CONFUSED first-time goat mama

My doe, Spot, is due the 11th, and based on everything I've read, she seems like she'll make it until then--her ligaments are softer but I can still feel them...(unless I'm feeling the wrong ligaments...they're definitely farther down on Spot than in any picture I've seen), she has no milk in her udder, she's acting perfectly normal....BUT when I look back there, stuff is happening.  I can see right into her vagina--the opening is about as wide as my thumb.  To me, this would suggest kids, soon.  Am I overreacting?

You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!

Join Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • A couple of my girls would murmer quietly when they were in labor.  Once it was time to push, even the quietest one howled with the push.  But if nothing is going on, the goats won't make a noise.  

  • They can be quiet, but it is the rare goat that doesn't start yelling when it's time. Some of them are quiet until that last minute. Others start in quite early.



    Katie L Zollinger said:

    I actually do have a baby monitor set up out there...however, I was surprised to find that the goats never make a sound unless we humans are around.  They don't seem to "talk" to each other.  Her breeder also said she is sometimes very quiet during kidding, so I'm taking extra precautions.

  • I actually do have a baby monitor set up out there...however, I was surprised to find that the goats never make a sound unless we humans are around.  They don't seem to "talk" to each other.  Her breeder also said she is sometimes very quiet during kidding, so I'm taking extra precautions.

  • You could get a baby monitor for about $15 and save yourself all that running. I can't really imagine NOT having a baby monitor. I'd have to live in the barn without it. We missed most births before we got one. Most does are just too stoic when kidding for you to get a decent warning. I make a lot of mad dashes to the barn ten minutes after I was out there and thought it would still be a while.

  • I guess that means I can stop leaping out of bed every hour to run outside with a flashlight and look for "clues".  Spot is an experienced mama and fairly patient with my frantic and frequent examination of her backside, however, she dances around when I try to feel for ligaments.  I'm never one hundred percent sure what I'm feeling.

  • Ditto on what Jackie said, and I mark my calendar for day 145, although 143 is not unheard of, and I've even had one or two give birth at day 141 with kids that were perfectly fine. Usually, however, they give birth at 147 +/- 2 days (so 145 to 149). They tend to be very prompt. :-)

  • My does' vulvas all lengthened in the last week or two. Plus, when they would lie down or right after they urinated it would be appear to be "open."  I don't think that in itself is an indication of pending labor, just that they are loosening up. However, if the 11th is day 150 for Spot you need to remember that *she* doesn't have a calendar and gestation for NDs is generally 145-153 days (though I did see someone post somewhere that they had a Nigie who went 161 days)! So you are "in the zone!"  Good luck.

This reply was deleted.