According to my calculations, they should be arriving any day! Fortunately the weather has started to warm a little and the sun has returned. I always get nervous when the kids come in bad weather. Last year our mama goat went into labor during an ice storm. She was very experienced and handled it fine. But this year I have some first fresheners and I'll take all the good stuff I can get. To prepare for the new kids I tend to concentrate on three different areas: food, shelter, and health.
Obviously the best food for new kids is colostrum from mom. If the experienced mom kids first, I will sneak some of her colostrum to have on hand in case the first fresheners have problems or reject their kids. Worst case scenario, I will have to use the powdered stuff since I don't have any frozen. This year I will put some in the freezer, also. Since we are planning to sell the kids as bottle babies, I'll be transitioning them to whole cow's milk once they've had a good day or two of the colostrum.
When it comes to shelter, not having a barn with kidding stalls is going to be the biggest obstacle. Instead of penning up the laboring moms, I will be constantly checking the bedding condition in the run-in shelter. Once the kids are switched to the bottle, they will be penned in the dog kennel where we have two large doghouses full of fresh straw. I expect there will be a lot of bawling (from babies and moms) until we get them taken off to the auction. I might need to add earplugs to my shopping list!
Health is always a big concern. The most important thing I can do to ensure we have healthy kids is to make sure all the moms are healthy during pregnancy. Good nutrition and minerals are very important. A few years ago I had to put a newborn (one of triplets) down because he was suffering and not going to make it. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. So I do all I can to make sure they have a fighting chance at the start. I keep iodine on hand for the umbilical stumps and vitamin E and selenium on standby for mineral deficiency. I also give a nice molasses and warm water mixture to a mom who has just delivered. Then I spend the next several days watching her for signs of infection. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with that.
After all the excitement of kidding is over, comes the fun part- bouncing baby goats! They're so much fun to watch! I'll be sad to see them go. So maybe I might possibly just keep one. Maybe. EEEK! Goat madness!
