# A Nigerian Dwarf that was due "any day now" 5 weeks ago.



## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

I have a beautiful Nigerian Dwarf, Carmella, that I bought about 5 weeks ago. I was told by the owner that she was "due any day now." She appeared to be quite pregnant, with both sides bulging. Carmella is 2 and has kidded once before, with twins. Her owner told me that she looked like she was going to have twins again. Her udders appeared to be filling up, but were only about the size of a human fist. They are still this size. A few days after we got her, she seemed to slim down quite a bit, but within a few days she had plumped back up. She bleated a lot when we first got her, but that was likely because she went from being part of a herd to being an only goat. We figured she would have the kids to keep her company soon. She has always been very friendly. And this has not really changed. I have noticed though, for the past 3-4 days she has started getting feisty, in a playful sort of way. When she sees me head to her shed with feed she comes bolting at me, one time completely leaping over the 4 steps leading to the ground from our front porch (Yes, she was on our front porch--she's an only goat), and right before she gets to me, she starts jumping and bucking and "ramming" the air. She seems very excited to see the feed, and not at all mad. I don't know if she is getting broody, since she has started running after the cat, or if she's just getting territorial. But as far along as she either should be or appears to be, I wouldn't think that it would be possible for her to run as fast as she runs or jumps as far as she jumps! 

I would really appreciate anyone's feedback on what is going on with this sweet, beautiful, but currently a bit crazy little goat!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I would contact the breeder and tell her she didnt kid and that you need a companion for her. Sounds like she might be in heat


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Welcome to the Goat spot. :wave: 

I would totally agree with Stacey. She is in heat.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

So, even though she's pot-bellied and looks like she's about to bust, she's really just in heat? I've tried feeling her underbelly, but she'll have no part of it, and I've tried to raise her tail to look at her "pooch", but she doesn't want me to do that either. She's never had this issue before. Is this just because she's in heat? I'm trying to get some pictures of her to upload, but the pixel size or whatever, is too big. Any suggestions?


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

The picture in the previous post is from the day we got her. I will try to get another one of her now.


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## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

She does look like she's bred. Is it possible she has a later due date? I would do as Stacey said and contact the breeder, but I'd ask about all possible times she could kid and if there's no way she's pregnant now, then I'd see about a wether or something as a companion for her. I do have a doe who looked like she was carrying triplets, bigger than your doe, but it turned out she was fat. Not pregnant. She recently went in heat.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

I'm sorry I keep re-posting on my own post, but I'm new to posting too. Plus I have black-eyed peas blanching on the stove and have to keep running back and forth. Some other information that I thought might be helpful is that when I bought Carmella the owner said that she didn't know exactly when she had been impregnated, or how far along she was. Also, yesterday I saw her licking her teats. I'm so confused, I just don't know what to think!! :shrug:


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## helmstead (Oct 2, 2008)

Do I see a little udder in that one pic? That would be the answer to your question - if she has an udder, she's due :wink: you just don't know when.

I have several does that look wide like that when they're open, too..just little fatties.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

She does have a little udder. The owner I bought her from said that she had gotten it a little while back, and that she wouldn't have had that if she weren't pregnant. But she has kidded before...several months ago. Her kids were almost as big as she was, and had been weened and Carmella's milk had dried up. She's still not letting me get a pic of her rump, bless her heart! She won't even let me stand behind her! LOL :GAAH:


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

Well, she can have an udder and not be pregnant. That would be called a precocious udder. I'm leaning towards that. She could just be fat from looseing her ligaments in her tummy. I had a doe like that.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

ok, so if she's NOT pregnant, will her underbelly feel different from the underbelly of a pregnant goat? I'll try to check if anyone can tell me what I''m feeling for! ;-) But right now I'm not sure if she'll let me. She's not letting me touch her belly or her tail right now. Does going into heat make a goat sore? She's not around any other goats, so she's not sore from being bred. Also, does the "pooch" look the same in does that are pregnant and does that are just in heat? Can anyone tell me what exactly I'm looking for in a "pooch" test to tell me if she's pregnant or not?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

She looks wide, but I have seen does that look like that and are not pregnant. I also have seen does that nurse off their own udder! And you said you saw her licking her teats...maybe she hasn't dried from her last kidding which was only 3? months ago and is nursing off herself. Personally...I would watch her closely and see if this is what's going on. You can even see if you can milk her easily. When they are seperated from their kids and are not being milked for awhile it will be a little hard at first to get milk out, but if she is nursing off herself then the milk should just slide out easily when you pull down. 

