# Goats help !!!



## Squick7314 (Mar 2, 2018)

me and my husband just got goats one is extremely friendly buck he was originally from a petting zoo they said he was one but our 2nd is a 1 year old doe we got a week ago they said that she is pregnant they don’t know when she was bred and she is skittish an I’ve been trying to get her to let me at least be near her she let me pet her today but now she is being skittish again she lays down a lot I’m just trying to figure things out if she is in fact pregnant and what I can get her to do to calm down I do t want her to hurt baby I’ve been doing a lot of research just want a little bit of opinions we do bunny’s and chickens and ducks  normally


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## Squick7314 (Mar 2, 2018)




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## MiniSilkys (Mar 4, 2018)

Have you tried holding a bowl of feed for her to eat? It takes time. You could start by placing the bowl on the ground beside you and acting like you are not paying attention to her. I bought a pygmy doe that was due 30-45 days after I bought her. Does she look like she has an udder? Have you seen any movement in her right side?


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 4, 2018)

Did they tell you what breed she was?


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 4, 2018)

Any pics of your boy? What is he?


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## Squick7314 (Mar 5, 2018)

I got close to her a few times can’t really see cuz she needs a shave so I felt under her an her udder felt loose I’ll try today to see if I can get a picture she lays down a lot and she has let me pet her for a little here An there but I got her from a farm I do t think they really New the breed they said the had Nigerians An Pygmy to me with all the research I did she looks more Nigerian and the other people we got our buck from said he was Nigerian but he is definitely built a lot different look like could by Pygmy the buck thinks he a dog extremely friendly


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## Squick7314 (Mar 5, 2018)

This our buck he is too much loves affection


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## Squick7314 (Mar 5, 2018)

This is the best I could get this morning of her from behind


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## Latestarter (Mar 5, 2018)

Greetings and welcome. Congrats on your new goats! I can't tell you if she's pregnant or not, but from the pictures you've shared, she looks mighty thin to be carrying. It's much easier to tell looking straight down from above. If you look at some of the kidding threads on here where pictures have been shared, you'll see what I mean. I can't really see any udder development, but that's not a 100% indicator either as some does don't fill until right at kidding or right after. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself.  Old folks like me   will never remember & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes.  Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

Thank you I’ll keep my eye on her like I said I don’t know when she was bred at all could been recently the guy said sometime in spring he wasn’t sure at all but I was mainly concerned with stress of moving and coming Into a home that is different then I big farm we are a small homestead and we are just starting with bigger animals so my kids and my husband and myself love to handle our animals we love them friendly so i really hope she comes around


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 6, 2018)

He looks a lot like my buck except mine has much bigger horns but he is 4years old next month. The man I got my buck and first doe from said they were Mini Silky Fainting goats but it turns out the doe was a pygmy. The buck was the son of the doe's sister so he is at least 1/2 pygmy. I don' know what his father was or looked like.


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

Yeah I dont know of the people we got our buck from really new wat he was cuz he looks like a lot of pug ya and none of the Nigerians I’ve seen look like him our doe looks Nigerian though but also a mini Nubian with here big ears


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 6, 2018)

The big ears could also be part kiko or boer. I used to some kiko and kiko/Boer mixes. She reminds me a little of my ginger. I will post a pic of her later. What are you feeding them?


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

Hay and regular goat feed non sweet they have a mineral salt block right now


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 6, 2018)

They love sweet feed. It also helps give a little more weight. It looks like she could use some. Also a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a gallon of water, helps with worms. Free choice baking soda helps with acid in their rumen to keep away bloat especially with fresh spring pasture and grass. They will eat it if they need it. Somehow they know. Now for making her more gentle. Hold some sweet feed or whole corn in your hand or bowl. Sit on a block or something near her. Throw out a piece or two at a time until she comes over for more. When she gets close enough and starts eating the food reach out and scratch her under her neck, down the side of her neck, and above, just behind her front legs. They love that. Do this once or twice a days for 10 minutes. After a while she will come running to  you.


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

Crack corn fine we have bags of that for our chickens


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

Yeah I dont understand why she looks small they definitely have plenty of food I don’t and I’ve seen her eat but our male goat definitely seems to eat more then her I’m hoping it’s just her adjusting we got her February 24th


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 6, 2018)

Let me know how things go. My doe would not let me touch her when we bought her. 30 days later when she was ready to kid she wanted me in the shed with her. But at the time I did not know they shouldn't be moved in the last trimester and the twins did not survive. In fact the buck died in transport but was not delivered until full tern.


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 6, 2018)

You should try some sweet feed and vinegar. Sweet feed around here is less than $8/50 lbs.


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

Yea I’ve been worried bout the fact we transported her worried bout the stress I’ll just keep working with her


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

I’ll definitely pick some up I love in New York so it’s probably about $14 like all the other feed


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## Squick7314 (Mar 6, 2018)

She drives me but some pictures she looks big and some pics look thinner


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 6, 2018)

She has a very long tail.


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## Squick7314 (Mar 15, 2018)

Octavia this morning she is starting to look a little bigger Nd notice u can now see her udder has dropped from behind  keeping a close eye on her just in case


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 15, 2018)

I am waiting for mine to kid today.


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## MiniSilkys (Mar 19, 2018)

My last doe kidded friday morning. How is your doing now? Getting any friendlier? Anna's new baby only ate from one side of her mama's udder and the other side was so tight. So last evening as she ate her nightly meal I milked out the other side. So small I could only use one finger and thumb. Now this evening when I checked her both sides were empty so baby is now getting milk from both sides.


