# New to Kidding Questions



## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

My doe is approximately a year and a half. We didn't let her be bred for her first heat but were moving and weren't able to watch her heats like we were before so we don't know her exact due date.

She's maiden and I'm fairly new to goats (just got into them last year and this is our first time breeding.)

She's a pygmy cross and her udder has been growing larger for a month now.

This morning it was quite engorged but has since gone down. Her sides have become increasingly more sunken in and I can occasionally feel movement from the kid(s).

She's been laying down quite a bit but still nibbles. She has had no diet changes in the past month other than a goat mineral block and some grain added a few weeks ago. She has had no problems with the diet change. We placed her in her kidding pen when we noticed her udder was filling and lately she head butts any of the other goats who come around her pen.

2 days ago she started leaking white discharge and her vulva looked a bit more swollen. She's more cuddly than usual but has been like that for a week now.

This morning, I noticed that she has diarrhea but she hasn't had anything different in her diet or routine. I have the vet on speed dial, but am wondering if I should call her. Her vulva is more enlarged and her sides are even more sunken in but her udder isn't as full as it was this morning. Her calls have also dropped a couple of octaves from her usual "I want attention cries." I cleaned her off and she didn't care too much for me handling her hind end even though she wanted to be scratched.

Should I be calling my vet or should I wait and see a bit more?


















This shows how sunken in her sides are. They were not this sunken in last week.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

It sound to me like she's on verge of having her babies! How exciting for you. I don't know why she would have diarrhea, other than that, all the symptoms you described sound like typical about-to-kid symptoms. You could call the vet about that, but you may get better answers here. ( depending on how goat-savvy your vet is) Hope everything goes well! 
P.S. what breed of goat is she bred to?


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

A pygmy or pygmy cross buck. He's supposed to be pure pygmy but I doubt that.










Just thought of something, we moved one of our other goats back into the field next to her pen. Definitely calling the vet about the diarrhea. He might have caused it with stress of him being near or he might have brought something with him. She wasn't happy with him going near her pen and repeatedly tried to ram him through her fence.


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

Don't rush to the vets just yet about the diarrhea. If she just had it this morning, it is not an emergency. Is it water, mush, or soft consistency? What color? Give her some probiotics or yogurt if you have some, a tablespoon of baking soda, and maybe some Pepto. Does often get mushy poop a week before delivering. Also, is she 5 months pregnant? Can you post a picture of her udder? She does sound very close.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Yeah, not sure he is Pygmy, though I don't have much experience with them. He looks more Nigerian to me. More of the dairy conformation. Looking back at your post, it's odd that you say her udder was engorged and then went down. Usually they'll fill right before kidding and stay really full till the kids nurse. But I have heard that some does will fill up sooner, and that you may even have to milk them out before they kid so they won't begin drying up. I've only heard that, though, never had experience with that happening.I hope you can post pics of her kids when she has 'em!


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

He's supposed to be, but I find he doesn't look like our first pygmy. We lost him when our colt kicked him. Lu was much broader in build than Sid and his face and horns looked different. Sid's young, but he doesn't look pygmy. We're not really going for purity though, more for pet size, health, and temperament.

I got the best udder pictures I could. It's hard to maneuver around both my pregnant belly and hers! 














































It might have just been the way it looked. Her udder didn't feel as tight as it looked.

She hasn't had a fresh bout of diarrhea as far as I can tell and she's still nibbling on the weeds in her pen and licking her goat block. I haven't seen if she's had a normal poop, but she doesn't have fresh diarrhea on her legs or bottom. Her diarrhea was a dark brown, the same color as her regular poop but liquid-like. It was really easy to wipe off the fresh diarrhea with a warm soapy towel and rinse it off.

I have pepto tablets and baking soda. How much pepto should I give her?

We aren't sure of her due date. She should be nearing that mark judging by the timing of when we moved and when we definitely noticed she wasn't coming in heat and our buck wasn't interested in her any more other than in play. Other than that, we have no clue. I started noticing her udder getting fuller by the week a month ago.


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

Her udder is very small, so I would say at least 2 weeks. I don't know if Pepto tablets can be given? Go ahead and give baking soda, that will help settle her stomach. If it is just stress, which it most likely is, then that will do wonders for her. You can give her some yogurt as probiotics which will also work for the same purpose. I would wait on the pepto unless she starts scouring again 

P.S.: Congratulations on your own baby!


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

Thanks! I'm halfway there with our first, a girl.

I gave her the baking soda. Should I give her more tomorrow? She hasn't shown any signs of change since the last time I checked her. I'll check her tomorrow before work and my mom will check up on her as well during the day. 

I'll have to pick some yogurt up tomorrow. I thought I had some, but we're out. 

