January 11, 2010

We are in the process of checking the does 2-3 times each night. We check them just before bed 10:30 p.m., then around 2:00 a.m., and again at 5:00 a.m. Last week the temperatures were around -20 degrees wind chill. Too cold to be having baby goats. I kept hoping the does would hold out and they did thank goodness. They are really showing their pregnancy now, which if you haven't been around goats before, you might not realize it is hard to tell who is pregnant early on because they tend to have large stomachs anyway. At least my boer goats do.

I was raised on a dairy farm and beef farm, so kidding out goats was new to me. In order to have the best results, it is best to pen them up in a small "jug" of a pen for 3 days in order to be sure the babies and moms are all well aquainted with each other before re-entering the herd. These does can have between 1 and 4 babies, and sometimes if they aren't jugged up, the mom will only claim 1 kid, and neglect the others.

The other challenge is they don't always give much notice prior to kidding. With the cold temperatures in Kansas, if they kid outside in the wind, there is a good chance the kids will freeze and die. This leads to a sad home at the James farm. My husband has recently built me a small pole barn that is tinned on 3 sides and faces south. He has also built me some kidding pens and a small room with a heater to help warm up any of the babies born in too cold of weather. He is a wonderful husband! (It is also his way of insuring none of the babies end up spending the evening in his bathroom up in the house.)