# Kidding Stalls



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Is it really necessary to put a doe in a kidding stall (or her own stall) for the final week before she's due? 

The reason I ask is that I have a doe that is due Tuesday. I keep them in at night or when the weather is really icky (and it's still winter here) in a 12' x 12' horse stall. My two older does are together and my two yearlings are in an adjacent stall. Last night, I took the one doe out so that the doe that's due soon will have the stall to herself. She was obviously stressed; bug-eyed and maaa-ing constantly. I decided that was not a good idea so I put the other doe back in the stall with her.

Either my husband or I are here 24/7 and WILL be here to pull kids at birth. The baby monitor is in the barn so we can hear EVERYTHING even though we are not out there all the time so I am not worried about missing the birthing. It will be very easy to put the other doe in with the yearlings when the time comes.

I know my other doe would be fine alone, when it's her time, but is this an acceptable practice for this doe?

TIA.


----------



## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

I only seperate my girls if I have a reason to, sometimes its because they are low man on totem pole, or sometimes its the large communial pen is too full of goats.
Let them kid together, unless one of them is Stupid and keeps trampling the other while she's trying to kid. 
I've got all my first and second freshners in one pen, and the old broads + one escape artist in the open to the field pen.


----------



## mamatomany (Aug 7, 2008)

I hav ea kidding stall that is used only for kidding. When they are in "active" labor they get tossed in there with a friend until she really starts pushin - friend leaves and then she stays in that stall for 3 days with her baby then they get introduced to the rest of the herd. Mine is also a 12x12 stall


----------



## Faithful Crown Nubians (Dec 5, 2007)

No. Infact I don't put the does in kidding stalls any more. They always seemed to stress out more. I do have a kid room; which means that's where the kids go (bottle raised babies). 

Delilah and Flurri are penned together due to their attitudes. Neither one will battle each other but Flurri will go after the other does. SO when Delilah went into labor I simply tied Flurri up in the stall to keep her away from me. When Flurri went into labor I did the same thing, I tied Delilah up...Then removed Delilah b/c I decided to leave the buck kid w/ Flurri and I wanted them to have time to bond...and Flurri really wasn't all that concerned w/ Delilah being gone until she killed her kid and I took it away from her. After that I put Delilah back in with her...

Then Misty kidded, in with the other does, of course that wasn't really planned....I walked in the barn and found her with the two kids and the other 3 does watching her....Abby was a pain in the butt so had I got there when she was pushing I would have kicked Honey and Abby out of the barn. But after the babies were born and I left the buck kid w/ Misty I put her, her baby, and Acapella in a stall together. I want the baby/mom have some bonding time....I normally never leave the does completely by themselves...


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Thanks, everyone.

Yes, kids have their own stall, too. I section off another 12' x 12' stall to make it smaller.


----------



## birdiegirl (Oct 26, 2007)

I have never separated my does from the rest of the herd. I tried that once and it just stressed them out. I have started to separate the newly-fresh doe and her kids (if dam raising) for a day or so, only because my barn is starting to get crowded and I need to enlarge it. I give them a day or two to bond, then back out with the rest of the herd. I have not had any problems. (16 does, combination of NDs, MMs, and Nubians)


----------



## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

My kidding pen is really just one end of the doe pen sectioned off. The gate is made from horse panel so it's see-through and they can lay right by their buddies so they don't stress. I also don't usually put them in there until they are very close to kidding.


----------



## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

when my does look really close, (and I mean really close) I pen them up, but our pens are in the barn they all share and don't have true walls--more like very wide slats with goat/sheep fence tacked to it. They don't stress at all by that time because they do act like they want to be alone. If I don't do that a lot of times they go off in the woods anyways to be by themselves.


----------



## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I watch my does when I can see they are getting ready to kid. I let them stay out in the open like normal, where I can see them. I can even see into their shelter. The only time she is locked in the kidding shed is when I am in there with her waiting on her to kid. If I have to go to the house, the door is opened and she can follow if she wants. Way too stressful to lock them up in a stall they cannot see out of or is out of their normal routine.


----------



## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

No kidding stall here. I do have four goat houses in their pen so a doe can have some privacy when she kids, but I do not lock them up. If the wether is really bad, I take the doe to my garage/milk parlor to kid when she's in the last stage of labor. I have a separate pen for the bottle babies.


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Thanks, everyone.


----------



## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

I always leave mine together until they start kidding. When I see goo or "know" this is the day then I will shut the gate and not let the other goat in the loafing shed and barn area. I just don't want the doe that is giving birth to be distracted by other goats and I don't want another goat in there in my way while I am trying to pull babies.


----------

