# Pregnant or not?



## angryhippie (Apr 13, 2015)

I know everyone gets hundreds of these questions in the spring. I'm a first time goat owner and she's a first freshener. Due date should be about around June 20. She is a sannan-nubian mix and was bred to a dwarf nigerian. Is she pregnant or not?


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## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

Unless that's a precocious udder, I say bred.


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

Her udder says pregnant but I'd expect to see a baby bump with that kind of udder development. She looks to be a little on the thin side. May I ask what her diet is and her age?


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## angryhippie (Apr 13, 2015)

LadySecret said:


> Her udder says pregnant but I'd expect to see a baby bump with that kind of udder development. She looks to be a little on the thin side. May I ask what her diet is and her age?


She was born last March, so a little over a year. She's about 85lbs now. We offer free choice hay and all the girls (we've got 3 dwarf nigerians + her) share about 2.5 cups of Goat Chow every morning. I've asked about rations in the past and I get mixed feedback. I have them on a drypad right now as I'm doing a full fencing project and they'll soon be turned out onto an acre of grass/alfalfa/clover/weeds/brush to graze.

We got her in June of last year and the farmer we got her from told us just to feed her hay, we added the grain to the diet after some feed back from friends. Over all they seem healthy. We just gave them their CDT shots and they were all wormed a couple months ago.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated since I'm new to goats.


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

Yes lots of different opinions on how to feed pregnant does... Your doe is getting a little over half a cup of grain per day and all the grass hay she wants. That is a good maintenance amount. In most herds, it wouldn't be enough for heavy bred does. I'd defiantly up her grain ration and/or give alfalfa hay/pellets so she can get enough calcium. 

A bigger breed doe breed to ND usually means easy kidding due to smaller kids (at least that's what I've experienced). So I wouldn't worry about the kids growing too big from grain. My does her size get worked up to half a pound of grain starting at 60 days from their due date. 3 cups of my grain weights one pound (yours will likely be different) so my girls each get 1.5 cups of grain daily along with 3 cups of alfalfa pellets once daily. 

Lot of different ways to feed pregnant does. That's just how I do it. Hope it helps.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

She is copper deficient, she needs a bolus badly. She is pregnant but, not real healthy. Is she getting any form of alfalfa? She needs about a pound/pound and a half daily along with grass hay.


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## angryhippie (Apr 13, 2015)

goathiker said:


> She is copper deficient, she needs a bolus badly. She is pregnant but, not real healthy. Is she getting any form of alfalfa? She needs about a pound/pound and a half daily along with grass hay.


Our hay has alfalfa in it. We have a 10 acre hay field, so everything they eat is cut onsite.

None of the books I had read mentioned using a bolus as part of a regular maintenance program, so I hadn't looked into it. We do offer minerals, they don't seem to go through them terribly quickly, so I had just assumed they were getting everything they needed. I think she looks about the same as when we got her in terms of color and the bushiness of her tail, but then again, maybe she was copper deficient before. I've not noticed patchy hair or anything like that.

Should I just get the UltraCruz Copper Bolus for kids and give 1 pill to my Nigerian Dwarfs and 2 to her? Obviously don't want to cause copper toxicity either. Is there something I should use to give them a copper boost quicker?


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

Copper boluses are dosed at 1 gram per 22 pounds. They are slowly absorbed and they are very safe. I have mostly NDs and going by their weight, they need 3 grams. I don't make 1 gram boluses so I round up and give two 2 gram boluses (4 grams total). Most of my goats need to be bolused every 2 to 3 months even with the rounding up. I start copper bolusing at 10 to 12 weeks old and the kids get a 2 gram bolus even though their weight is no where near 44 pounds. 

How often you need to copper bolus really depends on where you live. My farm is on sandy soil which is naturally low in copper. I also have hard water. The higher iron content in the water interferes with copper absorption. This is why I have to bolus so frequently. Some people only need to bolus once or twice a year. 

I don't know what kind of loose mineral you give or how much you know about them. So here is some info I use when picking a loose mineral. The loose mineral you use should be no more than 20% salt and at least 1500 ppm copper (the higher the copper the better).


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## angryhippie (Apr 13, 2015)

I have 3 NDs They are just now a year old and weigh in at about 30lbs. I was concerned that they were a little on the light side, but I guess NDs range in weight from 30-50lbs and our breeder said they aren't abnormally small for their age. We're hoping to breed a couple of them in the fall, so I'm hoping that they fill out some over the next few months

Anyway, I use the Manta minerals after reading some suggestions on here. I remember reading that it was a better mineral out of some of the ones on the market.


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

My NDs are usually between 15 and 20 pounds by 3 months of age (whether they are bottle or dam raised). At 7 to 8 months they are around 45 pounds and weigh enough to be breed. If I had 30 pound yearlings I would be thinking cocci, wormy, and/or not getting enough to eat. There are slow maturing lines (maybe yours are from them) but for the most part, NDs are fast matures. 

FYI my adult does are between 50 and 65 pounds. These are registered ND does btw.


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## angryhippie (Apr 13, 2015)

They are from registered stock. I have the papers, just never sent them in. They are from the antiquity oaks line. I've wormed them recently and treated them for cocci when we first got them, so I'm not sure about that.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Regarding possible copper deficiency: If you have well water with a lot of iron in it, the iron binds with the copper in the feed and loose minerals and neutralizes the copper. We have to bolus the goats every 4-5 months as our water is really "hard" and full of iron. 

I would say she is probably pregnant. The udder development and looseness of her "area" suggests possibly being pregnant! (That is my guess)


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## new2goats2015 (Jun 13, 2015)

Does my doe look bred?


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