Anxiously waiting for kidding!!

[Duckfarmer1]

Hi there! So, my goats, Busty and Stormy, are both due to kid in TWO weeks!! This is my first time for this..I’m excited and nervous all at once. I think I have have kidding kit all prepared...I’ve checked it a thousand times...I’ll check it more tomorrow. Busty is a Nigerian Dwarf mix..Stormy is. Pygmy mix. I got them from a bad farmer who went to jail for neglect. They were both quite skittish when we got them. It was a lot of work to get them to come around. Stormy is still a bit ...stubborn...she’s a stinker too. She does everything she can to try to sneak into the grain room...they both try to get a bite of duck crumbles. Ugh! But it has been nothing but pure joy since getting them! I’ve always always always wanted goats. Just never dreamed I’d have them. It’s been so much work, learning all the minerals, all the shots, the copper bolus, the CD &T...the selenium and vitamin E gel...not to mention the right dewormer...the hoove trimming! I have a bruise on my calve...the size of your fist, from losing grip of Stormy’s hoove. I know, never let her put her foot down...it happened. But it’s sooo great when they come up to you, with those big eyes...and they nibble your fingers...or nibble at your shirt because they know you have a treat in your pocket... so..two weeks...I’ve been watching YouTube videos. I was on a forum...but I highly don’t recommend that one...I won’t say it publicly...it had me all twisted and turned upside down...in the barn at midnight....there’s another one...a sister site to here..much better...BYH... anyways..the videos are great....I think I have my lists...but they are everywhere...I have a binder...but, I think I’ll forget it...or just not have time to look at it.so...if any of you reading...have recently done this very same thing...and have nice things to say...bring it on!! I suppose this thread wasn’t intended to be about anxiety..it was intended to be about my joy.....so please take it that way. I’m having a great time watching each day, as my girls get lazier...and Stormy coughs...due to the lack of space in her body, not because she’s sick.... So, no worries there! I’ll take pictures of the kids...but here’s some of my girls...I’m just so proud of them...they are beautiful to me

 

[cassie]

I hope you will never need this, but I will tell you this anyway. File it away for future reference. You mentioned the goat trying to sneak in the grain room. If the worst happens and one of them succeeds in getting in there in spite of your best efforts and gets a bellyful of grain, do the following:

1. Keep them away from water for several hours or maybe overnight.
2. Offer plenty of dry hay
3. A five day course of penicillin is a good idea. Immediately give a dose of clostridium perfingens antitoxin if you have it.

The reason for this is as follows. The excess grain will ferment in the rumen producing lactic acid. This will kill off the good bacteria living in the rumen, cause bloat, acidosis, and possibly enterotoxemia. Without water this deadly reaction cannot occur. The dry hay will dilute the concentration of the grain. The penicillin is to help prevent entero. Enterotoxemia is caused by clostridium perfingens. Clostridia are susceptible to penicillin.

If you don't find the culprits until after they have tanked up on water it is a whole different ballgame and you need to see the vet ASAP.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How exciting. Hopefully they have them one night without problems for you. I can't wait to see your bouncy little kids.

 

[chickens really]

Best wishes!!!