# separating pregnant doe...



## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

I have enough room this time around to give my pregnant doe a stall all to herself with her babies for quite a long time. In fact it will actually help me feed everyone properly when I can pull her herdmates to another stall... but i don't want to stress her out. She is due between sept 30 and march 3. 

I was just wondering for folks who use kidding stalls how close to their due date do you take them out of the herd? Or do you wait until they deliver/go into labor?

Last year I waited until the first doe went into labor and gave her a day or two alone with her kid but I had seriously limited space and the other two does just kidded in the stall with the other goats. Everyone was fine but this year I would rather do things differently.


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## Springbett Farm (Jan 5, 2011)

She is due between Sept 30 and March 3rd? That would be an awful long time in a kidding pen. Do you have any better idea of when she was bred? Mine spend five nights before the due date in the pen. When they get obviously close to labor she'll spend the day/days in the pen, then a few days alone with her kids to bond. After that she can go back to mingling with the herd.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

Springbett Farm said:


> She is due between Sept 30 and March 3rd? That would be an awful long time in a kidding pen. Do you have any better idea of when she was bred? Mine spend five nights before the due date in the pen. When they get obviously close to labor she'll spend the day/days in the pen, then a few days alone with her kids to bond. After that she can go back to mingling with the herd.


That was a typo. lol. October 3rd I meant. *slaps forehead* I was talking to my daughter when I was typing and she said something about March and my brain must have misfired. I even proof read and missed it, lol! She was asking when I was breeding my other does and I said "I want them to kid in March"... lol!

So, yeah, she is due between Sept. 30th and OCTOBER 3rd.

So maybe move her herd mates around sept. 25? That is what I was thinking.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

I have a new kidding stall that I plan on separating the does and hopefully the idea is to do it as close to the due date as possible, or better yet, when they are in labor, like you said as not to stress them out by separating them from their herd mates. Good luck, let me know how it goes.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I start putting mine up at night in their stalls around day 140...they're out with the herd through the day...once they deliver, they and their kids are stalled the first week....mine are born in February so babies are better if kept out of the weather for a bit...moms get outside time with the others through the day but most often, they won't leave their kids. Kids ands moms are stalled at night til the kids are around 6 weeks old...I feel more secure knowing that babies are tucked in and safe.


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

My routine is very similar to Liz. I usually put the "near term" girl in at night, but, I feel they are stressed too much if they are in there alone, so I usually put her "closest friend" in with her (my stalls are large). I have a camera in one stall, I have another camera that is getting installed this year for the other stall. After the doe starts into labor I "evict" the friend, and the doe is usually fine by herself.

We are breeding now, so I will also have Feb babies. I have plenty of heaters if needed, and they usually are. I keep the doe and kids in their stall for the first week, then I let the doe out if she wants, when the weather is good I put the doe and kids in the nursery, outdoor pen with shelter, near the house so I can see them, for a couple of hours, then back in the barn. It's a routine everybody is used to now, so they just go very orderly! Like grade school, "ok, everybody line up and follow your mother"!


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

We put our does in a separate stall when they go into labor.When they kid the babies are taken away and bottle raised and when mom passes her afterbirth she can go back with the herd. However, if the doe that is getting ready to kid is getting beat up by other herdmates I would put her in a separate stall at night so she does not slammed in the side.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I keep my girls with the herd during the day, and usually about two weeks before they are due I start stalling them at night so they get into routine. They are fed in their stall so I know what they are getting, and so they dont' have to fuss with the others.

I only have one pregnant doe, who is due right about Oct 1st, and I started stalling her last week. She just doesn't want to fuss with the others, and hangs back. So at evening feeding time she goes in her stall where she has all the hay and water she wants, and can eat/drink and rest without the herd queen bothering her. None of my girls have ever really made a big fuss about being stalled, they seem to enjoy having their own space with hay.

BTW, we just divided our barn into 3 stalls, so nice having them. I plan to feed my pregnant doe seperate from the others probably until she weans her kids. My last doe to kid stayed in her stall at night for about 2 1/2 months, since the other kids were 2 months older, that away I knew they had access to hay/water without being picked on by the others. This worked out very well, especially since the doe is a hard keeper <and I still haven't sold her>.


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