# Udder Development



## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

I have an almost one year old Nigerian Dwarf Doe. I have had her for exactly two months. She was born mid May 2018 and I own her twin sister as well. Both of the sisters and the half sister I bought with them are all tiny for a one year old Nigerian, I’d estimate 30 lbs for the smallest and maybe 45 for the largest (which is the Doe in question) which leads me to believe they may be stunted somehow. She is eating a 50/50 alfalfa grass hay 24/7, grain with added alfalfa pellets and BOSS (I don’t know the amount, she is with three other does and they all eat the grain together, they should be getting a cup each) two different loose minerals 24/7 and replamin plus once a week since I’ve noticed she has a scruffy coat. She is completely wild, I can get all the other does she’s with to eat out of my hand, but not her. I can’t pet any of them. She is up to date on all her shots, although she needs a CDT soon, and she will be getting wormed this week. She needs a copper bolus, but I can’t get close enough to shove it in her mouth, and all the other does she is with have already had one so I can’t add it to feed. The point: she has been developing an udder ‘bump’ (the size of a slightly cupped hand), she has always been fatter than the rest (I thought she had a good sized rumen) and is getting bigger, her rear is poochy and in the last week has gotten poochier. I had a buck in an adjoining pen for her first three weeks here, and although the sturdiness of the kennel she was in makes me doubt it, I suppose she could have been bred through the fence. The breeder I bought her from says there is no way she was exposed, but I believe fence breeding may be an issue again. My questions: I’ve researched extensively the development of a young does udder and can’t find what I’m looking for. Should she be growing tissue if she isn’t bred? Could she just have come into her first heat finally if she was at all stunted and would she get a small udder with a heat cycle? What is the development process for a first freshener does udder? And how far along should I be guessing she is based on her udder development? I’ve always known the due date for my does and have never questioned any signs I see, so this is new to me. I will try to get pictures when I get home, but haven’t had luck with good ones yet. I’m sorry for the long post, I’ve tried to shove as much info in as possible. Thanks in advance for any replies!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You probably do have a fence breeding. I'd keep an eye on her.


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

These are the best I can do for now. I'll try again when I feed this evening. The Doe in question is the buckskin, if you couldn't tell.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Chelsey said:


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By the looks of that cute lil udder they had a fence line date. You can draw blood or have the vet out to do it. But you need a way to contain her for the process. Even if it is tyin her to a fence... but for a blood draw she needs be quite still. I would be VERY concerned about her size though if she is pregnant.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Judging from those photos, she is definitely pregnant and has 3-6 weeks left. She is more than two months along, so this must have happened at the previous owner's place. 

Prepare for babies! Try not to worry too much about her size/age-nothing can be done now, and the majority of these types of unplanned breedings turn out just fine. The biggest issue is when they decide to have a single kid, as they tend to be larger, but being Nigerian, the odds are in your favor that she will have more than one. Try to be there at her birth in case she needs help, but of course, not knowing a due date, that's gonna be tricky. Good luck, and keep us updated!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yep.


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

Dang it! I have a beautiful buckling all picked out for them! I was planning on waiting until he was over six months old and they were at least eighteen months to breed them all. I plan on bottle feeding the kid so it's tame, and hopefully that will keep her from expending too much energy by feeding it. I'll try separating her so I can focus more on her needs, but last time I did that with her twin, she went THROUGH my fence. I also don't want to stress her out much, she panics any time I get near, so I'll need to figure out a way to do separate her without actually getting close. Thank you very much for your replies!


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Chelsey said:


> Dang it! I have a beautiful buckling all picked out for them! I was planning on waiting until he was over six months old and they were at least eighteen months to breed them all. I plan on bottle feeding the kid so it's tame, and hopefully that will keep her from expending too much energy by feeding it. I'll try separating her so I can focus more on her needs, but last time I did that with her twin, she went THROUGH my fence. I also don't want to stress her out much, she panics any time I get near, so I'll need to figure out a way to do separate her without actually getting close. Thank you very much for your replies!


