# Firelight Ranch Waiting Thread



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Soooo, we are a couple months out. Perhaps its a bit early, but I'm not only excited but am (now) dedicated to keeping pregnancy journals to reference in years to come and what better a place to log size, physical changes, labor habits for each doe,etc. than on TGS? That way I can come back to this thread next season and compare a doe's progress next year to her progress this year and get a bead on her individual "process." 

It certainly helped with Sherry when I thought she would kid in January (and obviously didn't) ... I kept trying to convince myself that I was being stupid and she was just hiding it from me, but going back to last year's waiting thread for her I knew she wasn't following her playbook like she did last March. I just didn't want to give up on my "late" Christmas kiddos even though all the signs pointed to them not happening.

Speaking of Sherry, she still seems bred. She is getting bigger and her pooch is quite soft/smooth and swollen. She gained a small handful of udder (from nothing in December) in January and has maintained it. If she is bred, she is bred to Fireworks. I plan to do a blood draw next weekend, so hopefully within two weeks I'll have my answer. If not, she will go in with Densil next month for August babies (hopefully!) Whenever she has the next batch, it'll be her last so we need pink! I don't like July newborns much because July is sweltering (for some reason June is good, we only have 2 weeks of burning weather around here it seems), but August-October is super comfy.


Everyone is due from April 16th-April 26th based on 145-150 days gestations. It will be a long one and a half weeks I think. I debated taking a week off of work, but I only work part-time at one job (4.5 hour shifts) and I work for myself (in a flower shop attached to the barn no less) the rest of the time...so I think it will have to do. With all my animals I can't afford to miss a week of design work. I'm scheduled from 10 AM to 2:30 PM, and I have never had a doe who didn't kid from late afternoon to early morning. If everyone sticks to having kids as close to the dead of night or the break of day as possible we'll be good. Lol. Plus I have a goat babysitter. Last year I had to work a late shift and she delivered Poit's first buck kid all on her own before I could get there...she said she went in and "scooped" him out. Lol. And she doesn't even know anything about goats (she's a horse gal), just got a lecture and some webpage references from me! I'm so proud of my Wendy!

Okie dokie...long intro. Next post will be the pairings and expected due dates. I will take some photos of my blooming gals in the next few days to add.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck with all your kidding.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

I have 4-5 does bred to Goldenbrook Farm MR Fireworks and I might explode with anticipation before these little ones arrive. This guy is built SO nice. He is super wide and I love his dam's udder. The icing on the cake is that he has moonspots AND blue eyes. One of my pet peeves about many Nigerians is that there are so many out there who are too narrow bodied or shallow. It seems like often there is a trade off of overall body capacity for refinement, length and angularity. I want it all! Lol. So I'm ecstatic to be able to use a buck who really is the whole package (to me), and who can put that width and depth on my more narrow does. I think if you want a real winner in the show pen, they need to have refinement AND a ton of capacity. Those are the types of does I see taking the big wins home. And everyone (but Sherry) is confirmed pregnant by blood test. 










The first doe bred when Fireworks arrived was Klover, her day 145 would be April 16th. I need good photos of her this spring, I honestly don't think I've take anything but fatty preggo pictures of her since I got her last year! Here is one when mommaB had her as a kiddo, which shows her conformation:










She is long, long, long with a great brisket. She also has blue eyes. I was ecstatic with her 2nd freshening udder with me last year, beautiful shape and lots of capacity. AND she was nice and quiet on the stand. 

Next up would be Banshee...I think. Dakota seemed to have a split heat, so it could be her as well. Maybe they'll just kid at the exact same time:










Banshee has loads of body capacity. These kids should be literal little tanks. As a FF she had quads and freshened with an udder as big as my head. She is going to be my star in the show pen this year (I hope!)










Dakota, I sold a little less than two years ago, but she came back to me with her daughter I sold her with this winter when her new owners decided they didn't really want to do goats. She is a very long, angular and super refined and she has a well built udder with nice attachments but she is somewhat narrow bodied and doesn't have much of a brisket. She also could use a stronger topline and I think Fireworks is the perfect cross for her.

Angel took a little time coming in. She is a stupendous doe and I'm looking forward to seeing her second freshning and getting her in the show pen this year....but she doesn't like standing very well, especially for photos. She needs a lot of practice in the pen. She has huge teats, great for ease of milking so I'm excited to be having her as a milker this year.










And Sherry, who may or may not be bred to Fireworks...and who knows at what point. She was supposed to be bred to Densil of course...and she never shows heat signs. All I know is it would be sometime in April. She has some older lines and her full sister did very well a few years ago at AGS nationals (3rd in her class). I've always loved this old gal. She needs tighter elbows and toes and more refinement (she is pretty coarse and "manly" about the head) but always "kids up" to amazing show babies! Also, the texture of her udder..oh my word the texture. SO soft.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Nice looking herd and love the buck!


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

I guess I only have one doe bred to Densil this year, so she better have a girly. I need a doe kid of his to freshen next year and see what kind of udders he produces!

