Blackie and Sinead

Blackie's Blog

I'm Blackie, a 3 yr old angora doe born and raised here at MacGregor Hollow. I'll keep you updated on things that are happening here on the farm.

It's almost kidding time, here is a bit of information about kidding and pictures of Roni giving birth to Mairead. Clean grain bags are used here to catch a lot of the birth fluids and try to keep the stalls cleaner.

Here is Roni in early labor showing goopy vaginal discharge. The change in the tailhead position that occurs just before labor is also visible.

Here the kid's nose and hoof are visible, the second hoof is hidden behind the nose. This kid is in the classic "dive" position. Often, the amniotic sac forms a bubble around the presenting part, it had already burst in this kidding. 

Roni was pushing hard and not making much progress, so we pulled one hoof forward to help her.

Here both legs are pulled forward to narrow the shoulders & make birth easier. The little white “booties” on the bottom of the hooves. These help to protect the doe's uterus from the hooves. It is very soft and will rub off as the kid begins to walk.

With that assistance, she was able to push the head out.

Once the shoulders are out, the kid is born quickly. Roni reached right  around to start caring for her kid. This kid was born with a rather clean face and didn’t require much use of the suction bulb. Part of the amniotic sac is visible on the hind end of the kid.

The kid is transferred to a towel and we help the doe dry off the kid. It’s important to get kids dried of quickly in cold weather to prevent birth chill or hypothermia. Allowing the doe to help clean off her kid aids in the bonding process.

Mairead standing for the first time.

All images Copyright MacGregor Hollow