# Buck jumps fence- pregnant kids?



## puckles (Apr 2, 2015)

Hi! Something told me to go check on the goats in the middle of the night since it started to rain. Some of the kids have been getting their heads stuck in the fence lately and I wanted to make sure they were safe. I found our newly purchased buck in the barn with the mamas and their kids who were born 6.5 - 7 months ago. I had them seperated in 2 different pastures to prevent this from happening, but you can't stop a horny buck! He has older does in his pasture/barn but that didn't help either. I checked the kids rear ends and definitely one, maybe 2 looked like they may have been mounted. 

I guess my question is: isn't this way too young to be bred? I am super worried about my little Annie who was born on may 6th. She is the smallest and I am afraid if she got pregnant she will have issues and I might lose her. (Her mother was also small and squeezed through the fence last year at 8 months old to get at the last buck.) Is there anything I can do but wait and see? She was rejected by her mother and became my favorite little sidekick- I'd be so sad if anything happened to her.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Some people on the forum here use something called Lute to induce abortion. You can get a blood test for pregnancy to know for sure, but I think they said you have to wait a certain number of days. Is the buck the same breed as the doelings, or a larger or smaller breed? I'm sure one of the moderators will advise you & ease your worries.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Can pull bloods at 21-30 days to see if they are pregnant. If positive you can use lute to abort them


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## puckles (Apr 2, 2015)

*is lutalyse safe?*

I had a fellow goat raiser tell me that it is possible that lutalyse isn't safe and in the worst case scenario it could cause the goats to be sterile. There are 4 little doelings that were in the area he got into- not sure how many of them he got to or if the timing was right on the others. Definitely don't have money to get blood drawn at the vet for pregnancy tests on all 4. I have also heard of doelings this young getting pregnant and having healthy babies. I am torn about what to do since there are risks either way. What would you guys do?


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## puckles (Apr 2, 2015)

the buck is the same breed as the doelings' sire (kiko), but he is much smaller than last year's buck.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

You can do a blood draw yourself and send the tests in. They are like $6 for a pregnancy test


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I've used Lute for years and never had a problem. I have never heard of it causing sterility and it is as safe as any medication, as they all come with some risks.

Either way there are risks- kidding problems or a minute chance that the lute may cause a problem. You need to decide what you are willing to do. Yes, 6 months old is young to be bred but people have had does successfully kid young after oops breedings. How small is she? How big were the bucks parents? How old is he? Is he young and will continue to grow? You know the does dam was tiny, so small size sounds genetic in her lines. If the buck has large parents, he can pass the large size to his kids and your little doeling may have issues. Are you able both skill level and financially to assist this doeling if she has issues passing a too large kid? 

There are a lot of variable in this equation you need to figure in when you make a decision. Ultimately, it is your choice as to what you want to do if you find out she/they is/are pregnant.


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

My buck just jumped the fence and bred my 6 month old born mid May. She's only 58-62 lbs so i am opting to lute her. She's too young and I don't want to lose her to kidding problems at 11 months old...

I feel bad doing it but it is the safest thing for her.

If your doelings are over 80lb they might be ok, but if money is a concern lutalyse is cheaper than a C-section.


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## puckles (Apr 2, 2015)

$6 per test is a lot less than I thought- I guess it's taking them all to the vet that would get pricey! 

Annie was born tiny but grew up to be plump and healthy but a tiny bit shorter than the others. Her mother is skinny and small, but her grandparents on that side were both very large. The mother was 8 months when she got pregnant and kidded with no problems (other than not being a very good mother). Her sire was a very round and fluffy kiko, though not very tall.

The buck that got her is from another state and I never saw his dam or sire- we got him from the neighbor of the original farm. He is quite a bit smaller than Annie's sire or grand-sire and is about 2 1/2 years old. 

Thanks for all the different considerations and takes on this situation. From what I've read I have about 10-14 days before I can even use the lute anyway, so I have time to think on it.

One of the other doelings was acting like she was in heat today- tail twitching around and her whethered brother kept mounting her. hopefully this means she was not bred! I'll keep watching them all...

thanks again everyone, and feel free to chime in if you have experience with this or feel strongly in one way or the other.

Katie


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

I never lute my goats in the wild they would be having kids plus in one or two months they should start getting bred they will be fine trust me my friends doeling managed to get in with her dad at 3 months and got pregnant and delivered a happy healthy baby girl 9 months later!


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

JK_Farms said:


> I never lute my goats in the wild they would be having kids plus in one or two months they should start getting bred they will be fine trust me my friends doeling managed to get in with her dad at 3 months and got pregnant and delivered a happy healthy baby girl 9 months later!


9 months later?


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

Hehe I saw that. A typo perhaps? 

In the wild the ones too small to deliver would die of complications.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

nicolemackenzie said:


> Hehe I saw that. A typo perhaps?
> 
> In the wild the ones too small to deliver would die of complications.


Yes I thought typo haha

I would prefer to wait until they are 18 months before joining to kid around 2 or later. Our goats are not wild goats, they are built different and we have changed them through our years of breeding. We have selected for different traits than wild goats that are survival of the fittest and only those genetics move forward.


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Haha I totally didn't see that it was supposed to be 5 months. But the goat will be fine just make sure you don't over feed so the baby is small


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Please don't say "she will be fine". So much depends on her size, genetics, size of the buck, etc.

Goats we have are thousands of years into management and do not resemble their wild cousins in so many ways.

If you are very concerned about her size and the possible complications, lute is a valuable tool for goat herders. I personally would not risk the life of one of my does for an "oops" pregnancy, if you think it may come to that. If you decide not to terminate, at the least I would absolutely make sure I was present for kidding in case the vet needed to be called for intervention.


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

I don't believe in killing any baby sadly I have yet seen any of my goats kid and they were all fine young or not I've had accidental breedings before and didn't lute it didn't even cross my mind to there is a small chance that there will be any problems!


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