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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Goat Watch Grumbles

Stuffin is now at 124 days since purchase. She has, therefore, roughly 26 days left in which she could kid. Of course, I expected it to happen last night because it was extremely cold here, but fortunately it didn't happen. Things warm up a bit tomorrow, so I do kind of hope she'll wait until then. It seems they have a habit of kidding on the worst possible night (as I've found from reading others' blogs). I haven't got many plans for February, so pretty much any night should be fine for me!

I hope it isn't a false pregnancy. How would I know if it was false? (other than the fact that she wouldn't have a baby in the next 26 days...)

Her udder is still puffier and more rounded than her sister's udder, which is completely flat. She has never kidded before, so this will be a first time for all of us.

It almost certainly means that any baby she has will be born in February. March 1 would be day 26, but I doubt that will be her day since she was probably already at the animal show that we purchased her from on that day, not hanging out with little boy goats.

I always think February is one of the less appealing months of the year - it's cold, often grey, often dreary, and there isn't much going on in the garden of course. Having a baby goat would make it a memorable February.

Stay tuned...the countdown will continue!

Edited to add clarifications based on Joanna's comment:

Here's what we know:

Stuffin and Puffin were purchased at an "animal swap meet." Ugh. Probably a mistake.
We were told they were sisters and from a petting zoo.
We were told they were both bred.
We were told they were both pregnant for the first time.
All of this we believed....but we do not know it to be true!

They do look the same, and they are very good pals, so the sister thing is believable.
They were not both bred because Puffin has never showed any sign.
Initially, they both had flat udders like Puffin does now. Stuffin "grew" wider over time and now has the puffy udder.

I personally suspect that they were too young to be bred. This is purely a suspicion. I do not know how old they are. I suspect if either of them had kidded before, they would have had a different look to their udder (like our Nubians who have kidded before, but not since they were with us).

We were told both were due "sometime in December" which clearly wasn't true.

So, that's all we know. Since we don't know how old they are, I am reluctant to put them with the buck that we have. I think that will wait until next fall.

10 comments:

Jennifer said...

Stuffin sure is making us all wait isn't she! I like her name, every time I read it, it makes me smile, sometimes I say it out loud when I am reading your blog. Weird, but I like the way it sounds, kind of like the world llama..another favorite word of mine.

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

Just to clarify - to your knowledge:
1) Stuffin and Muffin are sisters?
2) Muffin never has had a baby?
3) but Stuffin has had a baby?

I have read there are:
first fresheners (first pregnancy)
Jr does
Sr does

I started thinking about this the other day. On female dogs, you can tell which ones have had a litter and which ones haven't? I think. I've never had puppies or any babies except for baby chicks.

Clara and June are bred by Nougat. Doesn't appear that they have come into heat again. Kids aren't due until mid-May. We were scared to have kids in the middle of winter so waited until late Spring. I've heard of kids freezing to death around here.

If you had a buck around, he would let you know if the does are coming into heat or not.

Sharrie said...

I feel that things usually happen is the worst of weather, too. Waiting is fun, isn't it?

Claire MW said...

Hey Joanna, good questions - I clarified everything by editing the blog post - see the bottom part that I wrote just now.

First, it's Stuffin and Puffin. Muffin is another goat we bought at the same time but is unrelated, and her babies were the ones we lost over the holiday because we didn't know they were coming due to wrong due date given by seller who also sold us Puffin and Stuffin.

Quick answers:

1) Stuffin and Puffin are supposedly sisters.
2) Puffin never had a baby, supposedly.
3) Stuffin never had a baby, supposedly.

Both were supposed to have been bred when we bought them.

Deborah Niemann said...

The udder will be smaller on a first freshener than a goat who has kidded before. Second fresheners and beyond will have noticable udders within a few weeks of kidding, and they get full about 24 hours before kidding. First fresheners also tend to have singles, which means they don't look as big, plus you know how it is with women -- most of us look tiny our first pregnancy. By the time I had my third, people thought I was due by the time I was only six months!

I will see if I can get my daughters to help me take pictures of the tail ligament thing. If you were here, I could show you. It sure isn't easy to describe though! Maybe we should do a video. We can probably get that done within a few days.

Unknown said...

Okay, I have not left a comment in a few blogs so I am just going to let you know, not to scare you, but so you can just keep an eye on her, pygmies (she is one, right? or is she a Nigerian?)are most prone to having C-sections or issues in birthing. Now I am basing this on my experience working at the vet for 7 yrs, but the most C-sections and birthing issues, came from pygmies. I don't want to offend pygmy breeders who might be reading, but this is just my observation and two cents. I always worry with first time kidders. Anyways, I just wanted to give a heads up so you can keep a close eye on her as the time approaches. I wasn't sure if you had had a pygmy kid before or had good experience with goats....just trying to offer a little advice:)

Claire MW said...

Hi Kristi! Great point! I have read that in a few places now that you mention it, and it's very wise advice. I've also been told that they can have more trouble on their first time. I hope your Sassy kids soon for you, by the way!

We have had our pygmies for about 6 months now, but no experience whatsoever with births. The only birth I have experience with is the one my chinchilla had many years ago. That's it! So any advice is well received!

I was JUST out in the barn watching her for about 20 minutes. She is doing a LOT of stretching. She is also doing a lot of back end scratching with her little horns. She has her tail on an angle that is funny to me, but maybe I didn't notice before. I'm going to go back out in another hour or so. I wonder if something is going on.

sugarcreekstuff said...

This waiting is going to help out my usual February blues, thanks Stuffin.

Alpaca Granny said...

I stumbled across your blog today and have enjoyed meeting you and your farm life in Iowa.
Maple

Unknown said...

I'll keep my fingers crossed for an easy birth that will happen when you are awake and nearby!!!

Nancy