Goat Cam

This stall is the home of Anabelle, our black Nubian Dwarf goat. She is very pregnant and we are expecting her to kid any day in early March. If you see any kids running around in this picture, call us immediately!

March 28 Update: OK, so I've been telling the whole world since March 1 that she's going to kid "any day now", and nothing has happened! Well, actually a bit has happened. By our count, she has had two false labor episodes so far. The first was on March 13, she spent the afternoon getting up and down a lot, pushing her butt way out, rolling on her side, flitting her tale about, then breathing heavy. These are all signs of labor, and the behavior was very distinct and recognizable. After a few hours she stopped doing it. On March 25 she had a similar episode. In between our vet came and checked her out, she confirmed the pregnancy via ultrasound and said not to worry, everything is OK and she will kid within a week. That was two weeks ago!

If the Goat Wasn't Born:
if the goat wasn't born you'd be wasting your corn,
and you'd be saving your shirt,
thank god it's not torn.
--henry

If the Goat Was Born:
if the goat was born you'd be feeding it corn,
and it would be chewing your shirt so much you'd say it was torn.
--henry

SPRING:
Shake and bake and say goodbye to your favorite snowflake,
nothing to rake,
Time to party and eat a cake and bike and go fishing for pike and crikes!
The barns full of all my friend mikes!
--henry

I have slept out in the barn quite a few nights now, expecting to witness the blessed event up close, but so far it's been a complete bust.

For information on goat prenatal care, click here.

If the webcam is not working, or if you'e just plain sick of waiting, click here for a quickie video of the real thing. (It's really worth it, btw.)

Webcam notes: The webcam is a Microsoft Lifecam VX-3000. Like many webcams these days, it does not come with webcam publishing software, only a basic interface that works with Microsoft's Netmeeting and IM applications. I have tested about 8 different 3rd party webcam applications, among them Dorgem, Yawcam, Tincam, Fwink, TimerShot, and AbelCam. Only AbelCam has been stable so far. Currently the webcam is using WheresJames Webcam Publisher. The installation is somewhat challenging, since the webcam is hooked up to a laptop in the barn using a wi-fi connection to the house. The wi-fi signal is variously "poor" and "very poor", so it obviously has trouble getting a good network connection. Hopefully things are working right now and you have a current image.

LINKS:

False Pregnancy in Goats

False Labor Discussion

Reba Kidding Pictures

Goat Reproduction

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If the Goat Wasn't Born: if the goat wasn't born you'd be wasting your corn, and you'd be saving your shirt, thank god it's not torn. --henry
If the Goat Was Born: if the goat was born you'd be feeding it corn, and it would be chewing your shirt so much you'd say it was torn. --henry
SPRING: Shake and bake and say goodbye to your favorite snowflake, nothing to rake, Time to party and eat a cake and bike and go fishing for pike and crikes! The barns full of all my friend mikes! --henry