We are now officially "in the zone" for goat kidding to begin. The ladies were put in with their bucks 152 days ago. Since the gestation is 150 days, we are looking for babies to hit the ground any day now. Based on my -- umm -- observations, I'm expecting Honey to kid first -- hopefully this week.

My barn birthing kit is restocked and ready to roll. It contains all the supplies needed for birthing. Of course, I hope for smooth kidding, but the kit has us covered for even the worst case scenarios.

The goats tend to put on a pretty thick winter coat, so I gave the three mommas-to-be a little trim around the "birthing area" and udder. I won't get too into the details, but birthing is messy business, and this simple trim can really help to make things a lot more sanitary during and in the days immediately following birth. (I love how Nutmeg modestly lowered her tail for this shot. If this goat hind-end shot is a little much for you, you would not survive my Facebook newsfeed right now. My goat group pages are full of shots with captions like, "What do you think? Is that another baby or just a bit of the placenta presenting?") The day I gave them this trim, it was what we refer to here on the farm as Bare A$$ Cold. (Pardon the language, please, and visit the link for a full explanation.) So, the trimmings went about as well as could be expected. Honey, especially, was stomping around pretty fiercely as if to protest the whole thing.

Thankfully, though, the weather has been mostly mild since then, so the girls have done a lot of this kind of lazing about --just enjoying the sunshine and waiting for the big birthing days to arrive.

Also, these two were lazing around on the soccer field the other day, and I just had to capture it. What made Tiger think that Girl 2's face would be a good spot for a nap?! I'm not sure, but they both seemed to be enjoying their little rest.

You know I'll keep you posted when our first kiddos arrive. For the very latest, be sure you're following us on Facebook and Instagram! :)