Hi Friends! I’m trying to normalize asking for things, (WHICH I HATE) but I am doing it anyway because being a goat writer is my goal and you don’t get your goals without getting uncomfortable. Our biggest growth has come from word-of-mouth. Would you PLEASE consider sending this to two friends and telling them it’s fun to read? I mean, if you think it’s fun to read, I hope you think it’s fun to read . . . anyway, please consider sending it to some friends.
I don’t know if you do this, but I am always making up future conversations with fake people in non-existent social scenarios. Help make me make this one real:
For today’s post:
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So, first off, there are still no baby goats. We went from "watching early to be safe" to "they're due any minute" to "okay, they're overdue" and are now planted firmly into "what the hell?!?!?" territory. The good news is this - within reason (and we're still within reason), the longer, the better.
But, I’m getting your texts, messages, tweets, Insta stories, and carrier pigeons - all asking “WHERE ARE THE BABIES? WE WERE PROMISED BABIES!” and I just don’t know.
A goat's gestational period is 145 for miniatures and 150 for standards. The goats I have are Miniature Lamanchas, a mix of the Nigerian Dwarf (miniature) and the Lamancha (standard). So, they'll generally give birth sometime between the 145 and 150-day marks. My girls are all now well past 145 - we're into overdue even for standards territory soon.
So, to answer the questions I've gotten the most:
Can we induce?
Yes, technically. Although, this is not a thing I would try without a vet. This year will be my fourth kidding (no joke - HA), and I have found that nature is pretty smart on this whole thing.
I set up breeding so only experienced mamas kid this early in the season, and I don't want any first-timers in the middle of a February snowstorm. Every goat due right has had at least one successful birth under their belt, so they're more likely to handle bigger kids.
I wrote about how Late lost one of her twins last year. Well, I still blame myself, but also, she went early. The way you know if baby goats are early or not is if their bottom teeth break through their bottom gums, and that little boy and his sister, Lemony Moon Pie, were both early. Neither had bottom teeth.
When I pulled Lemony in out of the cold once it was evident that Late had precisely zero intention of being a mother, I put her in a laundry basket with a heating pad and heat lamp and started to bottle feed her. It became clear she wasn't in the best shape. I finally got her temp up and got her eating from a bottle - but it wasn't ideal. When it's only a 145-day gestation - every day counts.
I hope that with bigger and healthier kids we will hit that perfect combo of "can get out of their mom easily" and "hearty and ready to go."
So, we're well past 145 right now with Late, but I would trade the torment of checking to see if she's in labor every five minutes for big, healthy babies. Based on her impression of Jabba the Hutt all day, those babies are gonna be monsters.
I can't wait.
At what point do you call the vet?
About two days from now. At that point, I'll know something is wrong. Right now, it's just taking comically long, but we're not in the danger zone. I'm starting to get edgy, though.
Did you do your math wrong?
"But Kelly," you might be asking, "are you SURE SURE they were bred when you think they were?!?"
Maybe I'm wrong. I'm wrong a lot, so that is a very plausible explanation to what we're seeing right now.
When you check to see when a doe was bred, you look for telltale signs. They had all the signs. Unless you SEE the deed, it's not 100%, but there are apparent indicators when a doe was bred. It's possible that I was off a day or two on either side, which could increase the window of five days to nine, but we're close.
Anyyyyway, I gotta get out there and check the girls - will send updates as soon as we get some.
You guys are the best. Love you, mean it.
K
Can't wait to see!!! Patience is not my virtue either!