I have seven does all appear to be going into six months pregnant utters developing- expecting kids any time is six months normal- there can be no breeding date mistake my buck died in January its now the middle of July. If you keep a record of when your does are bred and when they kid, next time around youll have a more accurate idea which doe is likely to kid a little early and which might kid a little on the late side. But no kids ever came and within a few days she looked back to normal except that she still has this huge udder. If you place the palm of your hand above the does tail, fingers pointed toward the rear, and press down with your thumb and forefinger while moving your hand toward the base of the tail, you will encounter what feels like a thin, stiff rope on each side of the tail. You can drink the milk, but if you start milking her, you have to continue milking her every single day. However, when the time gets really close, you'll see the udder get much bigger, much faster. You should neve. Many goat keepers find this method to be the most reliable goat labor sign. Otherwise, you wind up with a huge kid and a doe with a low milk supply. Days Before Birth. I have a goat that has never had any kids and recently, Ive noticed her udder is quite a bit larger than it used to be. Family Cows and Farming. This type of thing will vary form one goat to another. My goat who has not had a kid in four years has suddenly started to produce milk. View our privacy policy and our disclosure policy for more information. Perhaps the unique thing here is that she is old, (at least 13 years). She may also bleat more often than usual, and she may become more aggressive towards other goats. Size - Not every doe will swell up during pregnancy. Additionally, she may bleat more frequently than normal and pant excessively. Here is more info on cats and toxoplasmosis: We do not have a buck so she cannot be pregnant my other two female goats seem to have got fatter also but no milk. I milked her out and got about a quart of what looked like colostrum. For most of the pregnancy, your goat will look like she is carrying her babies up high in her abdomen. Your vet was probably hoping to mimic that process with the hormone injections. Her vulva should enlarge and become soft before she kids too. They will stand up, lay down, stand up, lay down. I purchased her at 8 weeks. Learning to recognize goat pregnancy is a rewarding skill that takes time and practice. Please sta us She recently (last week) went off feed (Not at all interested in grain. Emergency! If she was with a buck before you got her she may be bred. Heart begins to beat. If shes had an engorged udder for 9 months, youve pretty much seen whats what. This can be monitored using a rectal thermometer; a normal temperature for a goat in labor is between 99 and 101 degrees Fahrenheit. And if you are going to be going on vacation, you need to get someone else to do it for you. Is there anything I should do if it is a false pregnancy? Yes, it is weird that she got a precocious udder at that age, but I usually say that nothing is impossible. They will probably rub against, and it will fall apart in a few months and have holes in it. While this veteran broodmare's udder has been quite large at weaning time before, she's never been so . Also, stand behind the goat and put your arms around her abdomen. Standard size dairy goats do not normally cycle out of season, so Id be very surprised if she was indeed pregnant. In fact, right now, there is a plug in the end of each teat that is keeping out bacteria, but if you milk her, you will remove that plug, so she could wind up with mastitis. When a doe has twins or triplets, I dont recommend milking regularly until the kids are at least 2 months old, but its a matter of supply and demand, so if you dont milk when a doe has a single, the body doesnt produce much because there isnt much demand. Welded wire will last longer thank chicken wire, but if the goats are rubbing on it, they will eventually break the welds. Here is more info on minerals, and it includes links to additional articles on individual minerals. I wouldnt give her copper unless she was showing obvious symptoms. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-worms/. Can you suggest any other options? If you leave it alone, it should be fine. Required fields are marked *. By the way, I love your website!! thanks Do your goats have a good free choice, loose mineral available such as Sweetlix or Purina? Hi my doe what with the buck on September 14 she have never gave milk but she started to give a little now and came back into heat on November 10. can you help me. The udder usually fills up before kidding. Sharon. Do you have any young cats in your barn? Some goats get a precocious udder, which just means that they get an udder even though theyre not pregnant. i am going to milk her tonight, she has been like this for a week now. Oh, I hope thats not the case with mine. I dont know what to do with her. We were not expecting any of our goats to kid for at least 3 or 4 more days, but Brownie got a head start. They just get big and then release a bunch of fluid. You can use a dash of castille soap or a tiny bit of bleach in warm water. Healthy goats are naturally "wide". Firm, but not hard. The rain makes me think their might be something wrong with the hay, as i discarded some of it after getting a musty smell. Her udder will start to fill with milk - it's not ready yet but is just getting a head start toward being ready to feed the kids. As your doe starts pushing and begins the opening, the water bag might bulge out from the vaginal opening. When the doe nears kidding time, the ligaments lose their tautness and, as a result, the tail looks a little gimpy. She has large lamancha teats, but hardly any udder. You may also be dealing with mineral deficiencies, especially since she had a single kid. So mark the date your bred your goats on your calendar. