# When do Does give birth? at night?



## jill.costello (Aug 18, 2004)

What is everyone's experience? Do they hide? Do they wait until nighttime like the horses do? I'm so worried/excited about my little dairy doe, Cayenne- she's a first-timer and VERY large....I would like to be there for her if I can! What percentage need assistance? She's due between the 7th and 15th of August.

Any thoughts are appreciated!


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

We just finished up our first year of owning goats, and our first kidding season. 
ALL of the does (15) had their kids during the day - one of them kidded after dark, but it was still only 8pm. :clap: 
She was the one who needed help too, so I was really thankful!

I think that if they are not really tame, people loving goats, they may wander off to have their kids. But, most of mine are SO tame, and they wanted to kid right by the house. We had 4 go off into the woods - 2 tame dairy does, and 2 not so tame Boers. But, all 4 allowed us to come up close to watch and help clean up babies. Obviously, we were keeping a very close eye on them and knew what they were heading off to do. They separated themselves from the herd several hours before kidding. 
HTH!
Rachel


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

I know exactly how you feel, and this feeling doesn't go away no matter how long you have been delivering livestock or whelping pups. Because of how I feed in late gestation, most of my does do kid in the late afternoon. As the school bus used to hit at the end of the driveway at 4pm, during kidding season my children knew I would likely be in the barn delivering babies. But there is no gurantees. Some of my does seems to wait on me, others, Scotia, would wait for me to leave than have her kids and plant them in the woods, come in for chores with a full udder of milk and spotlessly cleaned up. I would have to watch her through the window in the house to see what direction she would go when I left to find her kids. If I followed her to closely she would go in the wrong direction. Finally I would hear the kids, take them back to the barn. She did this for 2 years, I finally had to pen her sperate when I knew she was due, I don't let my kids nurse.

You can help with your managment picking times for your does to kid. Keep to a strict feeding program as far as time goes. I fill up the alfalfa pellet feeder before I got to bed at night so the girls have a full rumen when they bed down, they have to get through this full rumen before they kid, which gives me at least 8 hours of sleep. If they come to the feeder in the morning for thier grain, than you usually have another 4 hours where they will not kid. With heavy rougage in the pm and grain in the am, it gives me lots of afternoon kids born.

You can't predict who will need you and who won't. I am here anyway, so I do look for perfect presentation. My girls are very used to me, so when they start pusing I go in with a clean hand, really just clean fingers and make sure I am feeling teeth and front legs. Catching problems early, like in everything goat, is key. Preventing the trainwreck of two kids coming at once with the first one stuck is fixable if you catch it early.

Does who get good exercise all the way through pregnancy, do not pen them up unless you have to, like Scotia. Just like with humans those with the best muscle tone have the best chance of having uneventful births. Also making sure you are feeding calcium. Rarely is a calcium mineral salt (carbonate or sulfate enough) it takes alot of readiably absorbable calcium in the form of alfalfa pellets or alfalfa hay for a dairy goat to grow those kids, to come into milk and still be growing herself, and with low calcium labor is sluggish. This puts the whole process at risk.

But honestly most new folks don't see kiddings the first two seasons, you will go out to the barn and she will have all clean licked off kids nursing. Good luck, and have fun. Vicki


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## Kathy'sKID (Nov 3, 2004)

We just finished our first year with just 2 pregnant this year. Missed both. First was late afternoon/early evening and the other was mid-morning.


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## Loisp (Jul 29, 2005)

Most of my babies have been born in the morning hours. 7AM - 12PM. The does that had their babies in the evening or night usually had problems. From experience I've noticed that a does about to give birth will seperate herself from the rest of the herd. She won't be interested in food and her breathing is different than normal. I love watching new babies come into the world. Since I've had 4 human babies of my own I can really relate to what the doe is going through. Be sure to clean on the babies cord with iodine. This prevents the baby from getting naval or joint ill. We learned this the hard way. Also be sure the mother's milk can flow. Sometimes it has to be unclogged. May sure the babies are getting enough milk. Their tummys should feel full. If a baby stands around with a "hunched back" and isn't jumping around like a jack rabbit...it may be starving. You will then need to suppliment with a bottle. Baby goats are so much fun!


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## GoldenWood Farm (May 31, 2003)

My does varied big time in what time they kidded. I had some kid in the day and some kid in the night. I was there for all but one (she was a trixsy goat!).

If you know your doe well you can normally tell when they are going to go soon. They just act different. Not always by much. Sometimes its even just them wanting a little more attention than normal. But with all my does I could tell when they where "ready". (well all except for one  ).

MotherClucker


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## mammawof3 (Jan 31, 2004)

Like Vicki said, i used to fill the hay mangers in the morning,had most of my kids born in the middle of the night-lots of long nights-then started filling them in the evening instead, bingo-almost gaurenteed kiddings around 10-11 a.m.,when i was around to help if needed!Some things do seem to be within our control too a degree..


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

All 3 of our Alpines kidded during the day; two in the afternoon and one in the am. We only missed one so far. She was 3 days late.


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## TWOGOATS (Mar 7, 2005)

I have only experienced one kidding, and she did it about 10 in the morning. She was not interested in eating anything, and her pinbones were looser than normal, so i kept my eye on her (almost literally- i stayed in the pen with her all the time, except to go to the bathroom lol ). She had twin does, and minimal trouble. The first doe had one shoulder shifted back, so I had to pull it forward. The second one had the back legs forward, but she came out fine. There were no difficulties after the birth.


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