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All about goat pregnancy!
Follow the link above for more information on goat pregnancy and labor!
This is the million dollar question when you own goats. The gestation period is 150 days. We have learned the hard way that sometimes first time Nanny's, who pasture breed through a fence without the knowledge of the human goat Mom or Dad, don't always develop an utter and if they are sporting their winter goat coat it's almost impossible to tell if they are fluffy or pregnant. This describes our first kidding season here at our little goat farm in Mt. Pleasant, NC.
Fun Fact: You will know your goat is pregnant when she delivers. Just a little goat farm humor!
Do goats need human help? Goats are designed to handle birth on their own but we have had to intervene numerous times and help save baby goats. We had a first time Mini Nubian doe walk off and leave the sacks on both twin baby goats. This set of twins would have died if we were not around to clean them off and clear their airways. We had another baby goat that presented head first no legs Sometimes a little help during delivery can be the difference in life or death for both your doe and baby goats. It's amazing what you will do to save your goat even when you do think you can do it! We do keep a Emergency Birthing Kit by the front door during kidding season. Click here to see what it in our emergency kit! I don't want to have our 10 year old daughter trying to find something in the goat medical room when we have a doe in labor. I want to stress be prepared!
How long is labor and when should I be worried? Goats are like humans, every goat pregnancy, labor and delivery is different. Some of our Mini Nubian does kidded triplets in 20 minutes and some of our Boer does took an hour between births. If something seems off, don't panic, check your doe and go in to check the baby goat if needed. You may need to turn a baby goat or call a vet if you aren't comfortable. We do often get calls from other goat owners when a doe is in labor. In most cases, the goat owner just needs reassurance just like a expecting Dad.
How many baby goats were born at Cotton Bean Goat Farms in 2020? So far we have had 63 births this year at our goat farm. It has been a busy year. We are expecting over 100 births in 2021.
Do you ever loose a baby goat? The sad reality of having goats and animals is that you occasionally do loose one. We did have a buckling that was dead when I found him at 2 am while checking on his pregnant doe. My guess is that he was still born. She did have a beautiful healthy baby girl.
"Tales from the Goat Birthing Pen!"
This beautiful Boer doeling had some struggles but
The=is set of triplets got overheated and went down fast. See what we did to help them!
This first time Mom was stepping and laying on her baby goats. See what we did to help!
Here is what is in our Emergency goat birthing kit by the door!