8
Goats Giving Birth
The head is out, and once again Sherri is pushing so
because it clearly was not real pushing. Goats do not push for two days before giving birth to perfectly healthy kids. A goat is not really pushing until it is craning its neck, curling its tail over the back, and either holding its breath or letting out some kind of noise. I often think of Sherri’s first birth on our farm when a new goat person tells me that their goat has been pushing for hours or that it has been in labor for days. I always ask them to explain exactly what they mean by that. Pushing is exhausting, and most does can’t do it for more than a couple of hours. Then they just lie down and give up, and contractions get farther and farther apart until they stop entirely, which you will see in some of the later stories.
fast that I’m not able to break the sac as quickly as I’d like to. THU MAY 13 2010
The kid’s body is out, and I still haven’t been able to break the amniotic sac.
Sherri’s triplets (for the sixth time)
Sherri is 7 years old, and she came to live here as a yearling. Her breeder said not to worry about kidding difficulties. As a yearling, Sherri kidded in the pasture with triplets while her owner was preparing a kidding pen for her. Well, “Don’t worry” is subjective. It kind of depends on what you want to worry about. I do not have to worry that she’ll have any sort of dystocia. Her pelvis is big enough for a Mack truck to go through at top speed. However, there are other things to worry about. As a 2-year-old here, we thought she was in labor for two days, and we kept her
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