# Doe with swollen vulva - not pregnant?



## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

So I really do not know what is going on with Violet.

She has not come in season (it is mating season here and the others have all been in and done).

She has a very puffy swollen soft vulva as if she was preparing to kid. I havent got a photo, but she looks like this doe, minus the mucus. http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f186/cmpk-no-144363/index3.html just really swollen around the vulva.

Nothing much to say in the udder department, I am drying her off so she has a bit of milk in there but certainly isnt increasing in yield.

She has gotten very deep in the belly. Some days she comes in from the paddock she is very wide, other days she isnt, so I dont know if she is just grazing more some days.

This is her on the right with her 7 mth old kid from last year.










I have noticed some days she is not going out and grazing with the other goats, but staying in the stables close to the house.

As far as I know she is not supposed to be pregnant.


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## JenVise (Dec 7, 2012)

Well, Idk if it is the case for you or not...but I have one Boer doe that the ONLY sign of heat for her is swollen/pink vulva. I mean VERY swollen... no other signs at all..


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## OwnedByTheGoats (Mar 7, 2013)

She is most likely pregnant. I would watch her very closely, how are her ligs?


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Jen I did wonder that, but she's been swollen for a week now. Last year she was very obvious with her heat signs, calling, flagging etc. but I had a buck on site. I may bring the buck back this afternoon to just see how the does react. I have another one who doesnt want to come in season too, though she's not showing any of these other weird signs. 

No point asking me to check ligs, I've never been able to do it so I just dont use it as a pregnancy/birth sign.

ETA if she is indeed pregnant, its either an immaculate conception or someone else's buck has come wondering in and had a quickie before heading off home again ... :/


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## JenVise (Dec 7, 2012)

Trixie usually stays swollen for about a week. The first time I noticed it, I thought for sure she was pregnant!! I was a little upset that I didn't know a due date but exicted....A week later it went back to normal. She has been doing that ever since.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

First let me say..she is pretty : ) 
ok..you have two that wont come into heat?...could you have either a copper or Selenium problem?
The rear could be her in silent heat...some will swell for a week or so...then all is back to normal until next time..You could bring in a rag rubbed all over a buck in rut and see how she reacts to it...might bring both in heat and you can hurry and grab the buck lol

One more question..how did you shave them so neat..my poor girls look like the lawn mower was took to them..I feel so bad for them lol


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

LOL! ok.

first - nope copper and selenium should both be covered. It is still early - ish in breeding season so I havent been too worried though I usually like to breed very early. I have been doing the buck rag but they all smell it and pee and that is all, no actual signs in response to the rag. The other doe I have never bred before and her previous owner warned me that she has silent heats, so I am actually planning on luting that girl next week as she is going to an outside buck. My girl violet though, in the past she has always had obvious heat signs and very strong, but I've always had a buck nearby, so I wonder if she is just having a silent heat because the buck isnt around. I will bring the buck home this afternoon and walk him through their paddock to see how the two react.

Jen - thats very helpful to know that your doe is swollen for about a week!

In terms of shaving them ... LOL violet always comes out looking pretty worse for wear after shaving her. All my others look ok. At our shows we dont present them as close shaved as you guys do. We will clip them to tidy them up but they are shown with a decent coat. Depending on the goat, I shave them between 2 and 6 weeks before the show, and its just all about knowing each particular doe and how their hair coat grows.

This is my nubian girl a week after a clip:










Usually I would show her 2 weeks after a clip but 1 week still looks fine. I find with the darker coat colours they look fine and could even be shown the day after a clip.

With my girl Violet in the picture above, that is about 2 weeks after she was clipped. And she didnt look great. She has terrible hair. Its very thin and fine, and when you shave her she looks pink and naked, and shows the clipper lines. She looks best with a minimum of 4 but preferably 6 weeks re-growth before she is shown.

Violets daughter Primrose has about 3 weeks regrowth in that picture, I expected her to be like her mum and I shaved her 6 weeks from the show, well as it turns out she looks best about 3 - 4 weeks. She has a really nice thick coat and is the only white goat I have that could probably be shown the very next day after a clip.

So its all in getting to know your individual goats. I clip them at odd times of the year so I can experiment and see how their hair grows out.

For clipping I really dont do anything fancy. I have an Oster A5 clipper with a 10 blade on it. I shave against the way the hair lies. I start at the tail and just peel all the hair off. I dont wash them before, ideally I would like to as it keeps the clipper blades sharper but I usually dont have time so I just do them dirty. I spray Revive or Final Bloom (cattle products) on them after clipping and wipe down with a towel to get the loose hair off them because they get itchy otherwise. For udders I use a Wahl Pocket Pro a couple days before the show. I tend not to really shave their faces unless they are really scraggly. And I cut beards off with scissors the day before the show (or sometimes at the show)


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Well you cant tell from the picture..both look smooth.your nubian is beautiful. I find the same thing.my girls with dark hair cleanup smoother...I dont show...but I hate them being hot..so I trim the ones with tons of hair.plus with all the lice Ive been dealing with I thought it might help..Two of my Saanen...Misty and Paige have horrid hair too...thin and both are large boned so looks scrawny and bony...Kind of sad looking..Paige is 11 years old and shows it lol...both are hard to keep weight on...Misty give a gallon a milking...she really puts in all in the bucket lol..guess I can re-shave against the hair.I always went with it and boy it looks choppy...hard to get around the bony hip bone. My other two saanen, Daisy and Lilly, mother and daughter have tons of hair...long hip skirts..thick thick hair so they dont looks too bad..a few spots I could re do but not too bad..my husband bought me new clippers..horse clippers..I think the blade is a 10. guess I will just keep them hidden if folks come by lol....any way hopefully your buck will temp your ladies : )


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

i find the horse clippers.too heavy and i cant cope with the vibrations down my.arm  i LOVE my oster dog clippers i can clip with them all day. 

i started.out going with the hair but advice from people on this board changed to against the hair and it does look much better. 

violet and one.of.my others, jubilee, are hard doing saanens. i can never put.condition on them even when they are dry they always stay boney and thin. and when they milk they just put everything.in the bucket. it.makes it hard when we are out in public and people dont know any better and ask why they are so skinny  

primrose on the other hand eats barely nothing and is FAT. all my hard.doing girls are bought in from four hrs away and arent used to the worms, weather and pasture here onthe coast. i am hpping that home bred goats will be easier keepers in that regard. certinly primrose is at the moment sp it will bebinteresting to see how she goes when she kids down and milks eventually.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I know what you mean...I hae the same problem with misty and Paige ..While Daisy and Lilly ( my other two Saanen) stay filled in...both Paige and Misty are taller and bigger boned...
We work to keep them all conditioned....Paige is retired...but still comes to the table every AM and PM...FOr her I wont mind her getting a bit too fat lol..since she wont be bred any more...she is dried up so all her food goes to keeping her fit..or should be lol..
Ill try clipping them against the flow of hair, couldn't look worse to be bald then all chopped lol...this is only second year Ive clipped them..Last season used to use dog clippers too..burned them up : ) I have too many goats ..they get hot..quit then I have to wait...finally they quite for good. ..


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