"Winry" from Gladdie Acres is stocky, lots of capacity there. Densil is a bit more refriend with length. My photo of him isn't very good at all, but I'll post it. Here is momma to be, due April 18 at the earliest:










And Densil:










And I have one doe bred to my JR buck, a Caesar Villa little guy who really needs more pictures as soon as its consistently warm enough to shave him..he will be a year in April:










Bred to Lady, who was born here two springs ago and will be a FF. I'm glad I bought this little girl back. She might stay awhile if her udder turns out.  I only have photos of her as a kid here:










AND, I put a deposit down for a wattled doe from Tiny Hooves who was bred for a June due date (around my birthday!) to Castle Rock Ursa Minor.  Gotta mail another payment Monday. Not sure when she is arriving, I have been too busy with VDay (florist) to think about her recently and I love Laura, she rocks, so its no worries to me. When she does arrive, I'll get photos.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

ksalvagno said:


> Nice looking herd and love the buck!


Thanks! I think I might have too many...especially considering how many I want to retain this spring! Lol.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

We have udder development in Klover, a nice handful, noticed Sunday, the 3rd. Banshee and Dakota are the same way. Sherry has the same old saggy baggy, lol. Still haven't gotten around to drawing blood on the old gal, but her tummy is noticeably bigger. Winry and Lady have had little bags for probably a week and a half now, but they are FF girlies and so I'm not surprised by early development and don't expect them to follow the same schedule in years to come. Shaving bums and photographing their udder progress tomorrow and then I can get a sample from Sherry so I can mail it when I run into town.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Ok, FINALLY some photos of progress. Shaving bums was a pain. This will be a bit of a photo overload!

Klover, due first:



























(Of course the first thing she did when I shaved her bum was run through the mud... I didn't have time for photos after I shaved them so I had to take them today.)

Banshee:


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Angel:




























Dakota:


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Winry:




























Lady:


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

And finally Sherry, who I drew blood on today and will mail tomorrow. Should have results sometime Wednesday providing I didn't ruin the vacuum on the tube. I got the vein immediately and a got a half tube but thought I'd jiggle it to get just a little more and she reared back. I THINK I got the tube popped off the needle before it came out of her skin but  ... It clotted, so I think we're good. Her right side does look quite a bit wider, but she has an old saggy belly so who knows:





































Pooch??? I haven't a clue.

Winry is carrying low but is not at all wide. Klover is 5 weeks out to day 145, but everyone else is 6-7 weeks out. Lalala, waiting on kids and milk!


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Aaaaand, Sherry is not bred.  ... I will be placing her with my JR. Caesar Villa bred buck for the next two months. If she comes up open after that, she will be retired.


----------



## Nubian_Mama (Feb 14, 2013)

Beautiful little ladies!! I can't wait to see the kiddos!


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Aiyaiyai! Its been an insane last few weeks....My dad had to go to the ER with blood poisoning and ended up losing his foot to save his life. Its been emotionally traumatic and very draining having him almost die on us (he is only 65) ...but he is very chipper now and in rehab learning to be one legged and to eventually have a prosthetic.

All the girls are progressing nicely. I'm starting to get giddy with excitement finally. Only about 3 weeks until Klover's day 145. 

Klover:









"This is what I think of pregnancy! And your photo taking!"










She looked like this with quads last year, and thats my bet.

Winry:



















Carrying very low. I'm really happy with how her FF udder is developing! My bet is twins.

Lady:



















Looking tiny. I'm thinking a single in there.

Dakota:



















She was this big with quads, but my bet is triplets for her.

Angel:



















She looks bigger than last year with a single, so I'll wager twins.

Winry and Angel:










Banshee:




























This was her size with quads last year, but I'm betting triplets anyways.


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Looking good! :thumb: Can't wait to see babies!


----------



## Terra Mia (Dec 21, 2011)

Wow! You will have a bust week!!! I am excited for you. I have a small break from Nigerian babies..We have our Lamancha due this month ( 1st Gen Mini-Lamanchas) and our Mini-Nubian. We will be slowly phasing out the mini-nubians..I love them but want to concentrate on the mini-lamanchas. I have 2 more Nigerian does to kid (this summer,June and July). Harley freshened with an amazing Udder, I will have to get pics this weekend. I will post a new thread with our new addition, 3rd gen Mini-Lamancha...she is a beauty!


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

your banshee looks like my Piglet - she is really nice looking. Love the udder coming in on Dakota. 

Everyone is nice but those things just stood out to me so far. Your new buck is very nice.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

I'm so jealous, mini-manchas!!!! Thats my next thing. Lol. I would love to see Harley's udder. She was my favorite and had that stunning conformation of her daddy's...

Stacey -- I LOVE Banshee. She is my favorite doe, I am just floored by her build/capacity and udder. She was the one I got as a 10 month old scrawny runt a couple of years back....Dakota is a good milker for me, just wish she was a little wider/thicker she is very delicate when not watermelon size pregnant. Lol. And the buck, if you're talking about the gold boy, I leased him so he went back to his mama a few months ago. She did OK me to keep a buck kid by him though and I love that buck so very much that I'm thinking about it...either from Angel or Banshee...probably Banshee.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Oh I remember. Her dam was poit right?


