# Hi there TGS! Newbies here....



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

My husband and I live in Nebraska and have two Nigerian Dwarf does and one buck. We acquired the two does approximately 15 months ago and the buck last April. Our goats are unregistered, by choice. We are unaware of the ages of the does as the previous owners could not tell us much of anything. The buck, Murphy, is one year old. We are very excitedly awaiting our very first kids mid -February as best we know. We were so new to the process of breeding back in the fall that we've decided that we may be off on the due date by a couple of weeks. Carly is showing the most signs of approaching labor, but Blair has got to be close to her. We've watched for so many different things and documented so much in the last few days that my head is spinning. We've got the birthing pens all ready to go as well as kid warmers. We decided to go with heat lamps, but ONLY with us present and only if absolutely needed. The kidding kit is by the back door and we feel as prepared as possible. Any advice or comments for us newbies? We would appreciate any help we can get. Thank you all


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Welcome to TGS!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Welcome, glad you are here.


----------



## Moers kiko boars (Apr 23, 2018)

Hey there! Glad you are here! Sounds exciting ...first babies...woohoo. 
When those beautiful little ones get here
..please put their pictures in our 2020 Kidding Tally! So much fun to see all the babies born so far..with # of bucklings & # of doelings!


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

We will definitely do that.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Welcome! When your knew, getting due dates can be a real pain, so I totally understand! at least you have a ballpark to go by. 
For the heat lamps, they do make a safe heat lamp from Premiere One that a lot of people recommend. Much safer than the brooder style. We do use the brooder style lamps, but we put them in 55 gallon barrels and make 'heating barrels' out of them by cutting a hole for baby to get in/out, and pulling a heat lamp in and up into the top and securing it. Although, with small breed I'm not sure how that would work since the object is for babies to get under the heat lamp, but mom can not get in. We secure it to the wall in a corner, and have been using them for 5 years. Even without the lamp on, they work great.

This was Thursday night after one of our does kidded









Another baby born that night warming in a barrel


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

Love that you replied. These are the exact warmers that we built!! Only now I’ve seen yours I’m wondering if our heat lamp should go inside the barrel. Ours sit on top of hail screen on top as you can see in the picture.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:great:


----------



## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

that is a big hole can the doe get in the barrel? we drill a 6 inch hole in our barrels.

now one thing to remember is you must keep calm during the birthing. stay out of the pen. stay back from the pen sit and be quiet. no fidgeting talk in soft tones. NO SQUEALING and rapped movement of your hands. if the doe is stressed the birthing takes longer. 
once the kid is out, in a smooth relaxed motion, not slow motion move in and check its breathing and dry the kid off.
you do not want to look like a predator coming to take her kid
watch the color of the water bag that is pushed out after the birth. if it is red that tells you she is done birthing. if it is yellow means there is another one coming. if it is yellow finish working on the kid and then withdraw from the pen and wait for the next one.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

DanJen said:


> Love that you replied. These are the exact warmers that we built!! Only now I've seen yours I'm wondering if our heat lamp should go inside the barrel. Ours sit on top of hail screen on top as you can see in the picture.


Hmmm... don't know that I would have anything in between the heat lamp and barrel. I'm wondering if that screen would get hot, and anything touching it could become an issue. But also wondering if anything fell or landed on the barrel - like stray hay, shavings, etc. if they could get under that and catch fire?

We definitely love the barrels. This was our last doe to kid for the season tonight:


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

Omg! We have mucus!!!!! That was at 7:30am and I had to get to work. No choice. Please pray that our mamas are good to go because I can’t get home until 2pm!! Ahhhh!
Everything is set up and ready for them, just need the lamps on. I could not turn them on and be gone. Just too chicken even though we've taken all of the safety precautions. It’s a fairly decent temp day at 32. I’m so nervous I could cry. Just praying I get home in time in case anyone needs me. Question...ok to give vitamins to newborns at birth or do we wait a day or so??


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I leave my heat lamps on, but have them secure with a string and tie them up and to a good height so the babies stay warm.

32 is freezing weather and concerning for new babies. 
You want them strong and nursing well to be able to withstand cold weather.

I honestly give them 3 days and nights with the heat lamps, for bonding time and making sure they are doing well. Then stop the heat lamp if I see they are OK. 
I will however, keep it on longer if a kid is weak and not thriving yet.
I want them to be able to nurse and mama is tending to them, allowing them to nurse.

Has she kidded yet?

