Is this the beginnings of labor or do we have a headache

dragonchick · #1 09/19/08, 10:04 PM

OK SOMETHING is happening but I am not sure its a birth or a headache. Pickles is off her feed tonight (she will take dried cranberries from my hand) and acting like shes contracting. I can see rumen movement so I know shes not bloated. She stands against the wall of the goat house and puts her head against one of the wall studs, stretches her back legs out and sorta pushes/hunches/stretches. Her belly is hard if I place my hand on her sides. She has NO discharge and is NOT crying out. Her vulva is slightly swollen and her udder is still small. The reason I was thinking a headache is because she had her horns banded today. She ate hay/grass/leaves/meat goat pellets/BOSS like a champ early this afternoon, but from what I can tell she has not eaten anything tonight. She also has BS free choice.

Do we have a headache or are we possibly in labor and this is going to be a loooooong night? Please don't ask about due dates as I have no way of knowing. She was pasture bred when I got her and very young.
DC

Minelson · #2 09/19/08, 10:26 PM

I don't know about the horn banding but what you are describing sounds like what Gretta was doing for about 9 hours before having the twins. No discharge, very small udder, pushing her head against the wall. She was also up, down, up, down and pawing. I think you better keep a close eye on her tonight

dragonchick · #3 09/19/08, 10:35 PM

Shes not exactly pawing the ground, more like the wall with one hoof. She won't lay down and has been standing in or around the same section of the wall since I started checking on her at 8. I have been going out every half hour or so. Looks like I will be up all night so I guess its a good thing I don't go back to work until Sunday night.

Jeanette · #4 09/19/08, 10:43 PM

I hope everything goes well with you and Pickles tonight!
What kind of goat is she? and do you know what she was bred to?
Post some pictures later if you can.

Jeanette
Texas

Always Learning!

dragonchick · #5 09/19/08, 11:10 PM

Pickles is a Heinz 57(pickle) in a pickle. Shes only 6 months old according to the woman who gave her to me. She said she was born in March. I was told she was part Saanen and part Boer. She could be part everything hence the name. She had run with a buck her entire life, until I got her.
DC

RiverPines · #6 09/19/08, 11:47 PM

If she is kidding at 6 months, watch out. She may not be able too if a kid is too big!! I lost a doe because of to early breeding and she was 1 yr old at the time of kidding. It turned into a deal of kill the mom to save the kid or loose both. We saved the kid. It sucked too. I hated loosing the doe but she was lost no matter what.
I never breed young anymore. All does here have to turn one before they are even introduced to a buck, and they have to be good weight for their breed.

I am curious, if PG, why would you band horns now?
Her body is dealing with the stress from being pg and pending labor, and banding her horns only added to it.
I would of waited till after she weaned her kid/s before putting her through a horn banding.

dragonchick · #7 09/19/08, 11:59 PM

She showed no signs of kidding anytime soon. It was more of a question of IF she was PG. She showed no signs of being that far along, her udder has not developed any further than slightly smaller than a baseball sized deflated balloon, she didn't get very big in the belly, and every question I asked the reply was not any time soon. I tried to get the vet to lute her as soon as I suspected she was PG but he refused. She has been fed a low protein diet with extra calcium to keep the kids as small as possible. I was also told she could not have gotten bred at 1 month old. I really thought we would probably have another couple months.
DC

RiverPines · #8 09/20/08, 12:05 AM

Wow, that just sucks, I hope all goes well because she sure sounds like early labor.

Hopefully she will have small multiples.
The doe we lost had one huge buckling! She was a pygmy Nigerian cross.

If it would of been small multiples, she would of been alright.

Funny, we bred our 2 yr old Boer this past spring for the first time and what did we get 3 weeks ago?....two, 2 pound bucklings. Nice, small and easy to kid.

I was worried they were to small but at 3 weeks they are already up to 9 pounds each.

Oh I have had does that didnt have any discharge at all till 10 minutes or so right before they started pushing.
Some didnt bag up till they kidded.
Some never showed any signs at all of being PG till they dropped a kid or 2 right out in the pasture! LOL

dragonchick · #9 09/20/08, 01:24 AM

Wouldn't ya know, its pouring down rain. I come in from the last check and it starts to pour. I am going to lay down for an hour and then go check again. All the kidding stuff is already out there so I can make a mad dash if necessary. Hopefully she will wait that long.
DC

XCricketX · #10 09/20/08, 02:17 AM

OOO let us know what happens!!! Last season, my doe leaned against the wall and got up/down up/down, but it took her another whole day before she actually had her triplets.

picklespickles · #11 09/20/08, 05:49 AM

good luck. if she is like mine, you can stay up all night with her but if you go inside to sleep for an hour, that is when she'll give birth. lol. good luck to her. mine usually give birth during the day no matter how much they act like it the night before. maybe a safety thing?

dragonchick · #12 09/20/08, 06:32 AM

Well nothing yet. Shes still doing the wall thing and still has no discharge. Her vulva is visibaly larger. I fell asleep for 4 hours and ran out there thinking I had missed it. She was standing against the wall looking at me.
DC

Rockytopsis · #13 09/20/08, 06:42 AM

Just want to be sure I am reading this right. The doe is 6 months old and possible getting ready to deliver, that means she got pregnant at 1 month old?

