Kidding Season Handbook

Kidding happens at 2 a.m. The decisions should not.

The Kidding Season Handbook walks the season in the order it happens: the last sixty days of gestation, setting up the pen and the kit, the signs that kidding is close, what a normal kidding looks like stage by stage, the first hour, the first week, and the weeks to weaning. It is written for the keeper, not the vet: it tells you what experienced people watch for, when they start counting minutes, and what they write down the same night. Every decision about care, products and intervention stays with you and your veterinarian; the handbook makes sure the plan is made sixty days early, the call rules are on the barn wall, and nothing from this year's kidding gets lost before next year's breeding.

• The season at a glance: timeline from breeding to weaning with the planning countdown
• The last sixty days: body condition, dry-off, planning dates and the call rules to agree with your vet
• The kidding pen and the kit, with a complete supplies table and the two-weeks-before checklist
• Reading the signs: days before, hours before, and the moment the clock starts
• A normal kidding stage by stage, with typical durations and where the phone comes in
• The first hour and the first day: colostrum, warmth, nursing, weights, IDs and paperwork
• The dam in the first week: what to watch, what is normal, what to note for the vet
• Kids from week one to weaning: growth curve, early decisions, weaning and sale-ready