Vitamins at birth.
If they have wonky or weak legs, weak or no suck reflex.
Bo-se is good to give.

If not, they usually don't need anything.

Nutradrench is good to stimulate appetite and get them going too. 
Do not give it for too long.


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

toth boer goats said:


> I leave my heat lamps on, but have them secure with a string and tie them up and to a good height so the babies stay warm.
> 
> 32 is freezing weather and concerning for new babies.
> You want them strong and nursing well to be able to withstand cold weather.
> ...


Excellent! Thank you. No kidding yet.....
Lamps are warming now. Still seeing some discharge. Time will tell.


----------



## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

what is the weather forecast? sounds odd but 12 hours or less before a storm is common


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

No storms in the near future. Expected to get warmer and warmer over the next 4 days actually. From 34 to 57 by Sunday


----------



## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

with high pressure building i have had girls wait a week for the weather to turn.


----------



## Moers kiko boars (Apr 23, 2018)

Any babies yet? We all cant wait to see!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Babies?


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

Ugh!! No babies yet. Just goes to show how new we are to all of this. Expecting mamas are still eating well as of last night. Laying around this morning. I still see a discharge with both, Carly is becoming more vocal and Blair seems to have dropped more. Ugh! Maybe I should be more confident in our original mid-February approximation. ‍♀I will just keep checking and praying I guess


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

Ugh!! No babies yet. Just goes to show how new we are to all of this. Expecting mamas are still eating well as of last night. Laying around this morning. I still see a discharge with both, Carly is becoming more vocal and


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)




----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

So I noticed on both girls that the discharge from yesterday and today has dried and there is nothing new. Perhaps just the plug??


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)




----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Looking good, yep the plug.


----------



## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

Welcome to TGS! Your does are beautiful, and everything looks fine to me! You probably already know this, but I’ll say it anyway.
Once one baby is out, the next baby should come within 20 minutes. Sounds like you are prepared for kidding! If your two does get along well, it is probably best to keep them in the same stall while the other is in labor. Goats are social, and having a goat friend really helps to calm down the doe in labor. If they are aggressive to each other it might not be a good idea though, for obvious reasons..:buttheads:

your heating barrel is a really cool idea! I’ll have to copy it this kidding season. (shy)


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:upthumbup)


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

CaramelKittey said:


> Welcome to TGS! Your does are beautiful, and everything looks fine to me! You probably already know this, but I'll say it anyway.
> Once one baby is out, the next baby should come within 20 minutes. Sounds like you are prepared for kidding! If your two does get along well, it is probably best to keep them in the same stall while the other is in labor. Goats are social, and having a goat friend really helps to calm down the doe in labor. If they are aggressive to each other it might not be a good idea though, for obvious reasons..:buttheads:
> 
> your heating barrel is a really cool idea! I'll have to copy it this kidding season. (shy)


Thank you!
Good point about being together. They both get along well or at the very least tolerate each other well. We have the pen gates open for them to use the rest of their kidding shed. We just gate them to feed them for a short time in the evening. unfortunately a bantee chicken has taken roost in one of the barrels. Little does she realize that eviction is on the horizon.


----------



## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

DanJen said:


> Thank you!
> Good point about being together. They both get along well or at the very least tolerate each other well. We have the pen gates open for them to use the rest of their kidding shed. We just gate them to feed them for a short time in the evening. unfortunately a bantee chicken has taken roost in one of the barrels. Little does she realize that eviction is on the horizon.


Haha! 
Poor chicken. Does she have eggs there, or does she just sleep there? If she has eggs, you could incubate them or just set her and her eggs up elsewhere. 
Do your goats look like they are ready to have their babies? 
How do their udders look?
It's so exciting! (thumbup)


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

(thumbup)


----------



## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

What the weather like
As soon as the barometric pressure starts to drop kids will drop


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

CaramelKittey said:


> Haha!
> Poor chicken. Does she have eggs there, or does she just sleep there? If she has eggs, you could incubate them or just set her and her eggs up elsewhere.
> Do your goats look like they are ready to have their babies?
> How do their udders look?
> It's so exciting! (thumbup)


There udders, esp blond one are getting really long. Hers touch the ground. Not as full as I'd expect yet I guess. Tails are almost straight up. we only have that one banter and a rooster. Had a coyote issue a few months ago, so that bantee sleeps in the goat shed now. No eggs


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

fivemoremiles said:


> What the weather like
> As soon as the barometric pressure starts to drop kids will drop


Weather is a gorgeous 48 and sunny today. Expected high is 57 tomorrow. Bottom will drop out by Monday night. High of only 25 Tuesday.


