# My Alpine is done...who will be next?!



## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

I got an Alpine doe a couple of months ago, was told she was running out with a buck. Ok, she had a slight udder, but you can tell she's had many kids (and she's older, probably 6-8). So I watched her for a month, didn't see any more change in her udder and put her out with all my other does that aren't due for a few more months.
Well, she's back in the barn for the last 2 weeks because her udder filled out a lot more. I seriously can't tell if she's pregnant or just filling out an udder for the heck of it, there's definitely colostrum looking milk when I milked her a tiny bit. She has zero discharge though.
I'm going to try to feel for ligaments today, she is gentle but doesn't like me poking around for ligaments and moves off and I need 2 more hands to hold her lol. 

I think she's doe coding me. I'm out of space in the barn stalls so it's getting pretty crowded in there. Our weather has been sucky so I have babies in the barn with a surrogate momma (lambs and a new Nubian baby I got yesterday) and now the Alpine - I have like 2 stalls in there and no more room...plus I have another doe due this month as well but she's not looking close yet. 
Maybe it's time to start unloading crap out of my barn and stop using it for storage, lol.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck! Always hard when you don't have an actual due date.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Yeah that kills me, I'm glad that after this month, I know when everyone is due because I bunched them all together. I might have a crazy week or two, but it won't be waiting a whole month wondering.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Please excuse how lean she is, I've had her for a month and a half.

But look at that udder, I mean it's doubled in size in a month, she's gotta be close? lol

I got photobombed by Ruby the Boer doe, that would be her face on the left.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

How does the udder feel? Is it really firm? If it is, then she's close. If it's still soft and squishy then she has some filling to do..

Btw, been there, done that with the uncertain due dates. It's totally why I dye my hair now.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

No it's still soft, I keep hoping to see some discharge or something to give me a sign of impending...something!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Happy kidding


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Eventually! I feel for ligaments, ones there, one isn't...then both. She's playing games  I thought her udder looked big a month ago, but I now realize that's nothing.

Meanwhile, my Nubian doe isn't bagged up at all and I know she's due this month sometime...must be later in the month. Groovy, you're right, I'm going to need a box of Revlon before this month is over.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Still nothing but a bigger udder on my Alpine...









However, we had a nasty cold front in, even got snow (73 that day, 20 something that night), and my Nubian doe kidded instead! She had triplets, 2 does and a buck. The buckling got chilled, I thought he was dead but he moved when I picked him up so we went and "reheated" him in the house and gave him some JumpStart, then pulled a weaker sister in to warm up as well.
All 3 doing well now and back out with momma with a heat lamp.
Buckling is the spotted one. I'm glad they're all doing well but really wish the spotted one had been a doe.
Father is 3/4 Boer, 1/4 Kiko.

























Momma


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Hurray for babies! They are adorable...I'm so glad the buckling made it. He's gorgeous!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How cute, congrats.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

The tiny little "dun" doe passed in my arms last night. I was supplementing her with a bottle because she was pushed out (milked mom in the bottle, fed baby so no reheated milk), she was fine at feeding time and in bad shape by 9 when I went out to lock everything up. 
Not sure what was going on there, but she was the smallest. 
The other two are doing well. My Alpine still hasn't kidded...crazy doe.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Oh no! I'm so sorry you lost her... :-(


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

It is what it is, I was pretty bummed last night but she was beyond helping I guess. 
Here are the other two though, they are nice and spunky. 
Still waiting on the alpine, you can see her laying on her udder in the doeling pics.


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

That little boy is loud! I'm sorry he isn't a doe for you.  It is never easy to lose one... 

Fingers tight for your Alpine! Mine is holding out on me as well.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

I wished he was a doe too, lol. Oh well, his sister is cute, just not crazy colored.

