# Close to delivering?



## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

I have a FF Nubian doe that just has me puzzled. This is my first year breeding and I've made a few mistakes. I have no clue when this doe is due, just that she was confirmed pregnant in Nov with a blood test. I never saw her go into heat or her get bred in August because I was recovering from a C-Section and had family caring for them and the buck kept jumping the fence. 
I didn't see her go into heat after that and it never occurred to me that maybe she was bred on her first heat of the season until the beginning of this month when she started to develop an udder. About a week ago she started to loose her mucus plug and her vulva blew up then she started pawing at the ground, curling her lip, lightly panting when she lays down, lifting her upper body by standing on stuff, and just acting extremely uncomfortable, 2 days ago her sides sunk in a bit and her ligaments feel completely different from my other goats.
Instead of being an upside down V they go down a little bit from the tail then drop like they are laying on her pelvis. I can wrap my fingers around the base of her tail, I can not do this with the other pregnant goats. 
I'm starting to feel a little crazy here but is she going to kid soon? 

Two of my other does are due around feb 18th, could she be due then?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

She might be close. It's hard to say for sure. How is her udder looking?


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

It's not the best picture but this was yesterday, so it's not huge.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

That udder still has a ways to go.


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> That udder still has a ways to go.


Yeah I know, that's part of why I'm confused, But the biggest thing is the ligaments. 
Will they completely go away, or shift more?


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

They should completely go away. Keep an eye on her, because some does, especially FF, can kid with an udder that's very small. The biggest things I watch for are hard/full udders, and sudden changes to shape, ligaments, or udder.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

yashlier said:


> Yeah I know, that's part of why I'm confused, But the biggest thing is the ligaments.
> Will they completely go away, or shift more?


Based on my own experience and reading countless posts like this, the "ligament thing" is the most unreliable indicator.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Tenacross said:


> Based on my own experience and reading countless posts like this, the "ligament thing" is the most unreliable indicator.


I haven't decided yet if it's unreliable or not, but it's useless to me. By the time a doe's ligaments are gone, she is already having contractions and other signs that tell me she's in labor. I just go by "sudden changes."


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Ligs are hard for some to find or figure out.

Are you checking the ligs correctly?
It is on both sides of the tailhead, not wrapping your fingers around the tailhead. 
Push down on both sides, ligs feel like pencils, and start getting softer closer to kidding, then all of a sudden you cannot feel them.


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

toth boer goats said:


> Ligs are hard for some to find or figure out.
> 
> Are you checking the ligs correctly?
> It is on both sides of the tailhead, not wrapping your fingers around the tailhead.
> Push down on both sides, ligs feel like pencils, and start getting softer closer to kidding, then all of a sudden you cannot feel them.


Yes, that is what I'm doing and I could feel them doing that before now they are down lower except at the tail head
They go down like this, obviously it's a little off because I'm not great with drawing on my phone.









Before they were up higher and I can feel them in the correct spot on the other three does. 
The other three does the ligs are blocking me from wrapping my finger around their tails but not on this doe.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Alot of people have a hard time knowing where the ligs are. Ligaments have been my nerves one way of knowing when a doe will kid within 24 hrs. Never been wrong, wish other species of animals were that easy. She could be getting close, she may not get an udder until right before or after she kids being a ff.


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## JessLoveJ (Jan 4, 2018)

I have two dwarf pygmys and I have found their ligs only one day they are there and the next they are gone! So I also say unreliable. One of them has an udder like yours and the other one has it growing by the day. Both were confirmed pregnant but we also no due date. So it’s just an excruciating waiting game. I made a go bag of all of the essentials needed for delivering so hopefully I can catch one in labor when the time comes. That’s all we can do. All I know from what I’ve read, is we will know for sure when labor is near OR we are approaching only to find a new kid.


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

They aren't super reliable I've had a doe have her ligs and birth right then!


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

Well her udder is more full, her vulva seems to be opening, I'm not sure if her udder is full enough but it's noticeably different from this morning.


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Looking good! She still has a little ways to go unless she fills last minute


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## JessLoveJ (Jan 4, 2018)

yashlier said:


> Well her udder is more full, her vulva seems to be opening, I'm not sure if her udder is full enough but it's noticeably different from this morning.


My goats udder is much larger but people in this group call it a "precocious udder"


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I think she has weeks to go yet based on the udder. It should really fill out a lot more even to the point of stock out behind the rear legs in some goats.


