Kidding Video - Head Only (no feet!)

If you're new to kidding, or just wanting to get some more experience by seeing more kiddings of various types, pull up a seat and follow along! :)

These two videos show a head only presentation. Where you get a head, and no feet. This is totally fine! As long as you have a head, you're golden! :) I have had a lot of deliveries like this over the years and there is no need to go fishing for a foot.

In the first video - I wanted to show the difference between active, all out pushing, when its "go time", and just pushing when a kid is pressing against the cervix but is not yet in the birth canal. A lot of people want to start timing their does when they see any type of pushing... first off, do NOT time your does. Birthing takes time. Not all deliveries are fast. I absolutely hate the advice that is so often passed around as fact. The whole "30 minutes with no progress" advice just doesn't work when the person doesn't really understand when they are supposed to really be timing... or what it TRULY means to have NO progress.

First, again - don't time them... but secondly, until there is a kid IN THE BIRTH CANAL, its NOT "go time". They can do these type of pushes that I show in this first video for many hours sometimes! If the kid isn't in the right position, it can't enter the birth canal. You'll know because they will stop pushing. Once a kid is in the birth canal, they won't stop pushing (except maybe a minute between contractions). Encourage the doe to get up and move around, that will help with getting kids moved around and repositioned. Once a kid is in the birth canal, you can insert ONE FINGER (one finger ONLY!!!!) and you will feel a kid there! Not your whole hand, ONE FINGER... if you can't feel a kid there yet with ONE FINGER, the kid isn't in the birth canal yet! I show this on the "Kidding video - Huge Single" video.

Kidding Video - Head Only (no feet!) - Part 1
In this video we explore how to tell the difference between "go time" and just contractions/grunts... and even a yell here and there when the kid is pressing against the cervix, but has not entered the birth canal yet.

In this second video, "go time" has begun. Notice that her pushing doesn't have the long pause that the first video had. Here we now have a head only presentation - with no feet. With this particular one, once the head was completely out, I could see the tip of one hoof poking out of the vulva so that gave me an easy handle for when I wanted to help slide the kid on out. If you'll notice, as the kid comes out, the other leg is tight against the body and straight back. They can both be like that sometimes. USUALLY once the head is out, the rest of the kid slides out easily so you can just gently pull the head on the next contraction, working in the same downward angle that the doe's rump is (so its not a pull straight out, perpendicular to the doe's hind end, but an out at a downward angle - to match the angle of the rump. :)

There are some lines that have really broad shoulders. Mine don't have this problem, but if yours do, they may not slide out as easily once they hit the shoulders. Give the doe a chance with her next push or two to see if she can do it. Remember, the kid is still attached to the umbilical cord and is ok! If the doe doesn't seem to be able to push out the shoulders on her own (usually they can!), then reach in just with two fingers, behind the head, and try to get your fingers behind a shoulder blade (or both!) and then curl your fingers under (like a come here signal with your finger). This should give the kid the extra little forward momementum to get those shoulders out. :)

Kidding Video - Head Only (no feet!) - Part 2
In this video, its "go time". Here we see the head only delivery and how it goes! :)

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Kidding Video - Head Only (no feet!)

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