Chicken Scraps Blog

Savana (my photographer sister) is staying for a couple days with my grandmother, and left her camera behind.  I was quite happy to see it.  :) I took these photos the next morning. Enjoy!

When a doe is due to kid soon, it's a good idea to start locking her up at night in the kidding stall so she becomes used to it and comfortable there.  When she gets within a few days of her kidding date, start checking on her multiple times a day, and at least once in the night, if possible.  Since labor usually takes several hours, you have a good chance of catching her at some point in labor if you check frequently.  This video shows Nelly in early labor, and the surprise I got when I assumed that all would go as it did last year, when she didn't kid until about 24 hours after her udder filled and the ligaments "disappeared".  To see my video describing the signs of early labor, see Part 1 of this little series. Enjoy!

So I'm going to try to do a little video series, titled "Another Day With The Goats", showing the day-to-day goat care here at our farm.  I'm beginning with Nelly, as she had kids just a few days ago, and I have documented everything I could.  Unfortunately, I missed the birth as her labor was much quicker than I anticipated.  Below is the first video, in which I show LilyAnn and William the signs of impending labor, and we go through my kidding kit. There are several signs of labor that most , not all, goats display shortly before kidding. 1.  Ligaments near the tail head loosen and eventually "disappear". To find the ligaments (please forgive me, in the video I accidentally called them tendons), place your thumb and forefinger on either side of the goat's spine and slide them down toward the tail head, pressing firmly.  You should feel two hard things, like pencils, just above the tail head (where the tail joins the spine).  These are usually h

(All are sold, this post is for reference only.) Well, I'm selling Nelly, and two of her triplets. I've owned Nelly for almost two years, and she has been a good milk goat, wonderful mother, and excellent "teaching goat", that is, I've taught my siblings how to milk, and given lessons to several other people, both adults and children, using her.  She doesn't mind other people milking her as much as Mabel, who will kick a little when an inexperienced or underconfident person milks her.    Here is a video of me milking Nelly.