# Hermaphrodite ?



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I really like this doe but she does this weird hunching thing like a buck does when he is trying to pee in his face. The first time she did it I thought she was constipated but she wasn't now I see her do it every once and a while when she get excited. So then it got me wondering. Doe I have a she/he? I really love her genetics so I hope she will be just fine. Just let me know what you think. I enclosed body pictures so you can see she doesn't look real bucky and she is a january 1st doe.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I have at least two does who do this when in heat. They are not hermies, and she doesn't look it to me.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Oh thank the lord. I didn't think she really looked like it but it had me worried. I really like her and if he lost her voice for life she may just turn into a favorite.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I agree...some does tend to act more bucky then others...but still all girl!!


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Yay!!!!


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## Brink4 (Apr 29, 2013)

I think she looks ok. I believe you have yourself a doe and she looks like she's going to be a nice one!!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

She looks fine back there. I've had some do it too.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Looks fine to me, and we've had a doe or two act like that. I think they get so hormonal they can't control themselves lol

We have had pregnant does get like that to. In fact, I'll share a video of one doe challenging for 'herd queen' position a month before they were due. She was super bucky, it kind of freaked me out! The only doe to take down the queen bee <Snow White>, and wish we still had her <Star> because she was a nice girl, Snow White can be such a pita to the others.

We have a yearling doe that even as a weanling, if you touch her with the comb at a certain place on her back, she hunches and acts 'weird' lol






EDITED TO ADD: We've had a hermi, Snow White in the video above was carrying quads, 3 bucks 1 doe, and the doe turned out to be a he/she.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Candice I remember your hermi and she looked bucky by a certain age which is why I posted body pictures. I am so glad you all think she is fine. I guess only time will tell but I thought she looked normal but just acted weird and wanted to be sure.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Yep my herd queen does it, and my little doe does it. I think my Busy Bee even did it once. I always say, "Girls ... you can't spray yourselves." :lol:


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Ok awesome I am so glad I decided just to ask and not wonder about it all the way till she is bred next year.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

I've got a couple does (dam and daughter) who do that-especially during breeding season. And they also do that move where they stretch out their back and then bump their stomach up and down.


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

I have a doe that does that too. Looks like she's trying to urinate on her face. But she's all doe


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## PygmyMom (Mar 3, 2014)

I have TWO does that do this exact same thing (along with blubbering at, mounting, and trying to drink pee of other doe's in heat) they mostly do it when bred or right after kidding when their hormones are askew. They are both very much female.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

This was our hermi when she was a few weeks old <left> her yearling sister on the right.









4mo









Some people even mistake this odd looking vulva as a hermi, but nope not always the case.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yep normal


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Well thank you all


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Candice at 4 months your doe was already looking like a buck where as mine looks like a doe. So I am glad I was worried for nothing.


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## SarJMacc (Jun 24, 2015)

This is to your advantage. She's built! The extra funky hormones have given her a lot of that muscle too. She's beautiful!


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Thanks her sire is from able acres and her dam was one of my nieces best show does


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## Jasmar (Mar 28, 2015)

I've been wondering what people do with a hermaphrodite. Because of zoning laws, we can have no more than six goats, and I'd rather use those spaces for milkers (aside from our one wether). We could never eat something we'd raised (eek!), so that's not an option. Can you realistically sell them as pets?

We don't actually have one, I was just wondering for the future. We do have one polled girl and there's a nice local polled buck...


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Well since these are boers she would just go to the market.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

A great indication is her teat size. Judge hers vs. those of like aged does and then vs. boys. Not sure if this is as easily seen in boers but with dairy goats, its blatantly obvious. Thicker longer beards are another good thing to look out for. Again, in dairy, not sure about boers.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Jasmar said:


> I've been wondering what people do with a hermaphrodite. Because of zoning laws, we can have no more than six goats, and I'd rather use those spaces for milkers (aside from our one wether). We could never eat something we'd raised (eek!), so that's not an option. Can you realistically sell them as pets?
> 
> We don't actually have one, I was just wondering for the future. We do have one polled girl and there's a nice local polled buck...


