HELP! Kidding Question!

[cyanne]

I have 3 pregnant NDs. They were all bred around the same time frame and are due any day now.

All three have started building their udders, the ligaments don't feel terribly loose to me, but this is my first kidding to I'm no expert by far.

Today I noticed that the oldest female, Pepper (she is the mother of the other two girls so she has kidded before) had bloody colored goop dripping out from her, umm, lady parts.

Now, I read on the Fiasco Farm website that some does will expel CLEAR goop before the birth and that it's normal. It also mentions AMBER colored goo as a sign of imminent birth. The only mention of bloody goo is that it happens about a week after kidding. She definitely has not kidded already.

So, what does this mean? Is this a bad sign or does it just mean that she is close to kidding? She is not acting distressed or unusual in any other way. The only abnormal thing I have seen her do is that she has been going in to lay down inside the plastic Dogloo by herself from time to time when she would normally stick by her two older daughters.

I have read and re-read every bit of info about kidding I could find so I thought I was prepared, but now I am left scratching my head.

Any advice?

 

[Alaskan]

Well, uh.......let us pretend she is human

Blood in the discharge is OK, actually BLEEDING is bad. There can be blood simply from the cervix thinning, and that gets into the goop, and there you have bloody goop.


So I wouldn't worry at all about that, BUT it does mean that she should start kidding soon (first timers are lots slower). So, if things don't start happening 24 hours after you saw the blood, call and ask the vet.

At least, that is what I would do.

My sister has goats, and they seem to respond just like humans biologically. Oh, and one important thing, the baby MUST nurse within the first 30 minutes after birth or it is prone to all sorts of blood infections and death.

Good luck!

 

[username taken]

Quote:
Um ... no. Ideally the kid needs to ingest colostrum (first milk) within the first 6 hrs, or 12 - 24 hrs is less ideal but still acceptable. And I've raised plenty of kids that received no colostrum whatsoever, didnt feed until 48 hrs after birth. And they are fine.

I would be watching that doe very closely as it sounds to me like she is going to kid at any moment. If she doesnt begin labour in 24 hrs or so I'd be having a vet or experienced goat person look at her.

 

[mekasmom]

Once you see that bloody mucous hanging, birth is imminent within a day or so. I have had them kid just an hour after that, and I have had them kid a little over a day later. But it is very close.

 

[Alaskan]

Quote:
Um ... no. Ideally the kid needs to ingest colostrum (first milk) within the first 6 hrs, or 12 - 24 hrs is less ideal but still acceptable. And I've raised plenty of kids that received no colostrum whatsoever, didnt feed until 48 hrs after birth. And they are fine.

I would be watching that doe very closely as it sounds to me like she is going to kid at any moment. If she doesnt begin labour in 24 hrs or so I'd be having a vet or experienced goat person look at her.

It was my sister's vet, she said there was some new study that was showing that most blood infections which often result in death seem to only happen to those kids who did not receive the colostrum within that first 30 minutes. And I am only talking about when they are little.

I didn't mean to say that all kids that didn't nurse within the first 30 minutes were gonna die.

Also, since you are so experienced at raising goats, and doing such a great job at it, you probably never even give them the chance to get sick!

I just mentioned it since my Sister is a first time goat raiser, and her kid ended up dieing. She quizzed the vet up and down about possible causes, and that was one of the responses.

I know I am not typing very clearly, I have been sick this past week....I am almost better now, but my brain is still fuzzy.

SMOOCHES!

 

[username taken]

Alaskan, hope you are feeling better

I think maybe where the confusion comes from, is if the baby doesnt drink within half an hour they tend to start getting quite weak, and need assistance to feed otherwise they start to fade away.

Almost all research indicates that there is 100% absorption of antibodies from colostrum for the first 6 hrs. After that, it starts decreasing till 0% is reached somewhere between 24 and 48 hrs.

So, those babies who dont suck within 30 mins, arent necessarily prone to infection if they get a suck in the first 6 hrs. But, they will be much weaker and may need help to suck after the first 30 mins is over. Does that make sense?