# kidding in the winter?



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I have to many does to have kidding in the spring (well to many because I get overwhelmed easily and my pen can only handle so many goats and the kids just make it overcroweded).

so I was thinking of doing a winter kidding. I have NEVER done this before. a couple years ago when I decided to do a spring kidding I was nervous as I have never done that before either but now I feel confident on that. 

I know MANY people kid in the winter months. What do you do to ensure no frozen kids? what are the differences and how cold is to cold?


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Stacey you know the importance of no drafts & dry bedding for kids whatever time of the year. 
We are usually kidding in Feb...sometimes with snow on the ground. Everbody does just fine.
Hopefully Katrina will come on telling you about Alaska kiddings.
Honestly I have come to the conclusion that kids do much better than we think with cold & acclimate better than in the spring when there are worms & cocci possibility.
We never use heat lamps (dont trust them)
The only "downside" is having to haul water.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I am working on the draft part --- right now the barn has an opening that is 12 feet high by 4 feet wide... so without a door I am trying to come up with ideas to "close"it off I have some ideas. But the door may happen, but I am not going to count on it


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Stacey, my kids have always been born in mid to late February. Last year was the coldest ever, babies arrived in the single digits.


I am very lucky though that I am with my girls when they deliver, I dry the kids thouroghly and get them nursing, I did use sweaters on them after they were totally dry, and took them off a day later, so they could learn to regulate their temps.
I never had a froze kid and never used a heat lamp either, my kid stalls are draft free and they have a deep layer of dry bedding too, moms snuggle up and the little ones will stay very close to mom for warmth. Since my kids stay in the stalls with moms for a few days, I make sure they get play time in the afternoon sun that comes thru the windows, they are alot hardier than most think they could be.


Oh and yes, the troublesome issues with parasites are fewer in the colder months :greengrin:


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

I've always had winter kiddings (Jan-Mar) and actually prefer it. The kids tend to be healthier in my experience...there are fewer problems with parasites, for instance. I'm planing for Feb. kids this time around. 

I've used sweaters for kids, but never a heat lamp. I took one of my old plastic totes (like the 35 gallon ones with lids) and cut and opening into the side so the kids can crawl in there and cuddle up. It's easy to clean and if I need to get them out I can just take the lid off.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Stacey, I will sat ditto to what Liz said. I always plan for Jan 1st babies and I want them as soon after that as possible. I have never lost one to the cold or to them even being sick. I have never has Cocci trouble or worms. I TRY to be there when they are born but that is just not possible. If I think they are close and it is going to be below 0, I MIGHT put a heat lamp in on the doe but normally I do it at night, and for only a day or two, or I do the sweaters. I do not do the heat lamps on them all, just when it is really cold or they are really small, and the lamp is really not close at all, not even the does can touch them, but they are there to take the chill off. The sweaters are great, and they look so darn cute in them.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Stace you know you could block off that entrance with a sheet of 4x8 plywood "gate".


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

my dad would be so disappointed -- he worked very hard to build me a nice barn and he wants to build me a door....its just going to take time. I would rather wait on kidding then hurt him.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Stacey, you could even do solid stall fronts up to the height of your does backs, that will also keep the draft off the kids. Temporary of course, but you could use thin sheets of paneling attached by screws so the pieces could be removed in the warm months.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

the barn is all open and is like over 12 feet high so I wouldnt want to risk the cold -- it would be very drafty


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Do you think your dad would mind a tarp covering the opening for a short while? It would cut out some of the air until thedoor can be built.


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

most of my kids are born in winter...like -30. or spring...-10 LOL. never had a problem..noooooo drafts. that wind is going to chill them more than the snow or ice. Mine are in a shed with a lamp..no drafts whatsoever, it tends to be very cold and very windy during winter, and also very dark. so a lamp is a must. in the shed it stays about +14F which is fine, when the does kids, I stick a heater in there and it warms up to about 40F. and stays like that for a week, then they start going outside, and by the time theyre 3 weeks theyre outside 24/7..and do very well...if the kids arent as thrifty i leave them in the heat until i need it for another doe, or they get stronger. 

my goats arent spoiled! lol. thats sarcasm :greengrin:


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## Epona142 (May 26, 2008)

I'll be doing winter kiddings again this year. My kiddos were born in February and I didn't have a problem. They'll be kidding between December and February next time, and so will most of my friend's does too.