Missy needs to stop holding out so I can see what she has already. She's bred to a FB Boer buck but I won't get a memo for them - oh well. That monster udder is still soft too, no noticeable discharge, though she's always got shavings stuck to her there anyway so hard to tell. I imagine her teats will fill out more before she actually goes.
Crazy, my Nubian barely had an udder and kidded the next day, this one looks like a Holstein and still nothing.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

C'MON Babies!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I am so sorry for the loss.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Still nothing from the Alpine...but my Boer/Nubian babies are doing good. I'll start separating and milking their momma Saturday after next. I don't think their mother is going to care, she's more than happy to go out in the yard with me to go eat my lawn and leave the babies in the stall anyway.

That said, I noticed my twin 3 year old Nubian girls (both will be FF's) are starting to actually get udders, small, but noticeable now as are two of my commercial Boer girls. All are due in June. I'm excited to see my bucks first babies born.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I'm so sorry about the one doeling.  
I just love the other doeling's cream/tan shading, she's gorgeous! And her brother is cute too.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

I'm a little on the fence about keeping her. If she was a Nubian only, I would for sure, but I'm not sure she's something I want to keep to cross back on my registered Boer buck, and not sure if she'll be a good milker and worth keeping for that. I *should* probably sell both of them, but if my commercial does don't throw me doelings this year (or I don't like theirs as much), I'm going to be SOL because I really want to sell two of the wild commercials since they are a giant PITA to handle. 
Guess I need to just wait and see what my commercials throw before I make any decisions there. I'm sure DH will be thrilled at me hanging onto them for that long, lol. As far as I can tell, she's clean teats though. I am going to disbud her in case I want to keep her, her mother has the worst horns and she can barely get her head into the milking stand because of how they curl. Her mother is one of my favorites though, so I'm pretty torn. 
I still have these to kid out:
Boer X Alpine - on the fence about keeping anything there
Nubian X commercial Boer doe - doeling retained if we get any - bucklings for FFA/4H 
Nubian X commercial Boer doe - doeling retained if we get any - bucklings for FFA/4H or sold
Nubian x Nubian (x 3) - if the oldest doe, Clara, has a doeling I'll keep her for sure, Clara is probably 8 or 9 from her teeth. May keep from the twin FF's as well, just depends on how they handle being milked - if they end up being total a-holes, I'll keep their daughters instead.
FB Boer x Commercial show doe - doelings will be keepers for sure, bucklings for 4H/FFA projects maybe. 

Next year it'll get crazy though lol. I'll be breeding more percentage Boer's. I actually should have held off on breeding the two commercials to my Nubian, I didn't have a Boer buck so I figured why not...then DH went out and bought me a very nice spotted Boer buck, so he only got 1 girlfriend this year, but my nicest commercial Boer doe for a girlfriend, so I'm excited for that. 

Not sure what I'll do with the Alpine for next year unless the Boer babies turn out great. I don't have an Alpine buck and not a fan of airplane ears. I just got her because she was super cheap and I felt sorry for her being skinny and older. Seems like my sympathy cases are some of my favorites though. I paid $100 for the alpine, a commercial Boer doe (that has been registered but I'll never see the papers) and a Nubian doe - and I like all 3 of them a lot more than the ones I paid "real" money for.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

Well our Alpine finally decided to have them! After a crazy day at the vet with my other does that just kidded, I got home and put my other does back in the stall to recover. Checked on Missy the Alpine and nothing so went about my chores. My oldest son was watering and catches me while I'm feeding and says "Missy has a baby". Sure enough, in less than an hour she went from begging for food to a new baby.
She ended up having twins, both doelings.
My Nubian Doe looked bad this morning, wouldn't get up. She had barberpole worms really bad apparently from the fecal test. I just dewormed her on the 10th with ivermectin. So she is on panacur for the next 3 days and then another round10 days after that. She lost a good 20 lbsin the last couple of days, she looks like pure hell but she was up and eating like normal until this morning. I'm a bit freaked out that we might have some parasite resistance to ivermectin now. Not cool at all.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Congratulations on the twins!

