# Are they too small for kidding?



## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

I am slightly concerned for my 11 month does. Last night when I fed them, I saw an udder forming on one of them, which makes me believe for sure that she is going to have a kid. But I think she (and her sisters) are way to small. What should I be giving them for quicker growth (I mean tall wise, not stomach wise)? They could kid from second week in April to second week in May, so I do not have a set due date. I give alfalfa hay morning and night, and also some in the afternoon, and at noon I give grassy hay. I also give some grain in the morning, and I know some goats do fine without, so I don't think I have to raise the amount of it, maybe just a little though when they get closer. I give minerals as well, and they were bottle babies, by the way. How much hay should I be giving my three does? I just want to hear what you give your does to make them grow better at this age. I just don't want them to be too small to kid, and lost them and/or the kids. Please help! Thanks.:?: 

{P.S. I am a paranoid person, so tell me if it is just me..?}

{P.S.S. I will post more recent pictures/ better pictures tomorrow. These are from ranging 2-4 weeks ago.}


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

I am leaving for the night, but if someone could give some information I'd be grateful! Thank you to anyone who replies while I am gone...


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

IMO I think they look OK to kid and would keep feeding them the same way as long as its not too much grain which might cause big kids and harder to deliver. I have had ooopppsss smaller then these girls and they OK. So if you are really worried about their size I would just make sure you fed them really well after they kid because it is a little hard to support kids and grow at the same time.


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

Who would have been the buck (and what breed would be be)? What breed are your girls? Kinders maybe? Nubian/Pygmy? Something else? Not sure, they don't look too little to me depending on who daddy was. 

Also make sure you don't grain/grain very little in the last month. You want to keep kids as small as possible, all the grain will go to the kids that last month, so you aren't helping mom grow at that point she is kinda stuck in limbo until she kids.


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

The buck is lamancha/saanen. The does are half Nubian, quarter saanen, and quarter alpine. The babies of these three does would be quarter Nubian, quarter Lamancha, 12.5% of Alpine, and 37.5% percent of Saanen.


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thanks guys for all the info! Here are pictures just taken today. First three pics are of Willow, who is a little younger than the other two, by about two weeks, but she will 11 months 9/10 days from now. Next two photos are of Delilah; she does not have an udder forming of what I can see, she has too much fur down there. The last two photos are of Iris, the one who is forming her udder the most.


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## Mikesell04 (Jan 26, 2014)

I wouldn't say they are not too small to kid.. I raise minis so I'm not sure about those breeds.. The problem you would have, would be if your buck was a lot bigger than the doe.. If not than they should be fine.. Like someone else said, don't feed too much grain because it will all go to the kids in the last month.. For my minis I feed 2cups of grain each a day, 1 in the morning, 1 in the evening.. And of course all the hay they can eat.. 


TheRockinFunFarm


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

I was worried about mine last year, they were very young and just looked so small to me. But I did not grain them because I didn't want the kids to get so big, they had good loose mineral available 24/7 and excellent alfalfa hay in front of them and they did GREAT!


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thank you for the info. I should probably start cutting back on grain.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Willow and Iris definitely look bred. Based on the first pictures of the group, they all look to be of an adequate size to deliver ok. Just be careful with the grain.


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thank you for replying. It is good to know that they should be okay...at least it takes some worry away from me that they'll be all right. I am slowly feeding them less grain. I want to lean them off of it, and they should be fine, as long as I keep feeding them their alfalfa hay, and grassy hay at noon. I can't wait until it gets lighter out, so that I can feed them later than I feed them now. I currently feed them at six o'clock, pm.


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## brokenbeauregard (Jul 27, 2013)

It also greatly depends on the size of the buck. If he was way big and they are little, you could have problems. I ended up with a Pygmy/boer that had been bred to a Nubian cross. Doe was too young and baby was waay too big to come out. Ended up having to have a c section after trying to vaginally deliver for a few hours, ended up losing the momma the next day too


Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Well fortunately the buck is actually a bit smaller than the does. We are beginning to think he may be a mini, or still has a lot of growing to do.


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