OK - last doe kidded this morning. I have to thank my does - each one kidded in daylight.
Each one took 15-20 minutes of real labor to easily spit out their babies. I knew when they were in early labor but only one showed signs of coming INTO final labor. Two waited for me to leave and immediately (ie. within 10 minutes) spit out their babies.
All of them ATE immediately before giving birth.
2 are super excellent mothers - one is mediocre. The two good mothers ate afterbirth, other one thought it was disgusting.
One set of twins, two sets of triplets. Ironically the twins came from a triplet, and the triplets came from the does that were each twins.
INTERESTING - the last doe to kid was a super wonderful aunt to the first goats kids - until the day before kidding - when she became aggressive towards them. I took that as a sign she was about to kid and instinct was telling her to keep "foreign" kids away. Is this logical?
NOW the real question!!!!
The twins came out equal in size and have stayed equal in size.
The triplets in both cases had a large, a medium and a small kid. The small kids seem somewhat weaker or less developed. IS this location in the uterus and getting enough to eat because of attachment? Does it mean one should feed more to the pregnant goat. Does it mean the mother is less desirable at producing kids (ie. you want dog litters to have uniform size puppies if possible). IS it sign of first fresheners - ie. common with first time moms to have kids of different sizes?
Lastly - the smallest kid - is this a prospect that would be labeled a non-breeding animal because it is weaker? Or do they have potential to become as strong/as able to produce good strong babies in the future. I know from other friends with the third triplet being small that they can grow to be the same size as the others over time. But will that one always be slightly weaker?
It is very very clear that my mediocre mom will never be bred again - doesn't matter if later on she'll possibly be better. She was just not equivalent to the other two first timers. So I want to know hard-core answers since I don't have the space to carry extra goats that aren't the best choices.
Judy
Replies
Wow that was great information! Interesting in my triplets, the littlest doeling turns out to be the most aggressive at getting to mom's milk and manages to push the bigger stronger doeling off to get her share. She has almost caught up with the other two who were over a pound bigger at birth. I really appreciate what you shared, Deborah about deciding on who to keep and how long to wait and see.
The answer to almost all of your questions is no. They say that runts happen because of a thinner umbilical cord or because of where the cord attaches to the placenta, which seems like just plain bad luck.
The second year we had kids, there was a tiny doeling that was half the size of her two brothers, and we had to bring her in the house and initially tube feed her to save her because she got hypothermia at birth. My husband felt that was a bad idea -- that we were perpetuating bad genetics and saving an animal that would be weak and unhealthy forever. That doeling grew up to be ARMCH Antiquity Oaks Carmen *D 1*M and is the matriarch of our best line of parasite resistant goats. Sometimes a goat just gets the short end of the placenta and does not grow as well as it should in utero, but that does not always doom it for life. Most of those tiny goats grow up to be normal, and a few even grow up to be extraordinary. Carmen is now retired after ten years of outstanding service. :)
Having a runt has nothing to do with first fresheners, and again I would not make a culling decision based upon that after a single freshening. There are so many things that have to happen perfectly in order to get a healthy kid, and it is truly amazing that most kids come out normal almost all the time.
Unless you are seriously limited in the number of goats you can keep, it is a really good idea to not make decisions after a single freshening -- and definitely not after a week or two. Even after 12 years, I don't make decisions on first fresheners until at least 3-4 months in milk ... and then last year, I couldn't make a decision at all with the first fresheners because I felt they were all too evenly matched. Each one excelled in a different area, and each one had shortcomings in a different area. My favorite at one month fresh was my least favorite by the end of lactation. I don't understand why you have already decided that one doe will not be bred again, even if she improves.
Things can improve drastically with a second freshening. It is also nice to be able to see what kind of kids a doe throws. One of my favorite goats won a place in my heart not because she was the best milker but because her daughters have been my best milkers. She consistently threw daughters better than herself. On the other hand, the best does do not always throw kids as good as themselves, although that also has a lot to do with which buck the doe is bred to.