# CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!



## tracyqh (Aug 9, 2010)

I've had horses and cattle all my life and I'm an Equine Vet Tech. Basically, a Mid-Wife for horses, so the whole birthing process is not a new thing for me, EXCEPT this time it will be for goats! :leap: Who knew I would be so enamored by this creatures? :lovey: I love them. One of my equine clients told me it was because it was the first time I ever had farm animals as PETS and not COMMODITY. That made all the sense in the world!

My 1st doe is due the 28th of this month. My family and I are beside ourselves with excitement. My son’s 5 & 6 have been watching YouTube videos of births so they can assist. I love that they are so into the goats. 

The 2nd doe isn’t due until Feb 19th. This is a registered LaMancha bred to a registered LaMancha buck. We are hoping for a nice buckling to become our herd sire for a few years. We get a break in March then the other Sannen, LaMancha and Alpine does are due in April. 

My husband wanted “Man Goats”, so we acquired 2 registered Boer does and they are currently turned out a Boer buck. The thought of all of these kids has made us giddy! :stars: I just pray that everything goes well and everyone stays healthy and happy.


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## mommaB (Oct 1, 2009)

awwwweeee, good luck! have a happy and safe kidding and of course keep us posted with PICS!!!! :leap:


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## tracyqh (Aug 9, 2010)

Definately will!!!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Wow lots of babies indeed! CONGRATS!!!! And your going to have sooooo much fun with those babies! We've had 2 kid before and those kids were just a BLAST! They were like puppy dogs following my kids around, running and playing and like lap dog's when they weren't playing chase 
Our first doe was due a couple of days ago, so we are very anxious! She's just holding them in cause she knows we're soooo excited!

Very cool that you are a Equine Vet tech! Something I always wanted to be! Do you work in any particular industry? We live near Midway, KY and there is no other area I'd ever want to live. We don't have enough land for a horse though, so one day we'd like to have a bigger place.
I wish our neighbor would get off of their price on their place <they want WAY too much  >.
My husband works with horses too. He has worked with them for about 12-13 years. He can do anything from handling stallions/breeding, breaking and training yearlings <something he's been learning the last few months>, teasing mares, his favorite thing - foaling mares, and he can do shots, medications, etc. He considered getting back into management <broodmare or yearling manager>, but nobody is hiring for those positions, or if they are the pay stinks. So he was offered a nice job with benefits much closer than where he is now, and he plans to take it. He'll be back on nights, but taking care of some very nice horses, and he'll get to foal again this year.

I'm jealous because I have NEVER seen a foal born. I always arrived at the barn 5 minutes late, or left right before. Even when I worked with horses... therre were over 100 pregnant mares on the farm, 24 in the foaling barn at all times, 5 would be due at the same time and guess what? Yep, never saw one born LOL But I worked with foals and OMG I LOVED it...I'd love to work with them again 

Ok I am rambling now LOL!!!


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## tracyqh (Aug 9, 2010)

SMALL WORLD!!!! I was pre-vet at MIDWAY COLLEGE!!!!! Graduated from there in 1997!!!!!!!!!! I was equine science major with a minor in reproduction. I always said, if I ever move out of Ohio, I'm going back to Midway or Versailes.

Now I work at Midland Acres in Ohio. www.midlandacres.com It's a standardbred breeding farm and we now have a satelite farm in Richmond, IN. With the sad state Ohio's racing is in, we had to branch out to another state that had better Breeder's Awards and Stakes.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Very small world indeed! I live about 5 minutes from Midway College! We live on Old Frankfort Pike  
I love this area, I moved to this area about 11 years ago from Indiana, and although I miss my family, this is where my heart belongs  
I hear that racing in Ohio is troubled, what a shame  Racing in KY is so-so, not sure about the Red mile? Can you believe I have NEVER been to the Red Mile? I need to go next summer! Keeneland is my home away from home, hehe....