Here in Texas, we don't get "cold" like some of you do, (although I personally think its horrid cold!) and many of us prefer to have kiddings/foalings/calvings/etc in the winter.

By then, I'll have my kidding pen/stalls set up, right next to my house, where I can peek out the window in my office at them! I'll also have lamps, so I don't forsee a problem at all.


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

i prefere jan/feb/march kiddings as well. Like several people mentioned...less problems with parasites. And when show season rolls around your kids have more of an immune system built up. They are also usually bigger and do better at shoes as jr's. plus i can breed them as yearlings rathern then waiting till they are two year olds. I hate having dry yearlings.
beth


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## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

I've kidded all around the calendar. I have different opinions on the times they're most successful. I actually prefer colder or warmer months instead of Fall. Fall is the only time I've lost a few kids to pneumonia. 

Anyway, I use the 55 gallon barrel drums with a hole cut in the side and a heat lamp suspended from the top inside for the kids. I call them heat barrels. The kids pile up in there and snooze. They do very good with that. 

My only real concern with cold month babies is the actual kidding. You HAVE to be there. The kids will chill and die if they are not warmed up very fast. This can be done two ways. If the temps aren't too cold, you can take a blow drier down and dry them. Use lots of towels and the blow drier. Check the kids mouth for temp and use a thermometer if you need to. If the kid is a little too still or not moving around like it should, warm it up inside. I have done this too, especially with multiples because we just don't have enough hands and blow driers to go around a group. By the time you get one warmed up, another is chilled and you have to change to them and then the other chills again. So in those instances we take them in the house. Bring mom if you need to. Set her up in a crate or partition off a room. I did that with one born in March this year! Triplets on the coldest night we'd had in a while. The babies weren't thriving in the cold temps and with triplets we couldn't tend to any one of them as well as we wanted so we loaded up mom and her babies and took them to the house. We closed off the utility room and bedded it down with straw and put them in there. They did exceptionally well. We let the cold snap pass and then took them back down to the barn. All 3 were extremely healthy and strong and two have long since moved on to their new homes, the third is Echinacea.

So if your on top of things they'll do just fine. The nighttime, cooler temp times are the only time you really have to worry. During the day when its warmed up a lot, its just a matter of drying off and helping them find the teat. Ensure they're familiar with the heat barrel before the night and they're smart enough to settle down and be comfy. I've even used heat lamps in stalls without barrels. I triple ensure the lamp will touch absolutely nothing that is flamable and also ensure that should it get bumped loose, that it dangles or touches only a cattle panel. I tend to worry a lot so I usually keep the camera on them too. I don't want so many kiddings so close together either. So I know what you mean. I've got a whole heap I'm planning for Feb/Mar so I maybe starting up kiddings a lot sooner than I thought and dragging them out throughout the spring to make it easier on me. 

I did breed Zee yesterday. She was trying to climb into the buck fence. Haha! Yes so I went ahead and put her in the breeding pen with River just to go ahead and prevent a break in. Ha! Silly girl. But with her kidding in late December, I may as well try another one or two then too. That way I can move them in together sooner and the babies can pile for warmth. Figures I decide this yesterday, after I'd had about half a dozen does in heat just days before. LOL No watch, not one will go in heat for weeks. That'll be my luck. Hehe


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

StaceyRoop said:


> I am working on the draft part --- right now the barn has an opening that is 12 feet high by 4 feet wide... so without a door I am trying to come up with ideas to "close"it off I have some ideas. But the door may happen, but I am not going to count on it


I very easily apply a sheet of ply wood on the North side to keep the north wend out. My shelter is not neat as high so I do add a large carpet over the top and side for insolation.

