# Hermaphrodites?



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

So this past weekend i bought a herd of 9 boer goats. 1 buck, 3 mature does, a yearling doe, and 4 doe kids. They had to sell the farm so thats how i got them. Well on closer inspection i realized 3 out of the 4 have super weird vulvas. So are all 3 of these hermaphrodites? I didnt know it was common enought that 3 out of the only 4 doe kids born this year are hermaphrodites. Here is pictures of them and each of their vulvas.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

They do look strange but not sure. What does it look like when they pee?


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I have not paid attention to that but i will try to watch them pee now.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

They were all born im january and February so i figured they would look more bucky if they were hermaphrodites


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I have a doe that looks like that, she is 6 and kids every year. Crossroads had a thread going a year or two back and she had a doe like this too and goathiker said, I believe it was a engorged clitoris. Anyways my doe I had sold and I ended up buying back because the gal thought she was a hermie too. I would bet that's what's going on with your three since like you said it isn't very common, I'll see if my brat lets me get close enough for a pic after I get kids from school


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

You can't really see that well and she won't let me close to her but it's exactly like your girls. If your worried though I would watch for signs of a heat (I'm still betting they are good)


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

@Jessica84 - Did her doe kids ever take after her in that respect?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Looks like it to me.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Goat_Scout said:


> @Jessica84 - Did her doe kids ever take after her in that respect?


So far she has only had boys.....you know since I want a girl out of her and all :/


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

Do they also have testicles. Do your does also have testicles


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

No


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

That last picture is so close up, is it really 'big' or the same size as the other does?

We have a doe like these, and she has been our most consistent producer as far as giving my kids nice babies to show. She's kidded 3x for us now. 
I wouldn't worry unless you see masculine behavior/changes, or they don't come in heat. To ease your worries you could always have a vet inspect them.

Pic below is her I think it was 2nd pregnancy.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

The last ome really is that big and is the light headed doe. She is actually my favorite.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I wouldn't over worry about them just yet. Give them time or get them checked out.

Now, we have had a hermaphrodite, do you remember that? It was in 2014. Our doe, Snow White had quads, 3 boys and 1 girl. We were warned by someone on TGS that there is a possibility the doe kid got too much testosterone and could turn into a freemartin or hermaphrodite.

She was feminine, and normal as a kid – born Jan 2nd. I think in February or early March I paid to have her registered with our other kids.

I remember it was probably end of March I noticed her vulva changing and looking funny. But it was in April that big changes really started to happen, and I worried she wasn't normal.

I was right 

By May she looked like a male. Masculine head, horns, beard and thick mane. Teats were about ¼ the size of the other does her age. When I felt up where the udder is at – where a scrotum might be I felt something weird up in there, like maybe she had a scrotum inside her.

I'll attach a few pictures below.

Now with that said, I did want to mention that our doe who has the 'different' looking vulva was born that same year and shared the same sire as the hermaphrodite. So it makes me wonder if it could be a genetic thing on the sire's part? Especially if these does are all sired by the same buck.
I still think our hermaphrodite happened because of the testosterone in the womb. But had there been 2 does/2 bucks, I wonder if the he/she would have just been a she.


Anyway, if it helps, check out their teats, in the pics they look feminine to me. If you don't want to stress and wait for heat cycle signs, then I'd definitely get them checked by a vet to ease your worries.

Also, the one that is bigger, any chance she could have just cycled or getting ready to cycle?
I know I can usually tell if our doe is coming in heat because it will look larger than normal, just slightly swollen.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I have only had them 3 days i guess i will calm down and see what happens. I do remember this doe and she is the reason i was worried about these girls. I have talked to my vet and he has no clue what's going on. He said he has never seen anything like that. They are all 3 way more feminine then masculine so thats a plus. We will see what happens.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Are they related by chance?

The adults ever kid before, do they have any udder showing from the past kiddings(a dried up udder), not flat?

I agree, they may still be able to conceive.

Just try breeding them and see.


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

Are these doe kids out of the other does you bought? Do you know what the dams' vulvas looked like?


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

We had one this year and "shwee" looked a lot like that 
She was the only doe in quads
Another thing with ours were her teats were tiny and her horn base was like abucks


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

They are are out of 2 different does and 2 different bucks. The dams i bought with them and have normal vulvas.


