The Final Countdown

Does anyone else have that song in their head now?

It's that time of year!  Goat udder pictures!  I know you all have been looking forward to it, it is pretty exciting.  Ok, well maybe I'm the only one who gets excited about it, but still...

The goats are getting wider by the day.  By my calculations, the estimated due date (for both) is around February 13th, but they could really go anytime. 

I rely on their udder development to help me predict when they'll kid.  June is pretty easy to tell...her udder will noticeably increase and "bag up" when she's ready to go into labor.  It's hard to really get a good view of the udder if I don't clip them, so I clipped them this evening. 

Here's June's before pic:

And here's her after.  It's much easier to see this way.  She's definitely bagging up, but she's got a ways to go.  You can see how tight it gets in this post, when Ida was born 2 years ago.

This is Ida's first year kidding, so I'm really excited to see how her udder turns out.  Here's her before:

And her after.  It's looking really cute so far!

The girls are coming in the barn at afternoon feeding time and staying until the morning.  The sheep, who are due in a few weeks, are getting grain now, and that's the easiest way to separate the goats so the sheep can actually eat.  June tends to be pushy with the sheep. 

Soon it'll be time to install the video baby monitor I got last year so I can keep an eye on them through the night.  I still feel like I'm not ready for them to kid, but I'm getting there!