Goat-O-Rama Kids of 2018

[Nanno]

Petunia had a secret fling sometime last summer and I don't know who the dad was and I don't have a breeding date. She's getting bigger by the day but still isn't making an udder. She's been "large and in charge" for about a month now and she's almost knocked me down with her belly a few times when we go for walks. I've felt a few kicks in the last week or so. Every time I think she can't possibly get much bigger, she gets bigger. 

So we're taking bets! How many kids are in there and when will she have them?

I'm going to say three kids and I'll wildly guess a due date of January 12. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm wrong about three kids. I would like for her to have just two!) 

Here are a couple of photos. I had trouble capturing the enormity of her girth. She looks significantly bigger in real life. 
   
   

[goatzrule]

Naughty girl! I'm gonna have to start a kidding thread in a month or two

[goatzrule]

just to get your hopes up we had kids in this once
   
Two precious bucklings
   

[DownUnder Gal]

I reckon two big kids

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

I'm guessing triplets.

Our doe Kivu has confirmed triplets by imaging and she's not as big.

[goatzrule]

Pst, Petunia January 12th is long gone.

[Nanno]

Yeah, she's really taking her sweet time on this one. I'm kicking myself because I originally thought she was due in December. I suspected she was pregnant sometime in late September, but at the time I was thinking she was already a good two months along so I didn't want to Lute. In hindsight it's obvious she was not far along and I could have Luted her and gotten the kids I want at the proper time. I was really set on breeding her to Sox and having kids in April/May, but it looks like we'll have 3/4 Nubian babies in Jan/Feb, which is not at all what I want. Ugh. Sneaky little stinker! At least we'll have milk sooner.

[goatzrule]

I hear you as far as who was going in with who and didn't end up happening, speaking to Hope,Lilly and Cassien.

[Nanno]

Some exciting changes are taking place today! Petunia's udder is bigger than I've ever seen it. I don't know how many kids she's planning to feed, but it looks like a lot! There has been no milk in it until today, but this morning it looks like the teats are finally starting to fill. Her ligaments have been firm until this morning. I can still feel them but they are getting very spongy. Her belly dropped last night too. I'll be shocked if she doesn't kid by tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a great day. It's cold right now but it's supposed to be 60* tomorrow. I'm so excited for babies!!!

I'm also really excited that these will most likely be Lightning's kids! If she'd kidded sooner they would have been Rocky or Rambo's for sure, but it looks like she would have had to get bred sometime in early September, which was when we left for our annual "goat vacation" and all the bucks were locked away in their own pen except for Lightning who was still with his mama in the doe pen. I mean, if Petunia is several days overdue then I suppose there's a small chance these could still belong to Rocky and/or Rambo, but by late August I was being very careful with the big boys because I knew the girls would start cycling any time. I'm also usually really good at telling when a doe is in heat (especially Petunia--she announces her heat cycles to the world in ear-splitting wails). So it's looking very promising that this event happened while we were out of town and Lightning was the man of the doe pen. Keeping fingers crossed that this is indeed the case! A Lighting/Petunia pairing would be ideal!

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

Exciting! Can't wait to see pictures.