If her udder hasn't changed and she weaned her kids 1 or 2 or ?? month(s) ago..I would assume she's not due for another 2 to 3 months and wouldn't have an udder that size that early.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

The most accurate way of telling if she is pregnant or not is to draw blood or get an ultrasound.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

Thanks for all of the info guys! It's a big help, even if it's not what I'm wanting to hear... :-( It's been about a year since she kidded before. Her milk had completely dried up from that kidding. But she developed this udder a little bit before I bought her. And her licking her teat is a new behavior. I went outside a little while ago just to watch her, and I couldn't find her. She had crawled behind our grill to lay down, which was odd because she usually lounges on the porch. Then (ok, please don't think I'm weird) I watched her pee, smell the ground, poop, then get this weird look like a laughing donkey, with her top lip curled up. I got a few more pics, but I don't know if they will help anything..


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

LOL....all goats will curl their lip, really funny to see too. Her udder would really be alot bigger if she was due soon, her pulling on her teats , well, some does will do it on occasion and others with "self suck" I did have a doe that did the latter, not a good thing at all when her babies needed the milk. If she is preggy, she could be just a week or 2 away from delivery, but since you've had her for 5 weeks, unless she was with the buck continuously she is likely not preggy.

Her sniffing her pee is a hormonal thing, my does do it to each other.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

Yea, she was kept with billies. The owner tried to keep the billies separate, but just in the hour or so I was at her house, the billies jumped over their stall doors (which were pretty high) and climbed through a thicket of woods and through a small hole in the fence. And these were not small billies!! AND in the speed they did it, it wasn't their first rodeo!!


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Well the only way to know for sure is do a blood test and send it in. Allison does it all the time. She will tell you how if you would like to do that.

Just so you know. I have a doe that is a lot wider then your doe. Everyone always asks when her babies are due. Funny thing is she was just bred August 2nd. We were asked this in July.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

well, I think I'm officially micromanaging my poor doe now!! I've just spent the last 30 minutes or so following her around, trying to see if I can tell anything by looking at her backside, and while I was watching her she ate constantly, she ate feed, then hay, licked her mineral lick, ate some more feed, more hay, more mineral lick, over and over, then she went outside and ate every leaf she could reach, some grass, then went back in her shed and ate some more feed and hay. Is this from her being in heat?? I've never seen her eat this much at one time before.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

LOL.....She's either bored or she knows you are watching her every move!

Well since the bucks were at a constant escape, she very likely could have been bred later than her previous owners thought, the fact that she is building an udder AND the bucks had access, going by the size of that udder she could still have a month to go.


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

WOW! There is just really no telling what is going on with that poor goat. I have noticed that she is getting bigger, and is having a harder time getting up and down, BUT she is also running pretty fast too... especially if she thinks I'm going to get to the porch before her. She dashes across the yard, up the steps and into her "spot" where she lays on the porch. She also stood up on her hind legs, as straight up as I stand, reaching the highest leaves she could reach. I don't know about goats, but MY balance was never very good when I was pregnant!! :slapfloor:


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

She looks bred to me, but its kind of hard to tell without a close up rear end shot. The way she is acting she sounds like she is just being a goat. Goats are herd animals, her being the only goat she is making you the herd. 
beth


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

this is the best I could do to get a shot of her backside... I don't know if it shows what you need to see or not... I really don't know what to look for. She won't let me touch her tell, or her underbelly. She acts like it might be tender. Is that normal?


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

LOL!! IT's LATE!! That's supposed to be TAIL, not TELL!!! sorry :ROFL:


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## lupinfarm (Aug 26, 2009)

Could she be having a false pregnancy? We had a dog that developed this. We were convinced she was pregnant, she got big boobs, and started to fill out. She wasn't pregnant, and had to have vet intervention, the boobs weren't filled with milk but with some watery substance. Perhaps take her to the vet and see what they think?


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## jenfrank (Aug 24, 2009)

ANYTHING is possible!! I go back and forth between thinking she's pregnant, and not pregnant! My dad came over yesterday, and he said that he thought she was pregnant, but probably only had room for 1 in there. I've bought a syringe, was planning on doing the whole blood test thing, but have no clue about how to go about doing it.


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## Firestone Creek Farm (Jul 11, 2008)

Do you have a milkstand? If you do, then put her on the milkstand and give her some grain to keep her occupied. Then try to get away with holding your hand under her belly right in front of the udder. You will have to push upward, and try not to let her wiggle away. Hold your hand there for a few minutes and see if you feel anything. Most movement will be toward the right side of the stomach or underneath and in front of the udder.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

The underside of her tail looking all wrinkly is telling me that yes she is...but the pic is really too dark to really see the whole pooch area.
Yes, getting her to stand still to feel for kid movement would be best, on the right side and on the belly just in front of the udder.
Other than blood draw it's a wait and see thing....the day her udder doubles in size will be the day you'll see kids.


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