Preparing for Nigerian Dwarf Kidding

I will be following this closely to the end. What does the doe you think has kidded (the one with more black on her) look like on her vulva? She should be having some kind of discharge, though sometimes, they leak right at birth, then nothing for a couple days, then start up again. I am still curious if the one doe who is having bloody discharge is the one who kidded and that's why the other's udder is not filling back up...cuz she has not had her babies yet. Maybe she is just dropping. I would be kind of concerned about a doe with a bloody discharge that is suppose to be pregnant. You may want to glove up, lube up and see what you can feel in the bloody doe.

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Nancy Boling
Frosted Mini Goats
Alpine and Nigerian Dwarf goats
2 Jersey heifers
1 guard llama
And whatever else shows up...
http://www.swfarm.net/

Gorgeous babies! They look enough like papa that they could be either doe's kids. My plainest doe had the flashiest kids this year.

The black doe (Blanche) has a pretty dry vulva, no discharge that I can see. She's the one that they all look like and she's the one that lies down with them. She's also looks only slightly rounder than our non-pregnant doe, very deflated compared to how she looked before yesterday. Our other pregnant doe, Dorothy, still has bloody discharge coming from her vulva. She does look a little smaller than she did yesterday, but still not as small as Blanche. Maybe the kids have dropped? Or maybe the more brown buck with light eyes is hers? Are triplets very uncommon in Nigerians?

I read that you can't reach into Nigerians? That their canal is too small and you can do damage? I would love to be wrong about that! The wait is killing me.

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Dorothy (hasn't kidded, we think). This is the best shot I could get. I tried to reach in and feel around, but she's so wild that it's really a two person job, so we'll try when my husband gets home. ImageUploadedByHomesteading Today1416509147.029093.jpg

And from the top.

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Blanche (kidded yesterday, we think).

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From the top.

They both have milk now. Dorothy is hanging around outside the hut, but isn't acting odd. Blanche is hanging out in the hut with the kids and nursing them.

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Bad shot, but it's he closest I could get without them scattering.

Cute babies! Congrats.

Actually, for a doe that just to have delivered to be "dry" in the back-end I would be concerned. A doe that has just delivered should have some discharge from her uterus cleaning out. If a uterus doesn't clean out then infection can set in.

Babies dropping can cause a doe to look no longer pregnant.

Pregnant does have been known to steal other kids b/c they are "ready to mother." Also, does that have given birth sometimes don't know what to do and will allow babies to be stolen.

Trips and even quads can be quite common in nigerians.

If a nigerian is dilated you can get in to straighten out a malpresentation, have done it a few times.

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Jennifer
Nigerian Dwarfs and Mini Saanens
capellaviadairygoats.weebly.com

If you don't have abnormally large hands, it's okay to reach into a Nigerian. As long as you're careful it shouldn't do damage, but you really do need to be careful as with any breed of goat.

Agree with the others. You should be able to get into a Nigerian. From the rear, the white doe looks more like she had kidded than the dark one, but both may have. Multiples of more than 2 are very common for Nigerians, but they can have singles and twins fairly often as well. So that part is anyone's guess.

__________________
Nancy Boling
Frosted Mini Goats
Alpine and Nigerian Dwarf goats
2 Jersey heifers
1 guard llama
And whatever else shows up...
http://www.swfarm.net/

ImageUploadedByHomesteading Today1416524589.857640.jpg

Sorry again for the bad pic, but this shows them side by side. We're still waiting with no sign of more babies, but I've cancelled my plans for tomorrow.

Well? It's been 3 days . . . are there more kids?

Nope! I guess we had a single and twins. I just can't believe they both kidded in the 2 hours between my husband feeding them and going back to check on them. I was home ALL WEEK and left for my daughter's check-up and missed it. Oh well!

Everyone is doing well! The doeling is a lot smaller than the bucklings, but they're all eating and prancing about. That is, when they're not snuggled up together in their hut. Or squeezing through the fence to climb on the cinder blocks in the bucks' pen.

Wow, that is crazy! I'm guessing one of the bucklings was the single, because singles aren't typically small so the doeling would be a twin. It's nice that they have pretty much two moms though!