Hi all...I was hoping someone might give me a hint about what I should pay the most attention to. I have two pregnant does for the first time and the first one will be 145 days on March 9th. My question is that the man I bought them from showed me what to feel for with the tail ligaments and I can still feel hers, but I also read that everything will relax on her hind end and(if there was no skin) you can wrap your fingers all the way around her tail up by where the ligaments are. I can already do that on her, but the ligaments are still there. Which one should I pay the most attention to? Is this relaxing of her back end mean she might go early, or do I keep watching the ligaments. Sorry...I'm very new to this and I don't want to miss it!!! :)
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Oh! Wow! Okay, that definitely helps to know what I'm looking for! Thanks so much. I feel very prepared right now. I know that will go out the window the moment one of them goes into labor, but I will enjoy the feeling for right now! ;)
Here's a picture of the belly of a goat that's going to kid soon:
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/photo/lizzie-hollow?context=user
I'm thrilled to hear that I am ahead of the game! LOL! Thank you so much for all the info. Rachel, I get what you meant. If the udder fills but the ligaments are still firm...no kids. :) I figured that I should just worry about the ligaments since that was the only thing my mentor taught me. I am so excited I can hardly stand myself! I have a ways to go so I guess I need to settle down. I will keep y'all posted. Thanks again.
Also, Peggy, when your doe's ligaments do go, they will first start to feel squishy. Her whole "end area" around her tail will feel that way... at least that's how it goes with my does.
Yes, that's what I meant. Just reiterating your original comment that one of those things doesn't mean eminent kidding as much as all three at the same time do. :)
Yes, but the key to know that they'll kid soon is to have all three of those things happen together.
And all of those things can happen separately, too!! lol
I have a doe that *shoouldn't* kid until April 14th, and her udder is HUGE. Like, nearly as big as it was her first freshening.
It takes most people YEARS to learn to read ligaments as well as you have! No kidding! And I mean that two ways. I am totally serious that most people take years to figure out what you've already figured out, and you won't be kidding anytime soon. I get so frustrated when I hear people say that the goat's ligaments are gone because they can wrap their fingers around the tail head. Those two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other. As you've already discovered, the ligaments are farther away from the spine, so it is entirely possible to wrap your fingers around the tail head, even though the ligaments are still quite firm. The ligaments are the things that soften within 24 hours of kidding. Being able to wrap your fingers around the tail head is pretty much worthless because you can often do that a couple of weeks before a doe kids.
The other two things to look for are the udder suddenly filling up and the belly dropping. When those three things happen together -- soft ligaments, udder full, and belly dropping -- the doe will kid within 12 hours.