Medicine Woman Kids – Part 1

In roughly two weeks our herd queen is due to kid her second litter.  The first time, she had four healthy kids – two bucks and two does.  The does grew up and both kidded this spring with somewhat large litters.  One had three healthy kids, and the other had five, although only one survived.  Given this information, we are wondering what will happen with Medicine Woman’s kidding next month.  It seems large litters are in her genes and she’s looking kinda big, so we’re guessing 2-3 kids.  We didn’t have a sonogram done on her.  I hope and pray they will all be healthy.  Kidding is exciting, but can also be scary when you’re not sure what’s going to happen.

Her first kidding went smoothly and we didn’t have to help her along at all.  She was a champ!  We were there to receive the babies, help clean them off, and keep them warm.  During her first freshening she stayed very active – running and kicking her legs, jumping and climbing on rocks, & head-butting and playing with the other goats.  She was very much the same as usual and I don’t think she realized she was pregnant until the kids arrived.  Sure, she started to protect her tummy during the last month or so, but she never became lazy like Dr. Quinn.

This time around she’s pretty much the same.  Lots of running and jumping, and hasn’t lost her spunk.  She’s been guarding her tummy for the last couple weeks and I can see she’s waddling a bit when she walks (same as before).  I felt the babies kick a few times – I love that feeling!

According to the chart I’m reading, the babies now have hair covering their bodies.  She’s about 135 days along.  Link to the chart: https://edenhills.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/stages-of-goat-pregnancy/

So we’ll see what happens in a couple more weeks.  I’ll be sure to post an update!