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## JB goats (Jan 11, 2011)

I saw this for the first time at the AI class I took last weekend. The lady was a professional goat semen collector and showed us a slide about this. I don't know if she wanted to be quoted so I will leave her information out. She said that she saw this in about 10% of boer goats if you just push the vulva back. She also said that a prominent male veterinarian whom I don't remember his name (because I simply don't remember) did a book and said that these are Intersex (like sheep) and that they can't breed. So she called the ones that look like this and do breed, psuedo-Intersex (so she wouldn't contradict him). It is a swollen clitorus, or that is what an Intersex/pseudo-Intersex has. Thanks for the reminder, I still need to check all my Boers for this.


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## Quinn Gehler (Oct 5, 2017)

Has the buck been with the does for at least ten minutes in the same pen? If so he might have breed the does.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

No they have never been that close to him to my knowledge


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## Quinn Gehler (Oct 5, 2017)

Are they or have they been in pens right next to each other?


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I bought them 4 days ago so i am really not positive she just said tgey were never with the buck.


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## Quinn Gehler (Oct 5, 2017)

It is possible that he could have bred through the fence if they were near each other but if they aren't I don't think I can help?


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

So you are thinking they are bred and thats why this is showing?


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## Quinn Gehler (Oct 5, 2017)

I honestly would have a vet look at them


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I tried the only knowledgeable goat vet around is who i use and he had never seen it and so he has no clue. He is my age and has only been a vet maybe 4 years.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Mine had it way before she was bred. I got her back as a yearling, I honestly don't know if she had it before that age or not it was just not something I had checked out and I'm not sure if the buyer saw it at first.
They look like they are older and should be cycling so I would just watch them for heats. In the one picture it looks like dried goo under her parts does she have it on her tail too? Some of my does have enough mucus to clump the hair together on their tail during a heat, if that one has it I would say she for sure is ok to go


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I will just watch them and see if they cycle and not worry about it for a while. Thank you all for your responses.


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## Quinn Gehler (Oct 5, 2017)

Have you tried the vet on 7202 S Anthony Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46816
It's the Anthony animal clinic


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Interesting JB goats. 

Our doe that has this, might have passed it on to one of her doe kids, but I may be wrong. She kidded doe kids 2x, and this year a single buck kid who is probably the nicest buck kid we've ever had born here. 
We lost one of her daughters back in Feb to toxemia  She was carrying large triplets (2 does, 1 buck). We have one of her yearling daughters who is hopefully 30 days bred. I tried to sneak a peek of her when I was out earlier but I think she looks normal.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Quinn Gehler said:


> Have you tried the vet on 7202 S Anthony Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46816
> It's the Anthony animal clinic


No i didnt know there was a large animal vet there.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Quinn Gehler said:


> Have you tried the vet on 7202 S Anthony Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46816
> It's the Anthony animal clinic


I used to live just off of Anthony Blvd! North Anthony, though. Rougher part of town.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

mariarose said:


> I used to live just off of Anthony Blvd! North Anthony, though. Rougher part of town.


I used to live off north anthony on glenwood 10 years or so ago.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Oh, I misspoke. It was off South Anthony. On Winter Street, just north of Pontiac. I just went to Google maps and checked.

There are many things I miss about Ft Wayne. There are many things I don't miss about Winter Street...


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Oh yes that is not a good part of town at all


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Anyway, Good luck with your "Girls"...?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I wouldn't worry just yet. 
To save you on a vet check, I would see if they come in, if thy do, write it down on the calendar and check them 18 to 21 days later to see if they come in again or not. 
I had one years ago with a small BB size thingy, a lot smaller than your does are showing, she had no issues having babies and never threw the thingy to her offspring either.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I have been told its an enlarged clitoris on all 3.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

@goathiker ftw. again.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I wonder how many people are from this area i thought it was just me and Sherry (bit of everything) who doesnt post much anymore.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I'm not from there anymore (SouthCentralKentucky now) But I have very fond memories. Fort Wayne was great. So much to see, so much to do, and almost all of it affordable. Fort Wayne is (was?) great.

Farmland immediately outside of city, parks everywhere, museums of every type, architecture that ran the gamut, housing to fit EVERY budget (how I ended up on Winter St!!!) I loved Ft Wayne.

Is the historic fort still open? How about the power museum? How about the telephone museum? Please tell me the zoo is still open?!!!!????

Not a lot of culture where I am now, but there are other bonuses. Yeah, I do miss Ft Wayne though. (But not Winter St.) I looked it up on Google maps, street view. My house is gone, open lot. So are a lot of other houses, including the crack house across the street. But I could drive from there and take my kids to see anything.

I sure hope the zoo is still there.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

The fort is still there and open but there is more to do now around there. The power museum is open but i didnt know we had a telephone museum. For sure the zoo is still there and probably bigger then you know. Its on the top 10 best zoos in the nation list.


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