In my area, the only dewormer that works well with Barber Pole worms is Prohibit. I don't think Ivermectin is very effective.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Cute!


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

I have prohibit, but I need to read more about dosing it since apparently there isn't much of a safe area between a correct dosage and toxicity, and I swear I read somewhere not to give it to pregnant does, of which most of mine are still.


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## yankeedoodle (Apr 13, 2018)

Congrats on the kids! I'll say from my experience, that alpines are good at hiding there babies after a few years. one of my 5 yr olds did it to me a few years ago and I'm tellin' you, there was no sign of prego from looking at her belly. but, sure as summer she had twins! I named them secret and mystery bcz thats exactly what they were! It happens more with the older ones.


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## Sara789 (Feb 2, 2018)

My buck got barberpoles worms earlier this year...I was also prescribed panache for three days and then cydectin orally as well. It did the trick. Vet said many people this year are having barberpole worm resistance as well


ISmellLikeGoats said:


> Well our Alpine finally decided to have them! After a crazy day at the vet with my other does that just kidded, I got home and put my other does back in the stall to recover. Checked on Missy the Alpine and nothing so went about my chores. My oldest son was watering and catches me while I'm feeding and says "Missy has a baby". Sure enough, in less than an hour she went from begging for food to a new baby.
> She ended up having twins, both doelings.
> My Nubian Doe looked bad this morning, wouldn't get up. She had barberpole worms really bad apparently from the fecal test. I just dewormed her on the 10th with ivermectin. So she is on panacur for the next 3 days and then another round10 days after that. She lost a good 20 lbsin the last couple of days, she looks like pure hell but she was up and eating like normal until this morning. I'm a bit freaked out that we might have some parasite resistance to ivermectin now. Not cool at all.
> 
> ...


 T


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Cute.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

I ended up finding the chart from Cornell on Prohibit dosage, that was pretty useful!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

The babies are adorable!


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

5 weeks and counting down to our big kidding season. I have one Nubian doe that is already starting a bag, she's an older doe, but I know what day she was bred so I'm not in panic mode.
My 2 FF Nubian girls have tiny little udders, as do 2 of the commercial Boer FF's.
Then we have a lull until September when we should have 3 more does to kid out and be done for the season. Our stock shows are in the winter so the late babies will be great for the Feb/March shows - those are the big ones anyway.

Millie, the Nubian with the single baby left after triplets still looks rough. She's been down for days, she's eating and drinking, but I have to move the water to her to drink, and she'll get up and leave it and then not go back to it. She rejected her baby before she went down so I'm bottle feeding the little cream and white girl - guess we are keeping her as well - the kids named her and want her for a show doe, so whatever. Millie is getting fortified b vitamins and all the meds from the vet, but doesn't seem to really be getting any better. She's still perky and looks to me to be drenched (must taste good as I don't have to force it, just put it near her and she sucks it down) but it feels like I'm not getting anywhere, plus now she's developed pneumonia on top of it and is being treated for that too. She went from very healthy in great weight to deaths door all within a week, and we've been fighting this since the 19th.
Amber and my daughters pet hair sheep Goober...they are hard to photo because they have to be all up in your business constantly.









The Boer/Alpine twins are nice and fat. I disbudded them both along with Amber (Millie's baby). One has clean 2x2 teats right now, the other is clean 1x1. Their ears are funny, I love it.


























Seems like they always have to pee when you have the camera out...








We are having trouble with pneumonia this year, anyone else? My Nubian buck got it, both FF does, and now another Nubian doe. None of the Boers have had it yet, thank God since catching 2 of them is a nightmare.
I really had to dig to find some pneumonia vaccines, Jeffers and Valley Vet show not in stock. I finally did on another site, Santa Cruz has it also but their shipping price is ridiculous ($32 - I can overnight stuff through UPS/Fedex/USPS for cheaper!!!) so I went with AtoZ vet supply or something like that. Still cost $44 for vaccines (50 dose) but the shipping was $23 which is about normal for vaccines with an ice pack.


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