And if she is pregnant and getting ready to deliver you banded her horns?

JMHO I would waited until I was sure she was not pregnant or had delivered and the kids were OK before I put her through this.

I sincerly hope she is not pregnant and that she just has a headache and that if her vulva is larger it maybe signals her first heat.

dragonchick · #14 09/20/08, 06:46 AM

Please read above to find out why her horns were banded.
crocee

Rockytopsis · #15 09/20/08, 07:03 AM

Well I did read all the post stil saw no reason for banding the horns at this time if she is fixing to kidd. JMHO "if' she is preggers to me it is too much stress on both ends.

jill.costello · #16 09/20/08, 07:13 AM

HEY! people, what's done is done. This OP has bigger things to worry about then all your finger-wagging and tsk-tsk-ing.

IF this little doeling is getting ready to kid, let's give the OP our best advice on HELPING her doeling IF she gets into trouble, 'k?

Basics: soap 'n water, betadine/iodine, clean towels, lube, fingernails clipped very short.

I hope that doe is isolated from the other goats. If she "gets down to business", and then you see her having really hard, fast contractions, but nothing comes out of her, you will have to gently go inside and feel for what's going on in there.

Should be 2 front feet and a head; or, could be two hind feet alone (that's ok). What you DON'T want is 3 feet and a head (push the hind one back in!) OR just a head (find those feet!)....

The kid(s) will be small (we hope), but don't be afraid of rubbing them good and hard, and even holding them upside-down to help the fluids drain from their noses, etc.

Rockytopsis · #17 09/20/08, 07:24 AM

Jill I don't consider it finger wagging when the OP asked for opinions which I gave mine. I asked questions cause I wanted to be sure I was reading right.

And I did say it was my opinion that I would not have banded the horns on a possible pregnant doe. Of any age for that matter.

I also said that since she said that the goat is not uddering up, just a real small udder, which my does of that age have cause they are fat, that I hoped the doe just had a headache and her vulva swelling was due to a first heat.

I am also thinking that this is not the first delivery for the OP.

Minelson · #18 09/20/08, 08:28 AM

Dragonchick, I'm going to be thinking about you and Pickles and praying for an easy, healthy delivery. Please keep us updated!! Sounds like it could be a tricky situation with her being so young. But it also sounds like she is in good hands with you keeping a close eye on her.

dragonchick · #19 09/20/08, 12:13 PM

Well still nothing but the same. Shes still contracting and pawing the ground now. She has scattered hay all over the goat shed like shes making a bed. Shes by herself with me for a friend, a sleepy friend but company none the less. She seems to be pacing when shes not pushing against the wall studs. She ate a few pellets and I have given her mollasses water to help keep her strength up but I do have 50% dextrose injectiable if needed. I also have calcium injectiable if she needs that. I have tried to be prepared but when the time comes the preperation of the mind goes out the window. Not to mention the lack of sleep. Last night was not a good night to be out in the goat shed shining a flashlight at a does butt, it was storming with all kinds of lightening and thunder.

One thing I am wondering about though. I have 10% Povidone Iodine. Will this work for the navel dips should there be any? I don't think its as strong as the 7% thats recommended.

This is the first delivery I have ever done on a goat. In fact these are the first goats I have ever had. I have read everything I can, and asked a oil tanker load of questions. I have followed others problems and how they resolved them. I have tried to learn from their mistakes and muddled through while stumbling over the air under my feet. I have Jacob, a 3 month old boer buck I got as a 10 day old bottle baby and Pickles who was bred too young and offered to me at 4 months because her previous owner could not take care of her any longer. I make mistakes just like everyone else but I try to learn from them. Please don't berate me for doing the best I can with what limited knowledge I have gained in this short time.
DC
DC

Lizi · #20 09/20/08, 12:32 PM

10% is stronger than 7%. Go ahead and use it. I use 8" pieces of yarn to tie off the cord, then trim the ends of everything to about 3" if you have that much to work with in the first place. Don't panic if the cord breaks off close to the belly, just use the iodine and you will be fine.