# Yet another "Is She Pregnant?" thread



## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

I have a F1 Mini Lamancha doe with a very short, almost silent heat cycle. It made it pretty much impossible to setup a driveway date and so we bought an ND buck.

The buck was delivered on April 16th and this doe went into raging heat in the 17th. She stood for the buck (and a wether ) when I led her to the buck pen but I wasn't sure if he was successful so I left them together overnight. They got separated the next morning. She didn't have any post-breeding discharge.

She has not cycled since but I wasn't expecting her to with it being summer. Behaviorwise she seems mellower than usual and has been spending more time laying in the sunshine chewing her cud. Her abdomen does seem to look a smidge deeper in front of the udder.























These pics were taken today at 6 weeks 4 days post-breeding. She has been bred 1x before but aborted in her 2nd month. So a FF. What do you think?


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

6 weeks post breeding is a little too early to tell. 2 months minimum, but for some, 3-3 1/2 months is best.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

Goat_Scout said:


> 6 weeks post breeding is a little too early to tell. 2 months minimum, but for some, 3-3 1/2 months is best.


Thanks! I was trimming her feet this morning and thought I might as well get some pictures and ask.

At least I'll have some early pictures to compare her too!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Can't tell.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

At 6 weeks or so bred, a blood test is your best bet if you don't want to wait it out. Most of my FF's didn't even start showing until the last couple of weeks and they're all due this month.


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## Miller'sLostGoat (Apr 26, 2018)

Well if she was in heat and they were in together overnight, I would go with yes. Unless you do a blood test, you probably won’t know for sure till about 6 weeks before her due date. That’s typically when udder tissue development starts.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

So here we are, 148 days after breeding. No babies yet and nothing really happening with her udder. Her teats feel more "meaty" and there's maybe a little something in the fore udder area, but that's about it. No discharge or swelling.

These pictures are from yesterday evening at 147 days after a quick clip job. She's so big!


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I would say she is not pregnant. Has she been exposed to that ND buck or any others since the April date?

She sure did grow! Looks like you improved you mineral program along the way too? She seems to have less discolored/rough hair!


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

She has not been exposed since the original breeding date and has not come into heat. I have walked her and the other doe over to the boy's pasture to visit through the fence. This girl won't go near the fence and raises up all the hair along her spine (not her typical behavior). My other doe will happily sniff noses with the buck and wethers.

My first pictures were taken right before giving them their copper boluses. I ended up dosing them again 2 months later because this doe was hanging onto a bit of her rough hair.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Hopefully you can get her bred for spring kidding!


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

Yes, hopefully she settles this fall if she's open. I suppose I'll know one way or the other within the next 10 days!

I guess I'll update this thread if there's any developments.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

So I took the girls out to browse for a bit last night before putting them in their stall for the night. She ate blackberry leaves for several minutes and then just walked off to the barn leaving me and Sophia (my other doe who is definitely open) behind. She didn't finish her grain in the milking stand and just nosed around her alfalfa. Temp was normal and she's peeing and pooping fine.

While I was with them (around 1.5 hrs) I saw her arch her back and bulge in the rear like a mild contraction several times. She was also looking at and biting her sides, yawning, and licking me. Most interestingly, she was talking A LOT. This girl almost never talks. I've heard her quietly "maaa" less than 6 times in 2 years. Her ligaments feel a little softer then Sophia's.

This morning, day 149, she had a small amount of thick white discharge and was pinker in the rear. I walked both does down to the buck. He was not the least bit interested in Olivia, not even bothering to Flehmen after sniffing her. She had to be dragged over to the fence, promptly raised all the hair on her spine, and walked off the instant I let her go. The buck was more interest in Sophia, and did a Flehmen before briefly mounting a convenient wether. Not the "she's in heat" interested though.










She was eating her alfalfa in the stall this morning, but had no interest in the fallen apples in the pasture. She pawed at one a few times before going to lay down in her morning nap spot. Sophia enjoyed all the apples for her.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I'll be interested to know. Never seen a doe with zero udder development at 150 days!


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I agree. Does not look pregnant.


