# Pregnant doe got "head butted" in ribs a few times-will this harm the kids?



## bornagain62511 (Mar 3, 2015)

i just brought home a new doe to my place and she is due to kid in 4 weeks. She had an ultrasound and it showed 2 kids in her. My question is this, i have 2 other does and when i brought this new one home, she got "head butted" in the side of her ribs a couple times by the other two goats when i allowed them to be near each other for awhile before i separated them in their different fenced areas. Is there much of a chance that those few (maybe 3 or 4 times) head butts in the side of the pregnant doe will harm the kids at all? it didn't seem like they hit her side very hard, but it did contact her.

thanks!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Hopefully not. My goats are always getting butted by the queen when they are pregnant with no ill effects. They have gotten t-boned pretty hard too. Babies are pretty well protected in there. I have heard of goats aborting from being hit but I think it is rare.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Unless she got hit really hard on the left chances are she is ok. I've only had it happen once; I witnessed the then queen ram her repeatedly against a wall on her left side, there was no room as sort of a give space.


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## LibertyHomesteadFarm (Feb 1, 2014)

nancy d said:


> Unless she got hit really hard on the left chances are she is ok. I've only had it happen once; I witnessed the then queen ram her repeatedly against a wall on her left side, there was no room as sort of a give space.


I thought the kids were carried on the right side, the rumen is on the left side isn't it??


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Between stress of a new home and being butted, I would keep an eye on her.


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## bornagain62511 (Mar 3, 2015)

ksalvagno said:


> Between stress of a new home and being butted, I would keep an eye on her.


thanks for everyone's responses so far. by "keeping an eye on her" what do you mean? i'm assuming you mean to watch her appearance and what not, but is there things i should specifically watch for?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Watch for lethargy, not eating, generally not feeling well. I'd probably do Probios for a week.


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## bornagain62511 (Mar 3, 2015)

ksalvagno said:


> Watch for lethargy, not eating, generally not feeling well. I'd probably do Probios for a week.


Thank for the info. I will keep a close eye on her. What kind of Probiotics do you recommend and where do you get them?

It was a long move too!  She came from California to southern Wisconsin by Airplane! I know, pretty crazy! What are the chances that extra stress of the long move will negatively affect the kids development? She's a beautiful goat! Got her from a breeder who really seems to do an excellent job and started her herd with a line of very hi quality animals: http://www.joyfulheartsfarm.com/goats.html

Sorry for all the questions, goats are new to me, just been researching for the last few months and got my first goats about 5 weeks ago

thanks


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Probios gel in the 60 gram tube. 10g once a day. Tractor Supply has it.


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## Gerard-Dawn (Sep 5, 2014)

I feel you may be concerned about your goat but I don't think you have to worry that much about the kids getting harmed.

Remember that goat ribs are tough and are build to protect the kids when a goat is pregnant.

Out of all the years I've raised goats I've never had a harmed kid although my goats head butt each other everyday.


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## bornagain62511 (Mar 3, 2015)

Gerard-Dawn said:


> I feel you may be concerned about your goat but I don't think you have to worry that much about the kids getting harmed.
> 
> Remember that goat ribs are tough and are build to protect the kids when a goat is pregnant.
> 
> Out of all the years I've raised goats I've never had a harmed kid although my goats head butt each other everyday.


Thanks so much, that's very reassuring. i was thinking that too, their bodies must be designed so the babies inside can withstand some normal bumps and hits like they would commonly encounter in their daily lives while they are pregnant, otherwise the species would have a hard time surviving! God designed everything perfect, and i'm always amazed at how amazing His creation is, even though it has been degenerating since soon after the beginning when Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. i'm so thrilled to know that He is coming back soon and will eventually restore everything to be awesome beyond our wildest dreams!

thanks everyone!


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## bornagain62511 (Mar 3, 2015)

After thinking about this some more, i thought, aren't the kids back in the "belly" area behind the rib cage? So they wouldn't really be protected by the ribs at all would they? i know my pregnant doe got "head butted" a time or two right in the belly area where it appears the kids are located, so i have to ask again, is there much of a chance that they were harmed? i know i'll probably just have to wait and see, but if anyone else has experience with this, please share. Gerard-Dawn, when you said your pregnant does get butted everyday, i'm sure they get hit in the belly area sometime too, right? In these diagrams it looks like the kids are not protected by the ribs? http://goat-link.com/content/view/37/118/#.VUecaJN0czw

thanks


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

You are right that rumin is on the left and kids on the right but it doesnt matter. A butt on the left can act like whiplash and tear off the kid. Without having seen the hits cant say but there is a chance you will have at least one still born kid. But wont know till the day comes. I will say its during the 4th month that this seems to happen the easiest. The kids are heavy and any good fighting can cause it. My does fight a lot during their entire pregnancy and we do have issues from time to time.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I have experience with this. You're right that the kids are NOT protected by the ribcage. Last year I had one little first freshener get knocked hard in the baby basket when she was four months along and she aborted about a week later. The kid that had been killed was bloated and beginning to lose hair, which caused the abortion. The other kid looked perfectly normal and was probably born alive, but she was dead by the time I found her since she was too early to survive outside the womb for probably more than a few minutes.

All I can say is keep an eye on your doe for any signs of early labor. Mine really didn't show any sign of trouble or impending delivery. I just woke up one morning to dead kids and a very sad mama in the goat shed. They can take some pretty good knocks, but a hard enough whack in just the wrong spot can indeed be lethal to the unborn kids. Chances are your doe is fine, though, so try not to worry too much.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Butting with goats, unfortunately, is quite normal throughout pregnancy. My girls all butt each other at dinner time which stresses the heck out of me, but I haven't, thankfully, had any miscarriages from it. 

I had a very well cushioned doe badly bullied during pregnancy my first year. I rehomed the bully (to a place with a standard so she's perfectly harmless now) but my poor pregger girl got hit very badly up against concrete several times. She never miscarried. 

Hopefully this is some encouragement.


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## bornagain62511 (Mar 3, 2015)

ThreeHavens said:


> Butting with goats, unfortunately, is quite normal throughout pregnancy. My girls all butt each other at dinner time which stresses the heck out of me, but I haven't, thankfully, had any miscarriages from it.
> 
> I had a very well cushioned doe badly bullied during pregnancy my first year. I rehomed the bully (to a place with a standard so she's perfectly harmless now) but my poor pregger girl got hit very badly up against concrete several times. She never miscarried.
> 
> Hopefully this is some encouragement.


thank you! very encouraging to me! i have the pregnant one alone separated by fence from the others now so should be the end of the head butting she's due in about 4 weeks!

thanks


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