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question! Ruby is a P.I.A. Thanks, the first vet that came out diagnosed her with a precocious udder also. It is not hard or lumpy. Here is an article that covers intestinal worms: The process of bagging up and producing milk is called . Postpartum, the doe will clean her kids and allow them to nurse. Ive never seen a clear explanation as to why this might be. As a result, its not unusual for a dairy goat to be pregnant and lactating at the same time. Thanks alot..i just read the article. I questioned if she was really pregnant the whole time. False pregnancies will test positive on blood tests because they have the hormones. However, right before birth, they kids will drop and the top of her sides will appear "hollowed out" instead of full like before. Some very rude bucks will try to mate a doe thats not in heat, and once in awhile they get lucky, but if she was not in heat, then she would not get pregnant. The normal gestation time for goats is 145 to 155 days. Goats should have access to fresh water at all times. Pregnant goats may drink up to 12 gallons of water per day, so its important to make sure they always have access to a clean, fresh supply. This will give you good practice on knowing how they feel when they aren't pregnant, and what the tail area feels like as they loosen. You might also want to sign up for my free copper course, which includes 45 minutes of videos and lectures. As contractions get close together, the doe usually grunts as she pushes. Keep in mind that if you ever do milk her, you will need to milk her daily. Behavioral Changes. Do let me know what happens! If your goat came back into heat on Nov. 11, there is a 99% chance that she is not pregnant. The only mismatch seems to be the drying up, but maybe that had to do with her being in milk for 16 months already. Jan 19, 2010. What is the proper treatment? I wasnt very clear in presenting my concern. I also used a p test to test for pregnancy and she was negative . In this stage, the doe is actively pushing. Her utters seem to be full of milk (about 6 months now). With the best milk being 4 . He has given her several luteolytic shots and even milked her last time. This is an excerpt from Raising Goats Naturally: The Complete Guide to Milk, Meat, and More by Deborah Niemann. Day 20. They surround and protect the kid(s) up until the time of birth. The pelvic ligaments run beside the does tail, one on each side. In the last month her udder has become engorged. Ive heard some people say it only lasted a couple of months and others say it lasted for many years. Much appreciated! The usual milk-producing cycle lasts about 305 days and ends before another pregnancy begins. -- Sharon ( spangenberg@hovac.com ), June 27, 2001. I noticed just about a week ago and got on your website to look at this blog. Sep 24, 2017 at 7:19am haecklers said: If you're feeding corn or grains, there's a fungus that can grow in them that makes huge amounts of estrogen-like chemicals. Your email address will not be published. Are you only milking one side? If shes had this udder for 9 months and has not injured it yet, then she knows how to work around it. But nothing happened, so I have to assume it was a false pregnancy. I truly appreciate your response. Other signs of a healthy pregnancy include nesting behavior and a cloudy discharge from the vulva. The last month or two before your doe is due, you should raise the sugar content of her feed a little to avoid pregnancy toxemia and to help her kids to grow to their full potential (see 'Pregnancy Toxemia' in the chapter of this book called "Health Needs . If you just milked her once and then a couple days later tried again, Im not surprised she had no milk. Im massaging her udder twice a day and hand milking her twice a day. Bagging up NOT pregnant Apr 24, 2021 . It just sounds like a precocious udder, which can just happen sometimes. I think he is at a loss as to what to do next. Squats and urinates frequently. I have a 10yr old kinder doe that last kidded March 2021. 1.1.3 Increase the size of the Doe. Since your does are dairy breeds they should bag up pretty well before they kid, but some do it in the last few days. Thats what I thought but just wanted a second opinion. All of this sounds normal, and I agree with your vet. Originally published in 2016 and regularly vetted for accuracy. To palpate a Nigerian dwarf goat's belly, you will need to put your hand on her back and slide it down to her abdomen. With a single kid, I always suggest starting to milk the day the kid is born because demand is very important for supply. She will not let us touch her to milk. Welcome to the Farm. You have no idea how long the kids had been dead prior to her aborting, so she could have an infection. Unless you have a lot of kittens around regularly, toxoplasmosis should not be a problem. So I called out another vet and he thought it was a false pregnancy then treated her for that. All that is happening here is the babies have dropped to the lower region of the abdomen. Its ctualy a great and useful piece of information. I had put her with a buck in about April and she seemed to gain weight and have an udder developing so I thought she was pregnant and removed the buck in July . Could she still be deficient? This pretty much sounds like a textbook false pregnancy. If you cup your hand down where her udder is, from behind, you can feel udder tissue swollen that fills the whole palm of your hand. Also has the arched back but is not acting any different. I ultra-sounded all 9 of my does predicting the correct number of babies (two does i could not tell if there was twins or triplets and they turned out to be triplets) anyhow i know what i am looking at on the ultrasound. In a normal . Thank you! If you breed her, she will definitely be lactating. This usually occurs about 3-1/2 months (100 days) of gestation. She is learning to love them. A goat with mastitis would have a hard, hot udder. Maybe the pressure of the kids against her rumen makes the doe feel full. The normal activity of walking around grazing should continue. What are the signs of a healthy pregnancy in a goat? In a pregnant doe it usually looks soft and kind of puffy. Thankfully, the doe hasnt had a fever for today. She doesnt seem to be in any distress but Im concerned her udder could get damaged since it is only a few inches from the ground. If she was bred on Jan 8, shed be at day 145 on May 31 (nigerian and pygmy due dates) and 150 at June 5 (if she is a standard size goat), so she did not get pregnant on Jan. 8. Unless the kid is underweight, you can milk the doe, even if the kid is still nursing. The next