I just aquired 4 pigmy nannies that look as if they will burst at any minute with kids. Do I need to seperate them from one another or can I leave the does together? The billy is already seperated. How can I tell when they are very close to kidding? How much feed and what kind should I feed them to insure they have all the nutrients they need through this time? I give them all the hay (fescue and orchard grass with a little timothy) they want. Is that wise or should I limit how much they get? I'm new at this goat thing so any advice will be appreciated!

-- Joel Combs (jwcinpk@yahoo.com), January 11, 2002

Answers

There is no need to separate them if none of them beats up on the others, not just picking on, but really being mean. I am assuming they have adequate room in their pen, and are not crowded. I believe that they should receive all the hay they want. They also need mineralized salt, free choice. Please read the information in the archives about feeding goats, and about how to tell when they are close to kidding. I have seen a number of good descriptions, so there is no sense in me trying to say it all here. Pygmy goats tend to be really round in the belly, so I don't know whether you can rely on how they look, since you haven't been around them when they aren't pregnant, as a clue to how close to delivery they are.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), January 12, 2002.

You might want to consider separating them if you can. AT one farm where I worked, there was a situation where 2 does kidded at night at the same time. In the morning, 4 kids were nursing off one doe and the other had none. We could never change that arrangement and ended up bottle raising two of the kids. I've always separated a doe out when she was soft in the back and hollow-looking in the flanks. Once she had kidded, I usually give her a day or two to recover (depending on the ease of birthing, etc, then put her and the kids back with the herd.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), January 12, 2002.