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

FINALLY!!!!! We have babies. Of course we completely missed it. Checked on them both at 6pm and no new signs at all. Eating etc. the. When we checked them again at 10pm we had babies. Appear to be super healthy and vibrant. Already one in the warmer when we walked in. I hated to miss it, but so glad they are ok. All black little girl like mama and black and white little boy like his daddy. I'm nervous because we didn't see them eat yet but we will keep checking and give replacement colostrum first feeding if we don't see anything at next check at 2am. She cleaned them up nicely so I'm assuming we just missed the feeding.


----------



## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

SWEET 
I was close on my perdition of when you would have kids. 
to know if your kids have eaten stick your finger in there mouth and take a tempiture. if it is warm your good if cool you have to take action NOW.


----------



## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

You can also hold mom still and latch them on to make sure they know where the good stuff is. Strip out a couple squirts on each teat to make sure they're open and flowing then make sure they latch. Congratulations on you new kids they're adorable!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:nod::up:


----------



## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

DanJen said:


> View attachment 171369
> FINALLY!!!!! We have babies. Of course we completely missed it. Checked on them both at 6pm and no new signs at all. Eating etc. the. When we checked them again at 10pm we had babies. Appear to be super healthy and vibrant. Already one in the warmer when we walked in. I hated to miss it, but so glad they are ok. All black little girl like mama and black and white little boy like his daddy. I'm nervous because we didn't see them eat yet but we will keep checking and give replacement colostrum first feeding if we don't see anything at next check at 2am. She cleaned them up nicely so I'm assuming we just missed the feeding.


Congratulations! They are so cute and I love the colors! 
It looks so cute when they go into their warmer! Hopefully everything goes well, so far your doe has done great!


----------



## DanJen (Jan 25, 2020)

I so appreciate all of the helpful advice!! We have yet to see them nurse, but temps in their mouths are warm and toasty, they are content and happy to snooze. No panicky hungry craziness..Thriving and standing and talking, etc. I've got to assume mama is taking care of the situation well. When or how would you introduce the bottle? We want to do both, so as to have trusting little ones with very little skiddishness around us and to of course milk mamas without depleting them. We are so new to this. What are your suggestions?


----------



## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Very welcome! As for age on a goat or sheep, you can get a hint by the front teeth. They drop one pair of milk teeth each year, so with a full row of permanent teeth the age is four or more. (They will dislike your touching of their mouths!)


----------



## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

DanJen said:


> I so appreciate all of the helpful advice!! We have yet to see them nurse, but temps in their mouths are warm and toasty, they are content and happy to snooze. No panicky hungry craziness..Thriving and standing and talking, etc. I've got to assume mama is taking care of the situation well. When or how would you introduce the bottle? We want to do both, so as to have trusting little ones with very little skiddishness around us and to of course milk mamas without depleting them. We are so new to this. What are your suggestions?


The babies will most likely not take the bottle at first, and be as stubborn as goatily possible. 
Definitely make sure that the milk is warm, I've heard mixed answers about using a microwave.
At the edge of their mouths on their chin, you can gently press on both sides of the face to make them open their mouths. You don't have to roughly force the bottle into their mouths, but you can stick it into their mouths. Be patient though, it took me weeks to get my stubborn Nigerian Dwarf to take the bottle without hesitation. So frustrating. If the babies are interested in the bottle, I'd let them chew wherever they want until they figure out where the milk comes from.
You probably already know this, but I'll mention it anyway.
Keeping the bottle at an angle (bottom of the bottle facing up) helps the milk flow at a steady pace into their mouths. Just like a real udder.
I'm glad to hear the kids are doing well and I hope you're successful in bottle feeding your adorable baby goats!


----------



## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Yes, by dropping a small amount on the thinnest skin of your wrist, you can estimate the temperature: Feels warm - too warm; Feels cold - too cold; Feels nothing at all - good temperature.


----------



## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

Trollmor said:


> Yes, by dropping a small amount on the thinnest skin of your wrist, you can estimate the temperature: Feels warm - too warm; Feels cold - too cold; Feels nothing at all - good temperature.


:up:
This was exactly was I did to test the temperature! (thumbup)


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:nod:


----------



## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

CaramelKittey said:


> :up:
> This was exactly was I did to test the temperature! (thumbup)


Learnt from an old human-baby nurse!


----------

