My fellow goat enthusiasts know that kidding season is simply right around the corner! As I look out at my does I realize that we will be inundated with kids here very soon! My doe Stella is due March 22, but just looking at her it is hard to believe she has a full month yet to go! She had quads last year and looks bigger than she did then, so I am expecting multiples!
I was very lucky to receive a scale for animals for Christmas. This has already come in handy as I weighed all of the does a few weeks ago. I was curious how much everyone weighed and it eliminated all of the guess work! I was shocked to see that my doe Stella weighed 100lbs which is the same as my biggest doe Ivy! This means she is living up to her nick name Tanky.... Small but mighty!! This scale already also helped with dosing of medication! Gone are the days when I squint my eyes look at the doe and say, yeah.... you look to be 75 lbs. I was able to weigh Moots and MJ, as they seem to have picked up a respiratory bug and had went off feed. I assume the other girls brought this bug home with them from the farm show and were simply immune. I was able to weigh them and accurately dose them with Draxxin and they were feeling much better within a few days.
I have also been looking at the preparations that need to go into getting ready for kids. I have on my agenda as of the first week in March to build my kidding pens and get the barn camera moved. This will allow me to monitor Stella and keep her separate while she kids. I was also fortunate enough to think ahead and order additional heat lamps and heat lamp bulbs for impeding kidding, and I have one waiting in the wings!
This week was also very productive, I was able to find a source for my Blue seal textured dairy goat feed that I have not been able to find for so long! We even had a fun trip to pick up a load of straw to prepare for kidding. I even braved the rain yesterday to strip my buck house and chicken coop. This may or may not have involved me getting the four wheeler and manure wagon stuck on several different occasions.... but the important part is the bucks have a clean dry house to snuggle up in.
I also need to trim the buck's hooves in the near future, booster the girls with CDT and ensure that I give my selenium and Vitamin E supplements. But overall we are looking forward to spring kidding!! I hope all of your kidding's go safely and smoothly and I cannot wait to see pictures of your beautiful bouncing baby goats! Take care and Happy Goating!!!