thing you will likely see are the tips of a kids front toes, with a tiny nose resting on top. These bags consist of membranes containing amniotic fluid. She just has not read the textbooks. Goats also need access to plenty of hay or grass. Since its not normal anyway, there are not many rules. As labor progresses, the goat will begin to strain and may pass some clear fluid from her vulva. Since a false pregnancy is caused by hormones, they develop an udder just as if they were pregnant. Any suggestions would be welcome thanks. They usually go away on their own. I have a question about my goat, which I believe is in false pregnancy. At this stage, a nanny goat's bag will really begin to show and should fill quite substantially. Most people just ignore a precocious udder. Eventually, the amniotic sac will rupture and the baby (or babies) will be born. If you decide to stop, then you need you stop period. I should also mention that her coat condition is dull and rough and many other goats in the herd have suffered from worms, mineral deficiencies, and they all developed a terrible cough which has not slowed after a month of developing it from an incoming goat (again frustration goat situation out of my control). However, after drinking a tincture of tumeric and apple cider vineger along with vitamin c tablets..her fever decreased to 101.5. Unless she has a full udder, shes not likely to kid soon. She has never been bred no male goats around. Belly tightens - Her belly will tighten around two weeks after being successfully bred. She may look backas if trying to see whats behind her and lick or bite at her sides. But I still dont understand why shes so big and her udder is developed a little ? There is nothing you need to do if a doe has a false pregnancy. When she went off fed she also started acting like she does before she kidslots of pawing and the ground and licking whatever is near, excessively. We had been milking still but intended to start drying her up. And at day 152, she still was not acting like she was in labor, but she had mucus discharge. Clasp your hands together right in front of the udder. If she was left with a buck, then you really have no idea when shes due because it is always possible that she didnt get pregnant and that he bred her again when she was in heat. It has been my experience raising goats since 1990 that the first visible sign of pregnancy is a rounded belly -- not her sides but the bottom of her body upon which she sits. The vet is still unable to help. Within a day or so of kidding, some does start bleating in a voice that only a mama doe uses to communicate with her kids. I thought this was a precocious udder but reading these postings Im not sure. Dogs and Cats. What are the signs and symptoms of a goat in heat? Even if she is not uddering up yet you can still feel she has udder development, much more so than an unbred doe, especially by this time in her pregnancy. but I love her. You cant just decide to milk her once in awhile, as that could lead to mastitis, and her body would be confused about whether or not its supposed to continue making milk. All kinds of weird things can happen. Then, you will need to gently press on her abdomen and feel for any fetuses. This is one of the more infamous problems that can develop in a goat udder, and it is important to take measures to prevent and address it. can i milk her? Vulva becomes flabby & puffy. Is that a problem? I dont understand your question about breeding making it better. Typically goats with a false pregnancy are not miserable. I have a 9 year old female goat whom the vet diagnosed as a pseudopregnancy. Here is more info on minerals: You do NOT want to milk her at all unless you have plans to continue because right now there is a waxy plug in the teat that keeps out bacteria. These pimples will grow rapidly with a quick spread of the infection from one goat to the other. Im glad you find it helpful! her belly is now flat (she had had a large round belly) her utters are engorged as I would expect of an end of pregnancy or delivered goat. Some goats just want to be alone with they kid like one first freshener I had that insisted on kidding under a pine tree in a pasture covered with snow. A goats pregnancy usually lasts about 145 days, although this can vary by a few weeks in either direction. Watch for changes in appetite, drinking habits, or behavior. Nancy The Home Acre Hop. How do we rid her of this? Can a goat bag up without being pregnant? A pregnant goat will eat about 2-3% of her body weight in hay or grass each day. A goat that has not been successfully bred typically comes back into heat on her next cycle. I havent because I thought whatever she had the kid would need. Movement in a goats belly doesnt mean shes pregnant. 911 Calls. Her behaviour hasnt changed, she is eating normally, etc. Pregnant goats need more nutrients than non-pregnant goats, so its important to make sure they are getting enough to eat. They look normal and healthy, but big around the middle, like they will have babies. We milked Elizabeth today (that is the goat with the milk) and she seemed so relieved . You would have to go to a vet for an ultrasound and other diagnostics to figure out what is happening, if she is still unhappy in a day or two. 4. Does usually experience heat every 18-22 days during their season. But today when I got home from work, Hazel was bleeting quite loudly and holding her tail up in the air. Please help me understand whats going on! The bag filled up after kidding, but that is not the norm. If her udder just started to develop in the last couple of weeks, then maybe she came into heat again 3 weeks later and is due next week. The only cure is for them to get pregnant and go through the normal lactation cycle. thanks for the reply, but all seven appear to be pregnant developing bags and showing signs of pending birth. There are many myths about goats. goatsauthority.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. But I am stressed about her persistent cough, poor coat and her huge udder. Then it becomes slacker and starts opening. If these are white-tailed deer . A doe thats going into labor cant decide if she wants to lie down or stand up. Hi! Do not milk her again. Im glad my info was helpful. 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