# Can fetuses have different due dates?



## jblynnb (Feb 9, 2016)

Hi all, I have been searching the internet for the answer to this question, but I haven't really found anything that explains the how and why of my situation:

My doe had 3 kids yesterday- 2 normal/smaller sized bucklings and a very very small doeling. The doeling is half the size of her brothers (1.56 lbs today, not sure what she was when she was born yesterday.) She is doing okay now, but she clearly isn't as developed as the boys are. Yesterday she didn't have the strength to suck and get milk, or stand, or anything but sleep. I fed her slowly from a dropper and she gained strength through the night. Today she is able to stand, though wobbly. She still isn't very coordinated and needs assistance to find and grab hold of the teat. She can't really walk around yet though she is trying. (Her brothers are playing and romping and walking around.) It is as if the doeling wasn't ready to be born yet. 

Can anyone tell me if babies can be born at the same time but at different stages of development? I know the dam was bred by the same buck but several times over the course of two weeks. I was trying to make sure she got pregnant, but if allowing them to breed over several days leads to some of the resulting babies being born prematurely, I'll stop doing it. Any help/explanations are appreciated!


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Does can have kids by two different bucks at the same time. ( 2 bucks bred her in the same heat cycle). My unscientific answer would be, anything is possible. Especially with goats. Maybe she was just not in a prime location for nourishment and the development was just a lot slower.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

The doeling probably didn't get as much nourishment. The placenta may not have been attached properly.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree with the kid didn't get proper nutrients, sometimes one kid is robbed from from the others or the cord was pinched off a bit not allowing the kid to absorb much. Some parish and some are born very small and weak.


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## Summersun (Apr 24, 2014)

I also agree that she just didn't get as much nutrition. The more kids there are the less room. So sometimes the placenta or cord is not in a good place and gets damaged. This causes that baby to die or grow poorly. But it sounds like she is doing well with help and will continue to improve.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

It is possible-though very rare-for a doe to get pregnant on two different heat cycles, and deliver both kids at the same time, OR deliver one kid and then another in three weeks. 
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/ewe-miracles-lambs-born-three-2636726


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

It would be the twin to twin transfusion syndrome


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

It is possible but highly improbable for that to occur. There are many other possibilities for the size difference. It has nothing to do with the buck being left with the doe for 2 weeks. 

Sounds like selenium deficiency to me. But could also have been umbilical had a knot or kink in-utero and she was robbed of nutrition. 

If she was at an earlier stage of development she would have very thin hair on her ears and legs and she would have labored breathing from under-developed lungs.


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

I have (human) cousins that are twins, conceived a month apart. So it can happen. But it's extremely rare.
I'd agree with the others who say it was probably something else. I've seen it before and even take up calling the small one "The Premie" because they DO seem just like they would be preemies. 
Sounds like you're doing a good job. Best wishes!


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