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

JessLoveJ said:


> My goats udder is much larger but people in this group call it a "precocious udder"


Well I know she's pregnant so I know it's not that


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

SalteyLove said:


> I think she has weeks to go yet based on the udder. It should really fill out a lot more even to the point of stock out behind the rear legs in some goats.


She has me pretty confused. Minus the large udder and streaming mucus she has been doing everything on all of the websites I've read. Her sides are so sunken in now and her ligs appear to be gone as of this morning but now she isn't acting horribly uncomfortable. 
It's not the best picture but this was pretty much her face all night yesterday her ears would only relax for a minute or 2 then went back up, you could just tell she was not a happy camper.
Her kidding pen is in my basement so I have been hanging out with her every night for the last 2 weeks.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Goats just don't read the manual. Best to just keep an eye on her.


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## JessLoveJ (Jan 4, 2018)

yashlier said:


> Well I know she's pregnant so I know it's not that












This is my goats udder, it's doubled in size the past month. She was confirmed pregnant back in October. But still no babies yet. Just a growing udder and appetite.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Pretty frustrating for sure.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Judging by udder I still think she has a while to go


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

JessLoveJ said:


> This is my goats udder, it's doubled in size the past month. She was confirmed pregnant back in October. But still no babies yet. Just a growing udder and appetite.


She looks like she has about a month to go...

A goat needs to be at least 30 days bred to get accurate results by either blood test or Ultrasound. So, if she was confirmed pregnant in October, she very well could have been bred in September which would put her due in February.

Do you know the date that she was confirmed bred?


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

Today is pretty much my cut off date for when she could have kidded had she been bred in August. So that leads me to another question. 
From what I can tell my does always go into heat in the same week, Do any of you have does that go into heat at different times, or will your girls go into heat at the same time? 

I have two separate herds and I know my second set all go into heat at the same time too so I just assumed that's normal for them.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Last August, 5 of my 7 does came into heat within the same week. 
The other 2 didn’t cycle until September, and even then it took 3-4 cycles each for them to get bred (I think they’re finally pregnant and due in March/April). 
Every doe is different and so yes, they can come in heat at different times. 
Sorry your girl didn’t get bred.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

JessLoveJ said:


> This is my goats udder, it's doubled in size the past month. She was confirmed pregnant back in October. But still no babies yet. Just a growing udder and appetite.


If she's pregnant then it's not precocious udder.


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## yashlier (Mar 4, 2016)

Goat_Scout said:


> Last August, 5 of my 7 does came into heat within the same week.
> The other 2 didn't cycle until September, and even then it took 3-4 cycles each for them to get bred (I think they're finally pregnant and due in March/April).
> Every doe is different and so yes, they can come in heat at different times.
> Sorry your girl didn't get bred.


Okay I'm asking because if she went into heat with the rest in September then I have 2 ish more weeks until she is ready and that seems to follow what people are saying. 
She's most certainly bred I have just been unsure when she was due. 
We did a blood test and I can feel and see the babies/baby moving. 
I'll just keep watching her but at this point I feel like she's just be very dramatic about very pregnant.

Thanks everyone!


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## TexasGoatMan (Jul 4, 2015)

Want be long. You can watch her actions and she will let you know when she is really close. From what you say my guess is with in next 2 weeks or less.


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## JessLoveJ (Jan 4, 2018)

Goat_Scout said:


> She looks like she has about a month to go...
> 
> A goat needs to be at least 30 days bred to get accurate results by either blood test or Ultrasound. So, if she was confirmed pregnant in October, she very well could have been bred in September which would put her due in February.
> 
> Do you know the date that she was confirmed bred?


Confirmed in October just because I had the vet out, but no confirmed date. I have a photos of them mating because I somewhat log our crazy lives on Snapchat. He mates her September, October and November. But she was confirmed in October. Lately they have been eating like crazy and going through water. Normally the hay would stay there all day and water only to be filled every two days. Now I'm filling water twice a day and giving feed 2-3 times a day. It's crazy!


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## JessLoveJ (Jan 4, 2018)

Goat_Scout said:


> She looks like she has about a month to go...
> 
> A goat needs to be at least 30 days bred to get accurate results by either blood test or Ultrasound. So, if she was confirmed pregnant in October, she very well could have been bred in September which would put her due in February.
> 
> Do you know the date that she was confirmed bred?


I don't imagine they would get that big either since they were so stinking small when I got them. Even my buck is small and lets my husband carry him around like a baby lol! The first indication was they went from teeny tiny teats to these huge swollen long teats. And now this past months vulvas and udders are changing.


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