# Geeez...how much longer?



## mountaingoats (Mar 8, 2012)

These are some pictures of our pigmy girl Jill.
She's around 16 months old now and is very pregnant. When we bought her we also bought our little buck, Jack, and they're the same age. At the time we knew nothing about goats so unfortunatly Jack and Jill have grown up together in the same pasture. ( They're not brother and sister by the way)
Anyhoo....in the past 4 weeks Jill has really become super fat and has displayed all the usual signs of pregnancy that we've been reading about here on the Goat Spot. In the last couple of weeks her udder has gone from almost nonexistant to what you see now....huge!
We have her in a kidding pen now by herself and she's getting plenty of attention. What we'd like your help with is a possible due date. Does she look like it'll be soon? She can barely walk and her udder has spread her back legs really far apart. The only thing missing so far is any discharge from her girly parts.
So what do you guys think?




























Almost forgot. For the past few days her thingy has been really swollen, but now it seems to have .....deflated? But all the other signs, keeping to herself in the pasture, stretching, laying down alot, fast breathing, etc. are all there.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I noticed with all my goats so far right before the have the kids it looks 'deflated'. I myself would say not too much longer esp. if she is doing the stretching laying down stuff. 
PS...she a cute little thing!!


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I'd guess within a couple weeks....possibly up to a month. :shrug: She sure is a cute little pygmy. :thumb:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

She is a cute little girl! Pretty brown agouti too  

I would say that with this being her first babies, her udder growth is normal and that she has at least a week if not a little longer, you won't always see discharge when she's ready but with the really good "backside" pic of her, she's holding her tail straight up, when she's ready to deliver not only will you see her udder fill more, her teats will plump up and that tail will no longer be standing straight up, she'll be holding it off to the side as if she can't hold it upwards.
I think theres at least twins in there too.....is the buck her size or is he bigger?


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

I just had to pop in and say that she has the cutest little face ever! Love the mahogany coloration to her face too. If you really, really want to catch the birth, learn to feel her ligaments. Check them three times a day and will know when they are gone. Once they are gone, I check mine once an hour until they give birth, which can be up to 48 hours after the ligs are gone but averages 8-16 for me.

Great link on labor signs, etc. with pictures: http://fiascofarm.com/goats/prenatalcare.html

The ligaments run from her tail (they meet at a point there) and go outwards towards her hip bones in a V shape. In a normal doe they feel a bit like pencils in size and hardness. As they get closer they will soften, get rubbery, etc. They may get soft, then get hard again for awhile in the days leading up to birth. The day you check them and you can't feel them at all you will have kiddos.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Her udder does appear to be filling...may be a couple of weeks or so...it is hard to predict with these Does.... they love torturing us..... :wink: :thumb:


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Well I just have to say she has the cutest face EVER!!! But I say a week or more to go as well...... the link that firelight27 gave has lots of great info! good luck and happy kidding!


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## mountaingoats (Mar 8, 2012)

Hey thanks for the replies everybody, and for the advice! I'm glad everyone agrees that Jill is still a couple weeks away from kidding. Being inexperienced, we thought she was about ready to pop last night. :shrug: 

We picked up a few supplies tonight at TCS including some minerals and bottles/nipples, and a few other things that the we read about on the fiasco farms site (great info BTW).

As for the daddy, Jack, he's about an inch taller at the shoulders than Jill and normally weighs about 5 to 10 pounds more than Jill. Unlike Jill, who is shy and runs away from her shadow, Jack is all boy and has never met a stranger. 

We'll try and get another pic of her tomorrow and throw in a pic of Jack as well if it doesn't rain all day again. :roll: 

Again, thanks for the advice and the kind words everyone. This site is awsome!


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

Very pretty girl! While ligs are an important aspect of impending birth, they have a tendency to come and go. Very frustrating. Watch for her "topline" to rise near her tail head. When you think to yourself "wow, your udder is bigger" that's when you need to pay attention! I left Misty after thinking her udder was bigger then yesterday (even though ligs felt tight) she started kidding while I was at the store...just got there in time to help her with the last "stuck" kid.


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## mountaingoats (Mar 8, 2012)

Thanks DI. I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about. I checked her earlier today and she doesn't look like she's changed any since yesterday except for being sleepy and laying around more.

Someone was asking about the daddy, Jack. We took a couple of pics today while he wasn't butting the fence trying to escape. As I said, he's only an inch taller than Jill and maybe 10 pounds heavier.



















He's a good boy. His only drawback is the fact that he's a real ladies man. The poor does can't stand still more than 5 seconds before he starts his mating dance. :laugh:


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

He's a real cutie! Good luck kidding! :thumbup:


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## mountaingoats (Mar 8, 2012)

Well today was the big day for our girl Jill. We went out to work on the chicken coop this morning around 8:00 and took a peek into the kidding pen and there was Jill checking out her brand new baby girl and boy! :leap: 

It must have happened no more than an hour before we found them since the afterbirth was still warm and the kids were still wet and sticky. We grabbed some towles and cleaned them off a bit and warmed them up...it was only 40 degrees this morning...then we proceeded to help the little ones find moms teets. It's been 12 hours now and they're doing great.
We'll post another thread in the birth announcments section tomorrow with some pictures of the happy family.

Thanks for all you guys help and advice. This was ours and Jills first kidding experience and we got lucky that she was able to do it all herself.


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