Until the door is made what I do is get a metel fince post drive it in behind the ply wood. No harm done. The door comes up with the stake and off with the wood. :thumbup:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

haha then you have never seen me with tools or a shovel -- lets just say I am still in need of work in that area.  

I dont trust myself to do a thing to the barn, my dad and brothers did a great job with it and I worry about messing it up with my half ability jobs :sigh:


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

Stacey, you would not be doing anything. 

You lean the wood and stake so it does not fall over. The stake is the metal ones you drive my hand with a post driver, Not hard and you would never touch the barn at all.

By the way, at the "add me" you can find some winter kid pics I posted in good humar.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

well I honesty cant imagine what you are describing -- but thanks for the effort though.

my barn isnt facing north. The barn door opening is to the west. 

My dad and brothers just made me this new barn last year but never got to the door


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

I think i know what she means. Set a couple of t posts on either side of your door only a few inches away from the wall of the barn. Take a sheet of plywood thats larger then the opening of the door and slide it in between the posts and the barn. But i think staceys barn has a small wood porch right outside the door. so theres nothing to actually drive the stakes into.
beth


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

no its dirt under the overhand Beth but you are right in remembering the design-- but I dont think I can lift a 12x4 foot piece of plywood - I am only 110lbs


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## Shantarskiye (Apr 15, 2009)

We put up a heat lamp for them. Just be careful...and make it high enough so they can't bump it. We had a barn fire from them doing that last year :worried: I didn't want a heat lamp after that, but, I didn't want frozen goats either!  
I had a doe kid in the middle of the night in winter one time. When I went out, the little bucks ears were frozen! So he went through the rest of his life (which was short because he was sold for meat) with two half ears. It looked funny on a Nubian  

If you have cats, they'll all of the sudden think that the goats aren't  half bad to sleep with!! This spring when I went out, almost all 16 cats were under there!


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## fcnubian (Oct 23, 2007)

We have our kidding stalls in the back part of the barn. We bed them down with deep straw and keep the gate shut which will keep the winds off of them. If it's extremely cold, the windows & barn doors are shut. As long as the kids are out of the drafts, have a good straw bed and a full belly of milk, they will be fine.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

ditto to all previously said. you can stack hay bales in front of the door to help with the draft and also keep the litte guys in. 

I'm too scared to use the heat lamps. Rugs/coats and lots of straw, belly full of warm milk. Also sometimes I will use hot water bottles - one at 10pm, then 2am, then 6am


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## ChestnutGrove (Apr 30, 2009)

Since I live in Tennessee I am not much help as having winter kids must not be the same! What I do think is important is to know due dates so you can stall up the dam in a draft free place with plenty of bedding so help keep the kids warm if she starts without you. I know one man that brings them in and washes them in warm water and gets them completely dry and puts them on pig pads (I think that is what they are called) with keep the kids warm - I thought that was a really great idea and I also though I want to stay in Tennessee lols.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

TN is where I want to move to eventualy -- very nice place. 

How cold are your winters? The coldest it realy gets here is in the 20's or teens but sometimes at night ti will go below Zero


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## ChestnutGrove (Apr 30, 2009)

We live in Middle Tennessee so everything I say goes for middle Tennessee (you want to move to middle Tennessee - partly because I want you too and partly because I think middle Tennessee is the nicest!) - Tennessee winters go from freezing to walking around in shorts and a t-shirt lols - one day to the next - it is different! What is the main problem with our winters is ICE - takes down trees, not wise to go out on the road (most people just stay home) - loose power - the place we lived before we lost power alot but here they are good about getting power on with in the day. When it snows - the whole state shuts down  We do not do snow lols. This year we got 8" of snow!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is rare in Middle Tennessee Normally if we get snow it is very little - a dusting - I know people who move to Tennessee say they really miss the snow - I think snow is pretty but I can live with out it!

Can't wait till you are able to move to Tennessee :thumb:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

yah the middle of TN is beautiful -- I dont have any real reason to move just yet but give me a couple years or less if I could I would be there. 

I visited back in July and oh so beautiful.

I dislike snow -- so thats a big plus and I dont mind a little cold here and there but I dont like months on end of freezing weather!


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