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

StaceyRosado said:


> Oh I remember. Her dam was poit right?


No, her dam was a Pholia Farm bred doe (by Hubba Hubba and out of KM Lo-La)

Poit came with her when I bought her, from the same farm.

I forgot to post Winry's udder! Poor gal. Lol.:










Its very round right now and the teats are small, but its even bigger looking in person and for a FF I'm really liking the capacity. Can't wait to see it properly filled up.


----------



## primal woman (Sep 17, 2011)

*your dad*

firelight, I'm not on here much and just read about your dad. I am so sorry. But hopefully things will be ok and he'll recover and adjust fine.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Thanks for the thoughts! He is still in a nursing home right now, but much, much better than a hospital. He was in critical condition for a several days. Doctors have given him a clean bill of health but for missing half a leg, but he is learning to deal with it quite well.


Everyone is ready to go! Klover's day 145 will be in three days! It just occurred to me that weekend kiddings aren't very likely this time around. Luckily, I have a whole crew of "goat watchers" to spy on the gals while I'm at work. My sister in law is home all day during my shifts, so she has agreed to peek in on the whales, and her friend has vowed that she is living there for the whole next week...possibly in the aisle-way of the barn, because she refuses to not catch at least one birth. Silly girls. And I have my stay at home friend on call who has assisted a birth before, just in case....Everyone has had their shots and selenium and now its just a waiting game. They are enormous and most of them have udders that are just about there! Man I wish I had a kidding camera.


----------



## primal woman (Sep 17, 2011)

*I'm waiting too*

Glad your dad is doing better.

I'm also playing the waiting game. My Trufflle (Urban Acres WC Truffle) bred to Full Sail (Urban Acres HB Full Sail) is due and uddered up yesterday much tighter than she had been. These are some really super pedigrees if you care to see.

Good luck on your kidding. Fun, yet sleepless nights.


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Ah! Klover is on day 145 today! Banshee, Winry and Dakota are 145 in two days and everyone else is close behind if I got my records straight. Banshee acts like she might go early, and since everyone was in with their respective partners for at least several weeks, she could have been sneaky and been bred a couple days before I saw the obvious evidence. Her ligaments are very soft and low, hard to find. Udder is gigantic but not tight. Klover is taking her time for being the first one officially due, not looking close but she didn't look close at all last year and went and kidded on me anyways on Easter Sunday!


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Three does kidded the same day! Klover on 147 with quads, B/B/B/D ...the tiniest buck was very runty while the rest were huge. The runt didn't pull through the night. Both Lady and Winry kidded on day 145 according to my calculations, bred to different bucks...Lady with a single doe and Winry with buck/doe twins. Winry scared me as I didn't know if the kids would come out! I had both trying to come out at once, she didn't dilate fully, and everything kept slipping back. I had to put one front leg all the way back against the first kids body and tie twine around the other front leg and then hold the skull as it passed through the pelvis because it kept snapping/slipping back. Crushed the tar out of my hand, it really aches and is swollen from my knuckle all the way down to my wrist! Never had that happen before, thats how tight the fit was. But both kids are very lively and healthy and besides a good tear in her hoo-hoo Winry seems to be doing great. Placentas all passed, etc. I will post photos in birth announcements tomorrow when I have my memory card for the camera.


----------



## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

I am sorry to hear about your dad. I am very glad that he is well on his way recovering! Congrats on all the babies


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

I thought maybe the other three would team up, but they didn't. Angel kidded today with triplets, two bucks and a doe. She lost her ligaments this morning and I hoped she'd wait until I got off work at 3:30. My friend checked her once an hour. At two, no progress, at three there were three kids on the ground almost dry...and she was halfway through eating the afterbirth. I rushed home ASAP, one chamoise (or maybe chocolate) doe with blue eyes and maaaaaybe a moon spot, she's a real muddled color so its hard to say right now. Two bucks with WILD moon spots all over, one with blue eyes. I might keep the chocolate buckskin as I wanted to keep a buck from either Angel or Banshee this year...have to see how they mature. The second buckling will be one fancy wether and has already been dubbed Sweeney by my brother's friend. Lol. She was day 146. 

Banshee will be 151 tomorrow, the poor girl is enormous. I will take more pictures. She had quads last year and wasn't this huge. She is so open behind that when she lays down I feel like the kids will fall out! Her ligaments have been very low and bouncing back and forth for a week now. Kids are sitting on the bottom of her belly, knees and hooves poking everywhere, and tumbling about like acrobats. Poor girl, I hope she goes tomorrow! I think Dakota took on the second part of her split heat and tomorrow would be 146 for her.


----------



## sandhillfarm (Feb 25, 2013)

Congrats!

Sent from my iPad using GoatSpot


----------



## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Banshee finally kidded today with :kidblue::kidblue::kidblue::kidred: ....All very large and almost identical. The three boys are gold with a tiny bit of white, two with blue eyes. The girl is dark gold with quite a few colorful moonspots. Only one needed a little re-positioning...back legs unfolded and it came breach. We now have thirteen kids, five does and eight bucklings.


----------



## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Hope your dad is doing okay now! That's a lot of bucklings, congrats on happy kiddings.


----------

