# When is it going to happen???



## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

Hi all, this is my first post as I have been lurking here and learning for a while. We sort of inherited 13 goats that were abandoned on a farm that we purchased 18 months ago. Never had anything to do with goats before. We been working hard on the neglected feet for that time and still not on top of the problems. But we have grown to love them and decided to get a billy and breed them. Well what a stressful time that has been. We don't live on the farm only there of a weekend but been going out every Wednesday for the last month or so because of the impending births. Don't know due dates because of the above but our first born was Easter Sunday with the whole family there to see, was a great Easter present. but the other 5 pregnant does have looked imminent now for weeks. It is almost winter here in Australia and I would have thought that mother nature would have them born before it got too cold. It's also 6 weeks since the first one, do they come into season together or are they all over the place like this. I have attached a picture of the one we think has been the next closest to giving birth. Anyone like to guess as to how far off she might be. She has looked the same now for weeks, quite pronounced back end and developed udder. 
I have also included a picture of our first born "Blacknee" We just banded him today and was amazed to see his mum trying to bite off the banding ring, is that normal?? how the hell did she even know about it? Very intelligent they are.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

What a cutie.

It is hard to say when. Their udder gets tight and shiny right before giving birth.


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

Still no more babies, We've thought they looked imminent now for weeks, talk about hard to tell!!. The suspense is killing us :sigh: and it's now winter :blue:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Oh boy! Are you sure they are pregnant? Hopefully they will give birth soon if they are.


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

ksalvagno said:


> Oh boy! Are you sure they are pregnant? Hopefully they will give birth soon if they are.


Good question, we think they are pregnant, they look pregnant, their udders have grown but as we don't live there with them and only see them once a week we keep thinking there will be babies when we go out there and they isn't. As one has had a beautiful little boy 6 weeks ago we are quite sure at least 3 of the other five does are pregnant. One of the other 2 is the one we thought was pregnant first as her udder had gotten bigger but now we are not sure as there has been no change to her for months. What have we gotten ourselves into :hair:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Have you checked her udder to make sure everything is ok? They start bagging up about a month prior. So if it has been multiple months and no kid, she may have a problem.


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

we did wonder about an issue, what do we look for if there is a problem


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You would need to get a hold of her. A tight hard or lumpy feeling. Hot udder. Milk not a normal color or consistency


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

Thanks for that we will check and have a good look at the weekend when we are out there again, if there is an issue is it a vet job or does it depend on the problem


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Depends on the problem. But if you have mastitis or a congested udder, you need to take care of that multiple times per day.


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## dnchck (Mar 24, 2014)

John40981 said:


> Hi all, this is my first post as I have been lurking here and learning for a while. We sort of inherited 13 goats that were abandoned on a farm that we purchased 18 months ago. Never had anything to do with goats before. We been working hard on the neglected feet for that time and still not on top of the problems. But we have grown to love them and decided to get a billy and breed them. Well what a stressful time that has been. We don't live on the farm only there of a weekend but been going out every Wednesday for the last month or so because of the impending births. Don't know due dates because of the above but our first born was Easter Sunday with the whole family there to see, was a great Easter present. but the other 5 pregnant does have looked imminent now for weeks. It is almost winter here in Australia and I would have thought that mother nature would have them born before it got too cold. It's also 6 weeks since the first one, do they come into season together or are they all over the place like this. I have attached a picture of the one we think has been the next closest to giving birth. Anyone like to guess as to how far off she might be. She has looked the same now for weeks, quite pronounced back end and developed udder.
> I have also included a picture of our first born "Blacknee" We just banded him today and was amazed to see his mum trying to bite off the banding ring, is that normal?? how the hell did she even know about it? Very intelligent they are.


What a cutie!! Who takes care of the goats when your not around? Feed, water,,ect. What happens if one of the goats has problems kidding? It happens! Just curious. Are they always going to be by themselves most of the time or is this a temporary situation until you move there permanently?It's great that you took them all in! They do have a lot of issues that could pop up that may need medical or daily care.


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

they have 1000 acres to roam on for feed and a few large dams and a creek for water so this doesn't seem to be a problem. They were abandoned for quite some time as we understand so they were use to looking after themselves. We have been going out there (40 min drive) every couple of days when we thought babies were due to try to try to catch any problems. Not much more we can do as we live and work in town and the property was purchased as a weekend getaway and didn't plain on animals to look after, but they are part of the family now and definitely don't want problems for them. If they need more care we will tackle that when it happens. In a few years we may have more time to be there more or end up living there but that's a way off yet. I'd love it to be sooner but not going to happen unless we have a Lotto win:stars:


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

just came back home after being out with the goats for the weekend and still no new additions to the family :tear: This waiting game is frustrating :hair:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Were you able to check that on girl's udder?


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

ksalvagno said:


> Were you able to check that on girl's udder?


Yes Karen, we did check and couldn't find any problems but we are new to this. Udder was not hot, no lumps that we could find, didn't seem tender to her while we were poking and prodding her, she still seems to be in good health with it not worrying her. Her belly is very tight underneath so I think she must be pregnant and had just started small udder development very early may be?? The development was lopsided with one side quite a bit bigger then the other but that is not so noticeable any more, don't know though if the other side has caught up or the larger side has gotten smaller


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

At least you didn't find a problem.


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

ksalvagno said:


> At least you didn't find a problem.


Fingers crossed, thanks for your help


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## Bertnut2 (Feb 9, 2014)

John? Did any more babies show up? 


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

we still have 5 beautiful pregnant ladies and no more babies. This waiting game when you don't know the due date is terrible. Their udders are huge, back ends very pronounced, slight discharges, carrying babies low, and it's been like that for weeks. :hair:
I can't work out these back ligament things. I've been pushing and prodding at these but don't know what I am feeling. I can't seem to feel anything that seems like ligaments either side of the tail. Do wethers also have them, I've been trying to feel a difference between the pregnant ones and the others around the tail but I must be too dumb to work that out
We have staff on holidays from work for the next 3 weeks which stops us from taking a day off so we won't be able to go out to check on them midweek for the next few weeks, I told my wife weeks ago that I bet that's when they will have their babies. How did the goats know to wait till then


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## John40981 (May 10, 2014)

It's happened 
We have just had 5 new babies from 3 moms, with two more moms still to go. What a great weekend we just had, didn't want to leave them today to go to work.


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## Bertnut2 (Feb 9, 2014)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I'm very happy for you. 


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## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

Congrats! They are too cute! hope the last 2 does kid easily!


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