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## Miller'sLostGoat (Apr 26, 2018)

I think she is pregnant, and I have had dome does bag up right at the end. However, I would think she could be a week or so out still. Maybe didn't settle till the 2 weeks after at second heat? you should be able to feel the babies by now. I can normally feel then around 3.5 months.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

I've pushed on lots of pregnant animal bellies over the years (used to work for a horse breeder and I'm also trained to collect semen and AI mares) but I've never been sure if what I felt was fetal movement or not. Even with my alpacas (we've had 20 births here) and my other doe (1 kidding) I've never really known for sure. I have seen some Alien-esque movement on Olivia's right side, but that could very well have been a gas bubble.

No chance of her being covered at a later date. The closest fences between the girl's pastures and the boy's pasture is over 70ft apart so there isn't even a chance of a fence line breeding.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Keep watching her. I’ve had 3 over the years that didn’t show anything before they had kids. One was actually in a pen to take to the auction the next morning when I walked out to her screaming her head off and finally her water broke.


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## mariella (Feb 23, 2017)

I would say she is pregnant judging by how much her belly filled out in the last few months. Be prepared to bottle feed twins or triplest! You never know what she will throw if she is pregnant.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

We have colostrum on hand as well as bottlefeeding supplies.

Nothing super interesting to report. I'm walking the does down to the boy's pasture every day to check for heat cycles. Olivia still has no interest in the buck and has started trying to headbutt him through the fence.

It does look like she's developing a little "puff" below the escutcheon and her belly is so big and low that her teats are now pointing slightly towards her hocks instead of down. I'll have to see if I can get a decent picture of it later.


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## Pack Goat Girl (Jun 17, 2018)

Anything?


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

Nothing yet! On day 152 now. We'll probably take her into the vet this week and have them either do an ultrasound or blood test to check her if she doesn't have any further developments.

Here's that picture of the "poof" in the rear udder area and you can kind of see how her teats are now tilted slightly backwards. The "poof" looks a bit bigger today and it feels like it's full of tissue. I'm crossing my fingers that she's starting to build an udder.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

Day 155. Still not much going on. She has started squatting when I check her ligs and udder - probably just tired of being handled. Her ligs are softer than the open doe, but not soft-soft. Like hard rubber rather than almost bone-hard. Still not interested in the buck when I walk her down to sniff him every day.

Yesterday evening she came in with dried discharge on her tail and rump. She was being an absolute witch in the pasture and was beating up our pet sheep who she usually ignores. While she was in the stanchion eating her grain I leaned my head against her right flank with one had pressing up under her belly and the other below my head on her right side. I felt a couple of strong bumps without hearing any digestive sounds or her moving. Would that possibly be fetal movement?

This morning she had a tiny amount of white mucus-type discharge and is acting very feisty.

I spoke with the vet office on Monday. They're wanting $250-$300 to preg check her via ultrasound and that's if we haul her in. While we could certainly afford that it's something that we'll wait on doing unless she starts looking like there might an issue.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

So when in pregnancy does a goat get her colostrum in? And what's the possibility of producing colostrum if they haven't freshened?

While I was handling Olivia's teats this evening a drop of colostrum came out. I cleaned and dipped the teat so hopefully no bacteria gets in. Still no signs of heat and no kid(s) on the ground.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Hmph! Well... was it very yellow and thick like colostrum or was it possible just milk and she has a precocious udder? Some does from very "milky" dairy lines will produce milk without having be bred!

Can you think of any remote possibilities of a later breeding date? A super super young buckling? A neighbor with goats whose buck may have gotten loose without you knowing? A buck you wethered but may have bred before it took affect?

This is quite a conundrum!

I'm not sure about an exact timeframe when you could expect to be able to express colostrum before kidding since I don't try to but my best guess would be 2-4 weeks?

If the breed date is accurate, I think the latest I have heard/seen/read a goat kidding is day 162.


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## bisonviewfarm (Apr 2, 2015)

Thought I'd mention one other possible reason for that tiny udder colostrum and lack of heat since she didnt have any other contact with the buck I'd consider a false pregnancy. We had a doe last year tested bred never had an interest in the buck tiny udder with colostrum acted like a doe close to delivering 4 & half months after I brought her home she finally delivered a puddle of fluid she had me very convinced she was bred until I came home & found that.


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## bramblefir (Jul 16, 2016)

Well we ended up with a cloudburst. She gave "birth" to lots of fluid and is a frisky, svelte doe again.

Now I'm just waiting for November to roll around so I can get the girls bred for spring kidding.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Glad you finally know.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh wow, at least you have an answer.


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