My days in town are packed and long. The objective is to leave for town early enough to get everything done. New arrivals cancelled those plans.
Watching Nubian Doe Spring
There are signs a doe is getting ready to kid. The kids settle low in the stomach area. Hollows appear beside the tail bone.
Spring had shown both these signs for a couple of weeks. One morning she was pawing at the bedding a little. Yet, her appetite stayed strong. She went out with the herd to graze.
Then Spring started staying in during the day. She didn’t want to get up on the milk stand. I got worried.
Kidding Problems
Large animal veterinarians are a vanishing breed. It’s hard and dangerous work. Cats and dogs are profitable. My nearest large animal vets are a hundred miles away.
In fifty years I’ve seen many of the problems common to a kidding doe. The most common is ketosis. The doe stops eating. It can be fatal.
Spring continued to eat. Ketosis was not the problem. That left the most probable problem as one with the kids.
Kid Presentations
Normally a kid is born front feet first with nose on the legs. The only difficulty would be a large kid, too large for the doe.
If a vet is close, a cesarian is possible. I’m lucky to have large does, so I end up pulling the kid and helping the doe recover.
My first brush with kidding was with tangled twins. Two kids were trying to be born at the same time. One gets pushed back to let the other out. The second follows quickly.
The doe has a normal attitude, pawing the bedding. Feet appear, but too many. That didn’t fit Spring either.
More serious problems are a head back or a breech. Both produce the symptoms I was seeing with Spring. These require pulling the kids.
New Arrivals
I went out to the barn early Friday morning planning to get to town early. Spring was pawing, but not seriously. She was definitely trying to kid.
Morning chores went on as normal. Town would wait as I returned to the barn after putting up the milk.
Spring’s first kid was backwards. This isn’t a big problem as long as the kid is born quickly. A pretty brown buck kid was soon on the ground talking to his mother.
There had to be a second kid. No kid appeared. I slid a hand in to check and found a big lump. The kid was breech with only the rump showing.
I could only find one back leg to pull up. It was enough. A spotted black doe kid joined her brother.
With both new arrivals doing well, I could head for town. Late.
