# Pooch test...does it work?



## Gabriella (Aug 28, 2020)

I've read so much about this pooch test. Some swear by it...does anyone use this?...because I'm happy to post goat butt pics 🤣😂🤣


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## chickens really (Aug 28, 2020)

I don't understand? What's a pooch test?


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## MoreAU (Sep 2, 2020)

Ditto. What pooch test? Got a link?


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## Fuchsia (Sep 2, 2020)

It is where you tell if a goat is pregnant by her rear end 
Right?


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## Ridgetop (Sep 3, 2020)

Are you referring to the softening and possible swelling of the vulva?


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## Ridgetop (Sep 3, 2020)

Lots of people feel for the ligaments.  I try to get the exact breeding date and then just watch the doe to see if she udders up.  Uddering up not always a good sign either because some don't udder up before kidding.  If you see a stringy thick mucous discharge - that is often the "plug" and birth can be anywhere from imminent to 3 days off.  LOL

They like to keep us guessing.  To mangle a proberb = "A watched doe never kids" (when you are watching!)  LOL


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## MuldrowHomeFarm (Sep 3, 2020)

Ridgetop said:


> Are you referring to the softening and possible swelling of the vulva?


Yes


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## rachels.haven (Sep 3, 2020)

I'd go by blood test personally. Reading does bums is a little iffy. Or you can wait and if they don't go back into heat in 3 weeks they're probably bred-slightly more reliable than the pooch test.


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## MuldrowHomeFarm (Sep 4, 2020)

I agree. I've never been able to tell via pooch test. Bumping them is a better test but by then they are 4 months along so......blood test is best


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## Ridgetop (Sep 4, 2020)

The vulva softens and gets slightly swollen, and the ligaments soften just before kidding.  Yoi can't tell if a doe is pregnant by looking at her butt.  Neither can you tell by checking udder tissue.  Often the udder doesn't bag until right after she kids until perhaps 2 days later if she is a first  freshener.

Do you want to know if your doe is actually pregnant?  Or are you wanting to know when she will kid?  Did you plan this breeding?  If you need to now when to remove the buck from the pen, he should stay in for a month minimum to cover 2 heat cycles if she recycles.  Make sure to write the dates she was exposed on the calendar so you can anticipate her kidding dates.  



rachels.haven said:


> Or you can wait and if they don't go back into heat in 3 weeks they're probably bred-slightly more reliable than the pooch test.



Much better, but unless you are hand breeding or running a buck with a harness on with the does, you still might not see any action.  Some goats are secretive, although not many.  However main breeding time is around dawn or sunset so you might miss seeing it.  Blood test would be best if you really need to know.


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