

It's summer time, it won't start getting dark for another couple of hours.


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

wow it's 11:24 pm and pick black here


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

This will really blow your mind, it Sunday here
But no kid yet


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

What?! that just show how far away you are. do you have all the same breeds that we do


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

I am just on the diagonally opposite side of the Pacific ocean, only half a world away Yes, mostly we have the same breeds. We have some New Zealand feral breeds that might not be as popular outside New Zealand (Kiko, Rawhiti and Arapawa). Small breeds are less common here because most goats are farmed on a commerical level so milk and meet breeds are most common


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

"only half way across the word" is that all


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Kinder arrived without issue at 10.45 Christmas Eve.
Second photo, the wee buckling gets dried off by my son while Chocolate waits to wet him again


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)




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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

He is so cute! Congratulations!


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

Now THAT is a Christmas gift! Congratulations!


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

Wow. Big baby. So handsome.


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

How cute! what breed is the dad


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

The buck was a Sable (coloured Sanaan)


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Christmas day joy with a lovely little buckling. He has the cutest little black belly.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

He is so cute!! Are you going to keep him?


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## Vanaheimr (Dec 3, 2017)

Well he is certainly making it hard to see him as surplus to my milking program.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Adorable, congrats.


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## cbrossard (Oct 4, 2014)

Congratulations! Good job, Chocolate! He is a cutie!


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