Too Much Against Him

[Tango]

A first time freshener, lost her first buckling. She had four things going against a successful kidding (half in hindsight). First she was a first timer. Second she wasn't exactly a tame one though she's had every opportunity to be friends with me. Thirdly, the kid was huge. And the final blow was that his right foreleg was behind him all the way at the shoulder. While I'm very pleased with the size of the first two kids by this buck (an Eggsfile grandson I lucked out on), he was only 8 months old (same with the does) when I bred him for the first time and I had no idea the size of the kids would be like this or I would not have used him on first fresheners. H eis still a small buck , imo, but the kids are quite wide/ chunky. Sunday, his first buckling was born and that doe also had a time of it but she was much tamer and allowed me to help from the beginning and his legs were in front. That makes my first season tally with fb Boers to 15 kids= 9 doelings, 6 bucklings.

[vancom]

sorry sorry. Is the doe OK after such an awful delivery?

Sounds like you have your hands full down there!

[Tango]

A lot of times I could use a second and third pair of hands The doe is expelling the afterbirth finally, ten hours after I pulled the dead kid from her. It was a huge worry since she had stopped contractions when I stepped in. But she's been alert and with the herd browsing, actually . Since she is such a nervous doe, I let her back out with them. She was crying in the pen. Thought it would be better for her. She ate well right after I pulled the kid and she ate well a little while ago. If there are no more hitches, she should be fine.

[Raftercat5]

Tango: I'm sorry for your loss. It's so sad to lose a little one. I can relate, because our first-freshener also had problems with delivering her kid. It had both it's front legs way back, so it was stuck. Only the head was out, and was ground into the dirt (probably from the mama falling on it, as she was exhausted trying to push during the night). I ended up going in and straightening one leg and pulling forward with her last big push. Even tried CPR on the baby, to no avail. It is sad. I wish we had gotten to her earlier, but we still weren't even sure she was pregnant. Since she was 2 days "late", we thought maybe she really wasn't pregnant. She didn't exhibit any signs that we saw. I hope next year, both your and my goats have healthy babies, and we'll be there to assist if necessary.
- Kathy

[Tango]

Some goats are hard to pinpoint. This herd is new for me, though the herd itself just moved from one farm to another (mine). The does didn't know me very well when they started to kid. Some had only been here two weeks. While I'm counting this all as my first kidding season, my does have been kidding since January. So I've had to learn each of their behaviors. All does do something that sticks out but some are very subtle about it. This one that lost her kid today, all I noticed with her was the telltale wanting to be alone and the odd lying down posture. The more we observe them through pregnancy the easier it is to tell when they are almost there. I had an Alpine two years ago that I was sure was bred and turned out she wasn't. She had me convinced all the way to the due week

[chamoisee]

Some bucks throw huge or badly shaped (hard to deliver) kids. I got some semen from a very good herd for a good price, and I wondered why...well, the kid born from it was 13-14# and very broad at the shoulders and head. His dam was a big mature doe, but I thought I was going to pull her inside out. He lived...but in my experience, those big kids don't do as well as the smaller ones, maybe due to birthing trauma.

It isn't always the doe's fault.

[Tango]

Thanks Chamoisee. I was looking for a buck to put some size on the kids. The first batch of kids were small. I have a second buck which is a much nicer one and is S.A. unlike the Eggsfile grandson . Haven't seen any kids from him yet and won't for a while. This present buck I'm speaking of bred all my older does so we shall see what happens.

[Laura Workman]

I don't know if you know this already, but just in case you don't . . .

If you have to push a kid back in to reposition him, it is MUCH easier to do it if you have the doe standing, and then put her on her front knees so her body is tilting down toward the front. The kid will practically fall back inside and you'll have lots of room to maneuver. Just wanted to share that as it seems you may have a bunch of difficult deliveries ahead. Best of luck!

[Tango]

Thanks Laura. I can do that with at least half of the does. Some I can't really get near, let alone position. I got this one on her right side and pushed the kid's head and leg back just enough to feel for his right leg. It was much easier to pin her down with a knee to keep both hands free At that point she was exhausted and not complaining much- perhaps they all get to the point where they will just accept