please help with my goat question..pregnancy??

Question

hello, i have been rasing goats for some time, but i haven't bred any of them yet. however i suspect one of the ones i got in april maybe pregnant. i read the book called how to raise modern dairy goats.. its a green covered book. anyways the person i bought these from had males and females running together. i also thought that goats couldn't go in to heat until it got cold out.. also this is a pygmy goat, she has had two sets of 3 babies in the past for other owner. my question is does anyone know if there is a way to tell if she is expecting.. in the book i read it said that their hips should be caved in by the back end and hip bones, the tail up in air, and not letting other goats eat she is doing all this.. and my opionon is she is really round in the belly area. i tryed feeling her belly to see if i could feel something move but my goat wouldn't sit still for that long. is there any websites that would give me more info.. i also was told to use a HPT to see if she is pregnant.

Answer 1

Human pregnancy tests usually can't detect a goat pregnancy... the only way to tell for sure is to ultrasound, but the only people I know who do that are the ones that take $400 or so for their kids. With just a small herd of pets, that isn't necessary... just keep an eye out for signs of kidding. You know your doe can be pregnant because Pygmy goats originated in Africa, where the weather is always warm... therefore they instincively come into heat year-round and can conceive very easily. Since the former owner had does and bucks running together, it is extremely likely that any does you got from there are pregnant.

You won't really see any signs until the doe is in her 4th month or so, with gestation being 5 months. Within a few weeks of kidding, the doe will start to fill her udder. She may also have personality changes and allow you to mess with her udder, or pet her a lot when she wouldn't have normally let you do so.

When kidding draws near you will see the "bulge" of kids move from being carried high up near the spine, then it will "drop" much lower down. This will cause the caved look you read about, it's the kids moving into position for birthing.

Closer to the kidding day, she'll separate herself from the herd, bleat at her belly (it's super cute when they do that), and her teats may start "waxing" colostrum (meaning they leak slightly). If you feel the ligaments around the tails of other does in your herd, they will feel tight and pretty sturdy. If you suspect a doe of kidding soon, feel her ligaments - they will give out and become mushy within 12 hours of parturition. She'll get restless and paw the bedding.

When you see these signs, keep a close eye on her - just in case she has any problems kidding or doesn't know how to clean her own baby off (I've had does like this). I like to be there for birthings and help the doe clean her kid and make sure the kid starts to nurse before I leave them together. Good luck!!

Answer 2

For a variety of reasons, a doe can resorb the pregnancy at any time during the first half of the pregnancy. If this happens very early, she will cycle at her regular interval. If it happens a little later, she may return to heat 6 weeks after breeding. Watch for estrus signs for six weeks or so after breeding. Does bred toward the end of the traditional breeding season (autumn through early spring) may not take, and open does may be unrecognized due to anestrus (not cycling).

A change of attitude is a good early sign of expectant motherhood. This seat-of-the-pants method is based on the personality change that many does experience about two weeks after breeding. Aloof does suddenly crave attention, and friendly does become standoffish. At parturition her personality reverts to normal. This change is due to hormone progesterone, which is produced by the corpus luteum on the ovaries.

Answer 3

it seams to me you did your homework on this , use your best judgment you will find you had the answer all the time.