In this case, if the animal had hidden testes I would have them surgically castrated, and yes, sell as a pet. 

I have a doe that is a supposed Free Martin. She is 3 years old, doesn't cycle, has TINY (as in buck or baby sized) teats, no udder tissue, small pelvis, large size for her gender. She is my pet, and is an excellent one.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Well I know cloud has normal sized teats for her age because I just looked at them to make sure she is still clean teared and I didn't miss a spur when she was younger


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I personally think your girl is fine, Roger. Actually my possible Free Martin is not one of the girls who exhibits bucky behavior. She doesn't act like a buck or a doe, she is just a goat. :lol: But Free Martin is different than being a hermaphrodite. In a hermaphrodite case you would probably, eventually see bucky growth and behavior. I've seen a hermaphrodite on here, and it definitely looked like a buck - the head and the size were very masculine. A Free Martin is just a doe who got a bit too much testosterone and is infertile, often behaving and looking much like a wether, when it comes to being taller, more slender, and having tiny teats.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I think she's fine too. Your right the little white doeling looks very Bucky and yours doesn't. We have had a few with the cattle over the years and it's the same thing, they look very much like a bull with a big bull neck. 
Goats are odd balls, and I'm sorry but girl goats are even more odd lol last year I had a doe do this odd air humping thing then arched her back and some kind of fluid came shooting out of her. If she hadn't kidded before I would have sworn she was a he she and sent her on her way


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## Summersun (Apr 24, 2014)

My female that was either a hermaphrodite or freemartin had a weird shaped vulva and teats the size of a newborn. She never cycled and was always low on the hierarchy. The herd even almost killed her once. She was a pygmy. I sold her as a pet with a wether buddy.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

They start to look like a buck very young. I had a doeling like that, she looked more like a buck than her brother did! If I were home I could load pictures of her, they are on here someplace. Her "udder" housed 2 testicles with microscopic teats. It's vulva was very definitely not a vulva, it elongated and hardened when he/she got excited. Her bones got thicker, she grew a mane and looked like a buck. It's was such a great heat detector, the does really showed to it.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

The hermi we had definitely had itty bitty teats, 1/2 the size of the other does her age. She was huge, grew very well, and we were excited about her as she belonged to my youngest daughter <7 at the time>, and would be her commercial doe for 4-H.
But then we started noticing the changes, then her very weird/creepy looking vulva. I would have to dig up pictures of the vulva to share.
She also felt like she had something internally where the testies would be.

We sold her to someone wanting to keep her as a pet, but don't know what ever happened to her as I told them she needed a buddy, but they didn't get her one and last I heard they wanted to rehome her because she wasn't happy and kept taking off with their dog to wonder the neighborhood <they live out in the country....>, so they were doing a lot of wondering to end up at neighbors houses.

IMO, everything I've learned about them, they can either make good pets, or very bad ones. The ones like we had who acted bucky, could definitely be a danger since they have the testosterone in their blood. 
Even if we had sold this hermi for 'meat' at least I know she would have had a great life with us. 
Honestly, with how bucky she was, I preferred her to go to a farm as a teaser, or be sold for meat to someone who was willing to end her life humanely <not be mean to her>. I would never have trusted her around a kid when she got older.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I have one right now that keeps my buck company in his pen. She/he is big enough to deal with him, but not enough of either sex to entice him or compete with him. That being said, she/he will probably go for meat this fall - introducing a junior buck to mr. buck to be in the pen and have a future job- can't justify the expense just for a buddy. She can also be a bit aggressive, so off to freezer camp......


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

The hermi cow we had was for sure a mean one!! One of the other cows knew she wasn't right and if she saw her way across the field she would run across it just to beat the crap out of her, which was kinda funny because hermi was so big.......big enough she would push the Bulls away from the cows in heat, that's when she got her one way trip to beef packers.


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