She's killing me with anticipation! Every time she starts acting stranger than usual, I think she's close, but no kid. I can just about imagine how my husband will feel waiting for our own little one!


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

Aw! I'm sure everything will work out fine. And your baby can have a little goat baby!

When we had our first set of kids born, we were the opposite of most. 5 months went by SO quickly for us. One morning I was like, "Hey, Naomi's udder is bright red, tight, and strutted!" I walked away. It never registered in my mind what it meant, though I had read the kidding book 6 times. I went to the kidding pen _that_ afternoon and said- "Why is Naomi eating a plastic bag?"
 She was licking her little buckling! It went super well, though, so no problems  We like to be there anyway, just in case, so overpreparedness is always good.

Keep us updated on how she is doing, if you can! And... What is the pretty doe's name?


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

I completely forgot to mention her name! Bia is her name. We were going with a mythology theme and couldn't find a name to fit her from the main myths. Bia means white/fair in Italian and "force" in Greek. I also found something about a minor goddess but she's a force to be reckoned with so the name fit! She was my wedding present from my husband to be a companion to his pygmy buck (not the father unfortunately. We love Sidious (Star Wars fans ) but Lu was a great goat). 

She was itty bitty when we got her and we kept her inside for a while because she was weaned really early and it was a nasty winter. So I'm on pins and needles and praying that all goes well. My vet isn't worried and my mom keeps reminding me that goats kid on their own all the time (as your story proves!) but I can't help but worry. She's my baby. 

Her udder is definitely not tight though it is HUGE compared to what it was a month ago. I wish I had thought to get pictures for comparison.


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

Get out! Star Wars is like a way of life over here! We have a doe named Leia (her brother was Luke), a buck named Obi (his name is Obadiah, but we make the Obi-Wan reference often), used to have a buckling Jar Jar Binks, a dog named Chewbacca, 3 chickens named Darth Vader, Dooku, and Ani (Anakin)!!!

Bia is a great name (The Force, heehee)! Good luck


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

I had never connected her name! My husband will get a kick out of that when I tell him, especially with who the buck is! I forsee Star Wars names for the kids. We shocked our guests at our wedding (those who didn't know us well) by starting off with "The Wedding March" from Midsummer Night's Dream by Felix Mendelssohn and once it got to a certain point in the song, it switched to the "Imperial March." We had light sabers but there was a glitch in the timing and our maid of honor and best man didn't get to grab them. We had fun with it. 

Our other two goats are Athena and Atlas. 

It'll be hard to sell her kids but we have awesome pet homes lined up. We're hoping for doelings.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

I doubt she's more than a week away from kidding. I'm the same about freaking out whenever our goats have kids. Checking on them every ten minutes when I think they're getting close.:wink: Being disappointed every time when they haven't had them yet. Probably her udder will fill really full when she's within a day or 12 hours of kidding.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Any new developments?


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

Nothing yet. She is laying down a lot but no new developments.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Both of them look to be Nigerian/Pygmy mixes


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

spirithawk06 said:


> This morning it was quite engorged but has since gone down.


A pregnant does udder does not go down after becoming engorged. Sounds like something else is up with your doe. If the pictures you posted are of this same doe, that is not the udder of a doe that is going to be kidding anytime soon.


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

She's laying down quite a bit and not her normal self. I'll be calling the vet tomorrow.


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

How are her scours? Laying down sums up the last few weeks of pregnancy


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

She had some the next day. Looks like it has resolved but it's hard to tell with her laying down and we had nasty weather so I wasn't quite able to check.


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

I hadn't been feeling well the past few days, so Mom has been feeding and checking on Bia.

I just got the news a few minutes ago (on our way home from working the horses) that Bia is dead.

I'm devastated. 

Rest in peace my little girl.


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## TrinityRanch (Mar 26, 2013)

What?! Oh my goodness, I am so sorry :tears: Poor little Bia. Do you know what happened?


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

I really don't know. It was extremely hot the past couple of days compared to how it has been but she had plenty of shade and water. I think maybe something went wrong with her pregnancy and I just didn't catch it in time.


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

I am so sorry. That is so sad. :hug:We've had similar things happen in the past. I know that when an animal dies, the last thing you want to do sometimes is to get a new one, but that can help to heal the wound better than anything. If I lived closer, I would give one of mine. I hope you will be able to have many other sweet little goats in the future. Lots of sympathy,


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## spirithawk06 (May 19, 2013)

I usually wind up getting another animal sooner rather than later because I focus on learning the new one and taking care of it but we're waiting for our house to be finished and my husband would like to wait until we're in the new house before getting another doe.

I miss the spoiled little thing. She'd holler when we came outside, wanting attention. We're going to bring her back to our ranch to bury her. We've been living with my parents since February and brought our goats with us.


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

I'm so sorry to hear about your poor little Bia.


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