# 5 Pregnant Does



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

So I'm posting my boyfriends does one here they are all kinda crappy and the bucks I'm sure weren't great either but baby excitement is baby excitement. These are all going to be butcher or pet kids. Should be due in the next couple of weeks!


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

The two sanaans are bred with a alpine Buck nd the boers with a boer buck


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck!


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

That's right - baby excitement of any kind is exciting! Do you have a guess on who will go first?


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How exciting.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

I want to say that the Sanaans will go first. he didn't record the breeding date :/ but hard to know for sure. But they have been pregnant for at least 4.5 months now maybe more.


----------



## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

Looking good! I'm beginning to get excited for kidding here too! but my girls aren't due till first week in December. Have these girls kidded for you before?


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

The sanaans yes but not the boers. Here's a good question for you guys. This boers I would assume are NOT clean teated as they have funny teats. All of the boers have at least 4 teats :$ and one has i think 6 @[email protected] Freaky. I cannot emphasize enough these are not my goats lol. I would assume this is genetic so probably not in the least breeding material. Clean treated is 2 well shaped teats?


----------



## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

Boers can have multiple teats. There is a chart on what is acceptable. Probably can google it.


----------



## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

I think in the dairy world, clean teated is 2 well shaped teats. But boers can have 2,3,or 4 clean teats and still be acceptable. Not sure about 6. If there are teats fused together it may be difficult for a kid to nurse. I have some does with teats that have a tiny spur attached and the kids can nurse just fine. So once the kids are born just be careful to watch that they can latch on properly to nurse. They look like good commercial does and I wouldn't worry too much about the teats if you're not into showing and kids can nurse easily.


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

http://abga.org/abga-education/teat-structure-chart/

There is the official ABGA chart. I prefer to follow more strict guidelines with my boer herd when choosing breeding animals but the chart shows what is allowable in the show ring.

The way I have heard it, when boers were imported to the U.S. in the 90s, they were heavily selected for 4 teats (like a cow udder, except goats only have 2 halves to an udder, cows have 4 quarters). They focused on this so that the goats could raise triplets on their own. I have two issues with this theory: 1. more teats does not mean more milk production (but it does mean there is a SPACE for a third kid) and 2. many of the teat structures end up with non-functional teats which newborn kids waste time and energy on trying to nurse

I LIKE clean 1+1 dairy goat teats, but there are many does I keep in my herd (which is mostly focused on meat production) that basically have teat structures that allow them to feed two kids every year - no matter how ugly it looks under there.

The teat structures are definitely genetic but very difficult to predict.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Just looking at this chart, since I have not seen these boers in milk. I know one has a split teat like 11 or 12 and all of the boers have cluster teats.


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

FoxRidge said:


> Just looking at this chart, since I have not seen these boers in milk. I know one has a split teat like 11 or 12 and all of the boers have cluster teats.


So when they kid you'll be able to determine pretty quickly which are functional and non-functional teats. Some functional teats will be smaller with a smaller stream than the main functional teat. Often a doe with 4 good well spaced functional teats, the two front ones will still be smaller when full of milk than the 2 back ones. But unless the clusters are very very tight/close together they should all be able to raise twins. You'd be surprised what kind of ugly teats a goat kid will fit in its mouth or work around to get fed and they figure it out after a few days like champs. I just hate those first few hours when they are learning to nurse and waste time sucking on non-functional teats.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good advice.


----------



## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

SalteyLove said:


> http://abga.org/abga-education/teat-structure-chart/
> 
> There is the official ABGA chart. I prefer to follow more strict guidelines with my boer herd when choosing breeding animals but the chart shows what is allowable in the show ring.
> 
> ...


4 functional teats would definitely help with triplets since the smallest one often gets outcompeted - you'd be more likely to have 3 equal sized kids even without a change in production. I've always been interested in what would happen if someone was to select heavily for four functional teats throughout the generations, rather than backcrossing them to 1x1 or other messier configurations. Also, I've seen various configurations in African goats so those genetics definitely go back a ways. Strange that goats are so prone to it when other species are not.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

UPDATEso this morning, Snowflake, the Sanaan with the frost bitten ears has been calling like mad and off by herself, she'll come up shortly for a bit or drink then back down to the far corner of the paddock. She looked much more hollowed out.


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

FoxRidge said:


> UPDATEso this morning, Snowflake, the Sanaan with the frost bitten ears has been calling like mad and off by herself, she'll come up shortly for a bit or drink then back down to the far corner of the paddock. She looked much more hollowed out.


Sounds like your instinct on who would kid first is going to be accurate! Hope the weather is favorable in your area today. We are getting our first winter snow here! Can't wait to see the kiddos.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

She's not swelling or at least not noticeably. She's still calling and calling.Its a wet day but warm, in the 40's.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Sknow I was waiting for the little goat to kid well while waiting my Mini Aussie girl decided to go 2 days early and delivered 10 puppies so far, she is contracting again O_O poor dog. The 10th guy was very weak and did not make it  but the 9 other are very healthy and nursing great!! I am to the point right now that I'm waiting for my poor girls uterus to come out with the next push @[email protected] here are some quick cell pics of the puppies


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Cuties! I hope they all do well for you.


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Omigosh! I LOVE Aussies!!!  
Did she deliver any more pups? Poor girl!!


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Congratulations! hope all the mommas & mommas to be are doing well. Your mini Aussie looks very beautiful. Sometimes the proportions are all wrong on those dogs and they are awkward but she is gorgeous!


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

She had 10total, huge litter poor mama. Lots ofgood food and calories


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Goodness. That's a lot of puppies! We have a Mini Aussie/Aussie cross. His mama was a beauty (she was the mini) and we just thought she was a small Aussie until we got his papers  We were a little disappointed because we wanted a larger dog like his dad, but he turned out to be a handful so we're glad he turned out mini sized.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Still no goat kids but have removed puppies dew claws!


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Really? Snowflake was playing games? My gals are usually so reliable once they start calling out loud or murmuring to their bellies!


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Yea, she is still pregnant and back to being quiet.... Ugh. I just pretend Im not expecting babies so it'll be a complete shock when I walk out there and there they are finally.....I cant do that I check everyone for signs and symptoms daily.....


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Im really starting to get skeptical that these girls are actually pregnant. So Snowflake was calling and calling ad over in the corner, well it so happens thats the corner she could have seen our buck from. now another doe is doing the same and the buck is calling back, she just wags her tail and calls to him...Is this not heat?


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

If they are separating themselves from the herd to stay along the buck's fence line and calling or wagging their tails then yes that sounds like they are in heat. 

They were exposed to the buck in June or July? Boers are unlikely to breed during those months here in our climate. Not sure about Saanens.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

I thought it was May-Juneish. I have no idea. He didn't really keep track. They are very plump if they are not pregnant. If that's the case for Snowflake, she's a funky build, she looks like she's carrying twins some days. This may be great news as he would have bred the saanens back almost immediately.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Still nothing so I would assume its safe to say they didn't get bred but are chubby! Snowflakes top line is very poor to me though, Shes the Sanaan doe with the frost bitten ears. Her flamacha test looks good, and she gets all the hay she wants, with half a large steel scoop of grain a day. She does eat, is not lethargic and isn't scared away from the food ever. Everyone else is fleshy over the ribs and top line.


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

And Snowflake tested negative for Johnes too?

It may just be that her body shape is sagging with age, some does hold up better than others.


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

She did. I was told she was young but he has told me different a few times on other goats now...


----------



## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Do they have udders?


----------



## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

They are milking. He bred them right after kidding . Thank God they didn't take. I broke up with him a couple days ago so I am goatless


----------