If our dam raised kids were anymore untame i wouldnt need change clothes so often or wipe goat kisses from my cheeks or rebraid my hair. Hahahaha!


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

I wouldn’t normally take a baby off of a Doe, but there’s no chance I’d be able to socialize with her baby when she kids. The baby would be as wild as she is, and she’s a special kind of crazy! Ugh, it’s gonna be so hard not to stress over her!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

As far as size goes, we have three nigis that were a year old in february and march and they are all between 30 and 40 pounds. Two 2 year olds are 45 to 50. Some are small, some are larger. Differences in weight are easier to see in smaller animals.


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

Update: The Does udder is getting noticeably bigger, sometimes by day! She's packing on belly weight too. I've decided to not separate her from her sisters as I feel it would REALLY stress her out, and instead removed the Doe she didn't grow up with. Her sisters are definitely not pregnant, as I have seen both come into heat recently. I don't think she has any milk yet. Here are some pictures to show how she's growing.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Happy kidding!
She's really strutting her pregnant self. Another month she'll be laying around, groaning and complaining.lol


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## SandyNubians (Feb 18, 2017)

Looking good! She looks great! I love her petite head ohlala: Good luck!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Happy kidding.


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

Still no baby for Clover! The stress is killing me! My husband has started to get glazed eyes when I begin telling him signs that mean she should be kidding 'any day now!', and my four year old is convinced she's not even pregnant. I'm hoping to send pictures of a baby soon, but she honestly looks less close than about two weeks ago (at least to me!) when I swear the baby dropped. I've gotten info about who the buck may have been, thankfully he's a Nigerian too. I can only talk through a friend of the breeder, I guess the breeder is shy. Her buck got out one day, but she doesn't know when exactly. Anyway, I thought I'd update since it's been about three weeks!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

She is looking closer.


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## SandyNubians (Feb 18, 2017)

Sheesh, clover. Let's get this show on the road! I wanna see your cute lil kids! She definitely looks close. And she started her udder at the latest, April 29th. It's been at least 6 weeks. I've never, ever, had a for go longer than 9 weeks from start of udder development to kidding. Most of mine go in 6-8 weeks. So hopefully you only have 3 weeks left max! She looks pretty dang close in those pictures though so I would say babies in the next 1-10 days


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

She finally had them! A breeched doeling stillborn, I think she had been stuck a while, and a normal positioned buckling. I wasn't sure she was in active labor, but I could tell she was close so I was checking every hour. My 11:00 check showed a rump and tail already out, so I brought my kids to my mom (who was conveniently across the field at my sister's for the day), and brought my sister back with me to help hold Clover still. We tried initially to catch her, but eventually just hunkered down to watch because she was managing to push the baby out despite the breech. Baby was born a few minutes later (this was maybe a half hour total), but was sadly dead, no rubbing, nose sucking or blowing helped. Second baby was less that half an hour after, with the placentas right behind. She has taken to being a mom well! I'm pretty proud of her! Should she be able to handle feeding a single buckling? I'd prefer to not bottle feed if at all possible, and since it's just the one I'll consider it. I'm just worried about stunting her growth, she's a year and a month old right now. This experience has answered my question of 'can I breed does to birth at one year?' I think I'll leave that to more experienced people.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

He should be fine. You are super lucky she was able to push out the breech. Glad they are ok.


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## SandyNubians (Feb 18, 2017)

So sorry you lost the doeling :hug: Those breech kidding are awful cause that cord can easily break before they are out and the kid drowns. Nothing you could have done at the point she was already at though. Congrats on the live buckling! He is adorable. With just one, she should be able to handle him just fine. You may need to teach him to nurse from both sides to keep the udder even.


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## Chelsey (Dec 7, 2018)

ksalvagno said:


> You are super lucky she was able to push out the breech. Glad they are ok.


Im glad too! I was fully expecting to have to shove the baby back in and find the legs. My family had a breeched calf last year and it took us an hour to shove it back in (cows are apparently ridiculously strong). That's why I had my sister come out, to hold her cause I knew it wasn't going to be fun. Thankfully we didn't have to though.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All good advice.


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