Goat pregnancy and delivery
I thought that I'd start this off with some basic information on breeding goats and their gestation cycle.
If you do a quick Google search your sure to find many sites that feature better in-depth descriptions of the birthing cycle for goats but here I'm just going to skim over the things I find most important. Below I have included a few links that I found helpful:
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2012/03/goat-101-how-to-tell-when-your-goat-is-in-labor-or-getting-close.html
http://jekuthiel.com/pggoats.shtml
http://www.arkansasdairygoats.com/kiddingclues.htm
For our Pygmy's and Dwarf Nigerian goats their pregnancy runs about 145 days (5 months). Some of the larger breeds of goats stay pregnant for a little longer (150-155 days). We personally like to put our bucks with our girls at the beginning of November through December for breeding. This way our kids should start arriving when warmer weather is here. But goats breeding season usually starts when the days become shorter. Anywhere from July to late December. Some of the behavior we've seen in our doe's when they're in heat is walking up to the males fence (If we still have them separated) and talk to the boys while wagging their tails or even some of them put their butts up to the gate for the males to smell. Another way to know if your girls are in heat is to look at your males. They will start to pee on their heads and front legs or the males might start fighting more with each other. Trying to attract the females and show their dominance.
For most of the time while your doe's are pregnant it's a sit and wait game. We give ours extra feed rations and make sure to always have a loose mineral block available for them to nibble on as they choose and of course plenty of hay and a pasture to roam for exercise. We also leave a salt block in the field for them if needed.
I've read on a couple of other goat websites that around week 9-12 in the doe's pregnancy that if you put your hand under her belly right in front of her teat's and press very lightly you should be able to feel the developing kids move. I for one haven't had any luck doing this though since most of my girls wont stay still long enough for me. (they really don't like your hands down near their teats. So I usually just wait for the final two months to feel their belly. By then the kids are big enough and active enough to feel or even watch them move around the doe's stomach.
I find it unreliable to judge when I doe is close to kidding based solely on the development of her milk bag. Some goats milk will start to come in a month before they are due and their utters are so swollen at the time of birth that I'm unsure if the little kids can get their mouths around them. While others wont get a really good bag until after the kids are born. It really depends on the goat. But after watching your girls for a couple of years you'll start to pick up on their bodies habits.
If you do a quick Google search your sure to find many sites that feature better in-depth descriptions of the birthing cycle for goats but here I'm just going to skim over the things I find most important. Below I have included a few links that I found helpful:
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2012/03/goat-101-how-to-tell-when-your-goat-is-in-labor-or-getting-close.html
http://jekuthiel.com/pggoats.shtml
http://www.arkansasdairygoats.com/kiddingclues.htm
For our Pygmy's and Dwarf Nigerian goats their pregnancy runs about 145 days (5 months). Some of the larger breeds of goats stay pregnant for a little longer (150-155 days). We personally like to put our bucks with our girls at the beginning of November through December for breeding. This way our kids should start arriving when warmer weather is here. But goats breeding season usually starts when the days become shorter. Anywhere from July to late December. Some of the behavior we've seen in our doe's when they're in heat is walking up to the males fence (If we still have them separated) and talk to the boys while wagging their tails or even some of them put their butts up to the gate for the males to smell. Another way to know if your girls are in heat is to look at your males. They will start to pee on their heads and front legs or the males might start fighting more with each other. Trying to attract the females and show their dominance.
For most of the time while your doe's are pregnant it's a sit and wait game. We give ours extra feed rations and make sure to always have a loose mineral block available for them to nibble on as they choose and of course plenty of hay and a pasture to roam for exercise. We also leave a salt block in the field for them if needed.
I've read on a couple of other goat websites that around week 9-12 in the doe's pregnancy that if you put your hand under her belly right in front of her teat's and press very lightly you should be able to feel the developing kids move. I for one haven't had any luck doing this though since most of my girls wont stay still long enough for me. (they really don't like your hands down near their teats. So I usually just wait for the final two months to feel their belly. By then the kids are big enough and active enough to feel or even watch them move around the doe's stomach.
I find it unreliable to judge when I doe is close to kidding based solely on the development of her milk bag. Some goats milk will start to come in a month before they are due and their utters are so swollen at the time of birth that I'm unsure if the little kids can get their mouths around them. While others wont get a really good bag until after the kids are born. It really depends on the goat. But after watching your girls for a couple of years you'll start to pick up on their bodies habits.
Here are some signs of labor in goats:
Her vulva will start to lengthen and get puffy (this usually starts a couple or weeks before kidding time)...I have some photos here. Be warned you can't un-see it so if your not sure you want too don't click on the link.
Her ligaments along her rump and tail bone will soften and 12-24 hours before kidding they will seem to disappear entirely. here is a good site that describes this process with photos of what to look for. http://www.endofthelinefarm.com/fromheattobirth.htm
Her belly will look like it's hanging lower to the ground as the kid drops into position her sides might start to get a sunken in look to them.
Some discharge may be seen. Colored from white, clear, or brownish.
She may nip at her sides or scratch them with her horns. Paw at the ground or seem like she just can't find the right place to lay down.
Some get very friendly or licky (I have two girls that get this way when their close to giving birth) on the other end some doe's start to distance themselves from you and the herd. ( preferring an isolated corner to call their own.)
A couple of my girls when the contractions start will press their head against the side of buildings and fencing or they'll stare off in the distance with almost a glazed over look to their eyes.
One things for sure when they're laying on the ground actively pushing it means most likely in the next 30 minutes your going to have a new goat kid
Her ligaments along her rump and tail bone will soften and 12-24 hours before kidding they will seem to disappear entirely. here is a good site that describes this process with photos of what to look for. http://www.endofthelinefarm.com/fromheattobirth.htm
Her belly will look like it's hanging lower to the ground as the kid drops into position her sides might start to get a sunken in look to them.
Some discharge may be seen. Colored from white, clear, or brownish.
She may nip at her sides or scratch them with her horns. Paw at the ground or seem like she just can't find the right place to lay down.
Some get very friendly or licky (I have two girls that get this way when their close to giving birth) on the other end some doe's start to distance themselves from you and the herd. ( preferring an isolated corner to call their own.)
A couple of my girls when the contractions start will press their head against the side of buildings and fencing or they'll stare off in the distance with almost a glazed over look to their eyes.
One things for sure when they're laying on the ground actively pushing it means most likely in the next 30 minutes your going to have a new goat kid
I'd like to mention that some people like to have a kit put together with some basic essentials incase they need to help with the delivery. Here is what I've put in mine.....
Most of the time I like to be present for the birth just incase I'm needed and to comfort the doe if she wants me too but usually I just sit back out of the way and watch the miracle of life take place.
- Gloves: Incase you need to go in and reposition the baby. ( It's a good idea to have some antibiotics also to give to the mother if you have to enter her womb. Just to make sure she doesn't get an infection!)
- OB lubricant
- Clean dry towels (Incase its cold out and the mother needs help drying her kids off.
- Scissors (I only use these to open the OB lubricant packages. I never cut the kids cord the mothers will do that.)
- Betadine (some people like to dip the end of the baby's cord in it but I don't practice this. So you wont find this in my kit)
Most of the time I like to be present for the birth just incase I'm needed and to comfort the doe if she wants me too but usually I just sit back out of the way and watch the miracle of life take place.