Well if you ever wanted to move back this way, I'm sure finding a job wouldn't be too hard at all not with all the equine hospitals and clinics, and farms that like having their own vets. I have a friend who is a vet tech on one of the big farms and she loves it, especially since she lives on the farm for free and gets to be with the horses whenever she wants! I keep asking her if she wants a roommate during foaling season...LOL


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Aww...the wonderful world of goats.... they are amazing animals.... :wink: :thumb:


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## newmama30+ (Oct 4, 2010)

With goats it doesn't matter why you have them, Pets, Milk, Fiber, or Meat. they rap themselves around your heart. we have 20+ goats which will quickly = 50+ in the next few months and we will love them all then sell all the bucklings, and some of the doelings. But while here they still get loved and treated like pets. All our animals get treated this way and they all have jobs too. Congrats on gearing up for the kids, Mine are due anytime just being punks about it.


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

It is a bit less life threatening with goat births. Sure, they can get tangled up more easily... but the difference in the placentas means that they can be in the mother a lot longer and still survive. Dang horses have such a short time frame to deliver once they get to a certain point without certain doom occuring (at least according to the vet who wrote Blessed are the Broodmares.)

That and goats are so much more fertile than horses. Getting them pregnant, is far, far easier and less stressful. And a shortened pregnancy of five months over eleven is always nice.


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## Kfin (Jun 23, 2010)

Thats what I loved about the horses, we had about 6 mares due each year and I was present for each one. I kept detailed foaling journals on each mare and studied every tiny change. I even have a website dedicated to foaling and the signs and what to watch for. Never missed one yet. But we only have our two geldings now :sigh: I sure do miss having those foalings, But I think the goats will fill that void . I would love to work for a breeding facility that works with brood mares and foaling. But not really any in this area for that. Most people around here just let the mare foal out at pasture and walk out and see a foal the next day.

I am so excited about my first season with my girls kidding . Can't wait to see those darn little things. We never had any major problems with our mares foaling, some large foals we had to assist in getting out, and a couple of retained placentas, one orphaned foal due to mare rejecting him, and one foal that was born weak and premature, he is my gelding now. But that was the biggest troubles we had with the mares.

I am excited, but I have all the way until April/May before my girls are due. So I plan on living off your kiddings and stories till then.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

firelight27 said:


> It is a bit less life threatening with goat births. Sure, they can get tangled up more easily... but the difference in the placentas means that they can be in the mother a lot longer and still survive. Dang horses have such a short time frame to deliver once they get to a certain point without certain doom occuring (at least according to the vet who wrote Blessed are the Broodmares.)
> 
> That and goats are so much more fertile than horses. Getting them pregnant, is far, far easier and less stressful. And a shortened pregnancy of five months over eleven is always nice.


I agree, that time frame can be scary. My husband has told me some things before about trying to get the foal out, and almost losing it. Once they foaled a mare that took 3 people to get that foal out, they were so worried.
And then the fear of having a red bag and not catching it in time. That happened at the farm I worked at. The mare was in a neighboring barn and foaled early, red bag and the foal didn't surivive.

The farms here spend a lot of $$ and time getting the mares prepped for the breading season. Barren mares <mares who are empty> spend time under the lights and that costs $$. Not to mention every mare has to be teased each morning then palped when she shows interest - another cost since a vet has to do this. Then the cost of vanning a mare if she goes off the farm, and the mares have to be cleaned up real good or some stallion farms won't let her go into their breeding shed. 
It's a long process getting the mare to and from the breeding shed,and what I mean is it can be costly. Sure the deed only takes a couple of minutes... :laugh:

Then the stud fees.....oh boy. A good stallion is in the $30,000 range.

So yep I like the expenses of having goats!


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## tracyqh (Aug 9, 2010)

That is the only thing bothering me on the goats. They can labor A LOT longer than mares. If the foal isn't out within 15-20 mins, big trouble could be lingering. Also, if you have to pull a foal that is caught up in the hips, it's way harder to manipulate. We have a block and tangle in the foaling stall so that we can lift the mare up and work "down" on her so we can try to push a mal-positioned foal back down. Also, the breech thing being "okay" in goats is VERY werid for me. When a foal is breech, a mare's contraction can be so strong that it can compress the ambilical cord to the point of tearing it, thus the foal "drowns" inside or it can crush the ribs. Regardless of the videos I watch and the books I read, if or when I have a breech kid, I will have to panic a tiny bit. Luckily for me, my idea of "panicking" is a few curse words.


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