# Breeding Issues - Boer Buck on ND Doe



## Kudzu (Aug 30, 2014)

I recently acquired a Nigerian Dwarf doe (whom I already adore).
The problem is, it came from someone who keeps and breeds Boers. Their buck (which is a very impressive Boer) had managed to get in with this girl about a month ago(according to them). They were not sure if she had been bred and were not about to spend any money on this situation. After getting her home and a better look, there is no question in my mind she had been bred. Half of her udder is already starting to bag up... I'm also thinking way more than a month pregnant here.

I'm a novice to this and just did not want to see her put down.

My question is; how dangerous is this for her? Is it possible for her to give birth without assistance? How high is that risk? Is it possible to get the pregnancy aborted? I'm okay if I lose the kids (though avoiding this too would be a plus), I just don't want to lose her.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Welcome to TGS!

Yes, breeding a large breed buck to a mini breed doe is risky and could potentially result in kidding difficulty, however, I've seen it done before which ended in a kidding that went just fine and healthy kids. I would never recommend purposefully crossing a large breed buck to a mini, but accidents happen. I would not have the doe aborted at this point, honestly, that can be more risky than just letting her kid. If she's already got a partially full udder then you'll have kids fairly soon. 

The decision is up to you. At this point if you just can't take the risk, it may be safer to have her spayed or do a c-section instead of giving a shot to abort. For me personally, I would let her kid and hope for the best. If it makes you feel better, I've seen someone with a pygmy doe bred to a boer buck kid perfectly fine. I also know of a breeder who had her nigerians accidentally bred to nubians and they all kidded with no problem. The doe's body should prevent the kids from getting too large to come out. Sometimes that means when the kids reach a certain size, the doe will kid...it may be earlier than expected.


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## Kudzu (Aug 30, 2014)

Thank you, pleasure meeting you!

Ahh whew, I tried searching it and the posts I found were extremely troubling. I have my fingers crossed though I have absolutely no idea when she will be kidding.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

I had a couple of Nigerian Boers...totally not intentional. I didn't even know they had been bred by the Boer buck until they kidded miniature Boer kids. Tiny kids (at birth anyway, they sure didn't stay that way) with traditional Boer markings and blue eyes. No problems passing the kids. The kids were not much bigger than normal ND kids.


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## Kudzu (Aug 30, 2014)

Well I feel better by miles at least and she doesn't look too big.
Hopefully she will be fine. She's sweet as heck though and was a pet before all of this.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I just wouldn't give her to much grain or the kids will grow bigger inside from all the added food.


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## HappyCaliGoats (Mar 19, 2014)

When I first talked to my vet about breeding my goats, she said the size of the kids at birth will depend on the doe, not the buck. Not saying I guarantee you won't have any problems, even goats of the same size can have a kid that is too big, but I hope it makes you feel better to hear what my vet said about it! 


Newbie to Nubian dairy goats! 2 nubian does, 1 Nubian buck, 1 Pygmy doe, 1 Pygmy/ Nigerian wether, and 1 alpine/ guernsey wether! Plus the rest of the farm pets which would take the whole page to list  
~Dee

Sent from my iPad using Goat Forum


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

YOu said half of her udder is bagging up, they don't normally do one side at a time. I am wondering if she doesnt have mastitis going on?


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

while this is not an ideal situation, it's not a death sentence for your doe either.

I would suggest to not provide her with much grain, as it can make really big babies. check on her udder for mastitis now (and post a picture so we can see). maybe send her blood for pregnancy test and get an idea on how far along she is b/c you WILL need to be there to assist. you can post lady part pictures here too. there are many people here who can guess how far along a goat is by looking at her hoo-ha.

here's a thread on ND bred to a boer that went well. http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f197/ummmm-tabitha-160606/


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## HerdQueen (Oct 15, 2012)

I am a breeder that had nigerian does breed to a large breed buck. My husband bought 3 of them. 2 did fine 1 did not. But it was not really because the kids were overly large, it's because the doe had a wicked small bone structure. We couldn't even get our hand past her bones. She could have been bred to a nigerian and the result would have been them same for her.

Beneifit of her being a nigerian is they typically have multiples which mean smal babies. Be mindful of her feed intake. Only give her enough to maintain her condition. Contact a vet and have them on stand by incase she does get into trouble.


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## Kudzu (Aug 30, 2014)

While my camera is not the best I did try;








This is her udder, it does not feel hard or hot. Just warm and swishy like a normal human breast would. She does not appear to be in pain or object to me manipulating it.









Her hoo-ha has a slight white discharge today that was not there yesterday, it does not have any odor that I can detect. It is also "springier" too, yesterday it looked like a thin wavy line with no dimension to it at all. Today there is a very slight puff but it is noticeable to me compared to yesterday.

Edit: Also what worried me was she looks like she has a very small vulva to start with compared to most pictures I have seen (and yes I want to wash her so bad but I worry about stressing her out further right now).

That thread is a major relief at least, to actually see it done, even with assistance is a load off.



nchen7 said:


> while this is not an ideal situation, it's not a death sentence for your doe either.
> 
> I would suggest to not provide her with much grain, as it can make really big babies. check on her udder for mastitis now (and post a picture so we can see). maybe send her blood for pregnancy test and get an idea on how far along she is b/c you WILL need to be there to assist. you can post lady part pictures here too. there are many people here who can guess how far along a goat is by looking at her hoo-ha.
> 
> here's a thread on ND bred to a boer that went well. http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f197/ummmm-tabitha-160606/


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I think she's just got a crooked udder. Possibly from a previous case of mastitis or a kid nursed her on one side only. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't develop mastitis. It looks okay at this point. I also think you've got a ways to go before kidding.


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## Kudzu (Aug 30, 2014)

KW Farms said:


> I think she's just got a crooked udder. Possibly from a previous case of mastitis or a kid nursed her on one side only. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't develop mastitis. It looks okay at this point. I also think you've got a ways to go before kidding.


That's a relief. I will say though today when I was out I watched her "belly" move. I wasn't expecting to even feel this thing but today while she was standing perfectly still looking away from me as I looked at her, her side suddenly shifted out and then became a new shape(from nice and round to some weird egg shape that had been stomped on).


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I'm the one with the thread Ni pointed you to...Tabitha is my goat. It's not ideal for them to be bred to larger bucks, but accidents happen. If it was up to the doe as to how big the kids get, why would we worry about breeding to a larger buck? At least you have a heads up cause we didn't know until she started labor! No grain. Feed her a high quality hay (we feed grass, but many will say alfalfa) and a good loose mineral. If you don't have a vet, get one NOW...that way if you need them you're not trying to track one down. Make sure they have someone on call and make sure they do farm visits. Good luck!


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