Birth of Two New Baby Goats! and how to tell if your goat is in labor.
Last night our doe Jager(meister) had her first kidding!!
We have been watching her closely as her due date was Sunday. There are a few telltale signs of a pending delivery, and we know what to look for.
She had some mucus discharge on Sunday afternoon, so we knew the time was coming soon! We didn’t notice any other changes on Sunday, but on Monday morning she started to slow down a little and her delivery was textbook.
Signs of delivery:
She will have a show of mucus around 24 hours prior.
She will stop jumping up on things.
Her broad ligaments will soften (you won’t be able to feel them on either side of her tail) and her tale will start to droop.
Her udders will fill up - you will see a noticeable difference pretty quickly.
Her sides will get a little sunken as the kids drop for delivery.
She will start to paw at the ground very close to delivery - within an hour or two.
Broad Ligaments Loosen
Ligaments will loosen and the tail will start to droop around 12 hours before delivery.
Pawing at the Ground
This is Jager standing quietly and waiting - she started pawing at the ground and kidded about an hour later.
Once you see these signs, stay close! Last night I noticed Jager pawing at the ground and she kidded within the hour! We actually missed it as we were putting the kids to bed.
She gave us two gorgeous doelings- one with blue eyes and a white patch on her head, one with grey ears and a white face with wattles. We are still working on names. Their dad is Whiskey. My vote is for Fern (Fernet is a liquor similar to Jagermeister) and Georgia (Georgia moon is a brand of Whiskey!)
Cast your vote in the comments!
