Kidding time is here at last!!
My favorite time of year is almost here (and my most stressful). That’s right, kidding season. The closer we get to due dates for each of my does, the more excited I am to see little bouncing goatlings but, at the same time, all the worries about what can go wrong start to rear their ugly heads. Try as I might to banish them, they still sneak in.
“What if a kid is too big and gets stuck in the birth canal?”
“What if my first fresheners don’t know what to do?”
“What if the newborn kids don’t nurse right away?”
I’ve watched dozens of goat birthing videos and even made some of my own (including one where a kid got a bit stuck and I had to go in after him) and 90 percent of the time, nature does her job and all is well. That being said, my brain likes to hop straight to that 10 percent when something really IS wrong. Even though this will be my 4th year breeding and birthing goats, I still worry something awful will happen and I won’t know what to do.
I bought a book a couple months ago from my favorite goat author, Deborah Niemann, called “Goats Giving Birth” and it’s full of stories from her past kiddings (over 700!) The book covers many of those textbook births, some not-so-textbook, and even a couple that ended badly and the most valuable advice I got from it was “DON’T PANIC!” There are always things that can go wrong but there is usually time to do something right! As she says, “Kids do not go from perfectly healthy to dead within a few seconds”. If all I remember is that when we’re in the middle of labor, I can stay calm and breathe! By the way, if you want to breed your goat, I cannot recommend this book enough.
Saffron (pictured above) with her not-so-subtle baby bump, and her little sister, Soji are due in just 6 days. I will, of course, try to catch the births on video!
And, I will remember to keep calm and breath on!
One response to “It’s Here!”
We have sure enjoyed all your videos, and never get bored with the antics of the babies as they grow! We hope there are no real problems with the births, with as little stress as possible – on you and the does.