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## Squick7314 (Mar 19, 2018)

Omg such a cute little kid she is slowly coming around she will come to me a put her nose on my hand but she still isn’t sure bout me petting her but she is now coming over to me so there is some progress


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## Squick7314 (Mar 24, 2018)

Octavia is starting to look bigger definitely


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## Alaskan (Mar 24, 2018)

hard for me to tell.... but then I really am not that great at telling if goats are pregnant....  ... .unless they are as round as a house.  

One thing of course is the rumen,  with a bunch of hay or especially brush and such the rumen can get pretty big.  

Cute doe, looks like one of my girls.  Incase she is pregnant and delivers, do you have a place for her to kid that is away from the buck ?


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## Squick7314 (Mar 24, 2018)

Yes she has a place to be separated we are finishing our bigger fences in area this weekend to have better control we just got them stilll getting the hang of everything


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## Alaskan (Mar 24, 2018)

sounds good!


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## Squick7314 (Mar 25, 2018)

I live in upstate New York so the weather has been all I’ve the place like this morning it decided to snow out of no where not even in forecast when it’s so supposed to be 45 /50 outside  so trying to do fencing have been a challenge an slow paced


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## Alaskan (Mar 25, 2018)

cant do fencing if you can't see the ground


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## Latestarter (Mar 25, 2018)

Sure you can... it's a matter of speed upon impact for the T-posts... get em fast enough they'll go through concrete. I guess that would work with wooden posts as well, but they'd need to be going a LOT faster.


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## Alaskan (Mar 26, 2018)

but driving posts through 2 plus feet of snow into frozen ground? Where you can't see what you are whacking it through? Rock, stump, whatever?   I will wait until I see the ground.


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## Squick7314 (Mar 30, 2018)

I know not the best pics but look like her udder dropped


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## Alaskan (Mar 30, 2018)

eh... still really tiny.  Doesn't look to me like a goat thinking about kidding.


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## Latestarter (Mar 30, 2018)

Doesn't look all that close to me either...


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## Wehner Homestead (Mar 31, 2018)

For some comparison, I’ll show you the udder of the Nigerian that I’m watching. She could kid any time. (Of course Snowflake’s is shaved so that makes it stand out more too.)


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## Squick7314 (Apr 15, 2018)

This morning I notice a a little like tear drop of white mucus on her and she has been standing against a wall in the corner of it and has been acting strange since yesterday I’m keeping a close eye on her


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## Squick7314 (Apr 15, 2018)

I should probably shave her be able to see it but she definitely has filled up more and udder is a lot more noticeable when we first got her you definitely could not see any udder and now it’s definitely there I’m waiting for warmer weather to shave her New York weather keeps bouncing around


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## Latestarter (Apr 15, 2018)

It's developing, but still has quite a ways to go.


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## Alaskan (Apr 15, 2018)

unless she could be in heat?   Do you have a buck rag to test out on her?


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## Squick7314 (Apr 15, 2018)

We have a buck also a year he’s from a petting zoo Nd if he goes by her she is not interested at all Nd has been laying down a lot


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## Squick7314 (Apr 16, 2018)

Shaved her 1st time shaving a goat she didn’t really want to stand for me lol ‍


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## Squick7314 (Apr 17, 2018)

Well one thing is as of last night she is being extremely loving she actually just licked my face and I think I definitely felt on right lower side above the udder I felt a kick definitely felt like the kid kicked I know there digestion is on left and can definitely make it’s seem like moving but isn’t but it was definitely right lower side above udder I felt this and she have some clear cloudy mucus discharge


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## Latestarter (Apr 17, 2018)

Gettin' close!  there are no issues.


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## Squick7314 (May 2, 2018)

Well today she has been breathing heavy and here udder I swear has been getting bigger every time I check on her and now tonight I just checked her again and she now have white mucus  discharge and her ligaments by her tail are definitely gone now they felt like they were there a little bit this morning but now nothing hoping for babies soon


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## Wehner Homestead (May 2, 2018)

Ligs gone should mean that you have less than 12 hrs. (Some come and go for up to a week before.) Discharge is a good sign that you are really close though. 

Have you read The Doe Code? If not, just search it on her. We joke about it all the time but it’s pretty much right on. (Easier to laugh about when it’s someone else and not you...and no I’m not laughing at you, just thought you’d get a kick out of reading it and understand why all of our kidding threads are 30 pages of daily lig, udder filling, and prominent hip updates!)


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

View attachment 47719 6:21am today


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

Felt for her ligaments again this morning there is no doubt they are 100% gone and she has been laying down alot more then usual my 11 year old daughter is like me she is so ecexcitand wish she would kid lol waiting game stinks I feel like I was when I was pregnant each time lol


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## Wehner Homestead (May 3, 2018)

My daughter (6) asked if we could just squeeze them out because she couldn’t wait any longer!


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

we have a doeling


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## frustratedearthmother (May 3, 2018)

What a pretty girl!  Congrats!


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## Wehner Homestead (May 3, 2018)

Congratulations!!!


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

She is the sweetest mom might be going for round too she is now breathing heavy again


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

Question she passed the placenta about hour and half after birth but it's been while ND she's having discharge like when she went into labor could it be another after this many hours or just normal discharge


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## Latestarter (May 3, 2018)

Take a breath... relax...   Even after passing the placenta, she's going to have drainage for up to several weeks. Kinda like with human moms, lot's of stretching and such down there and it's gonna take a bit to heal up and get back to normal. Congrats on the new baby doe! She's a real cutie!


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## Latestarter (May 3, 2018)

The thing I find most difficult is the discharge is going to "clump up" in the hair on the tail and the back of the udder. I bring out a bucket of warm soapy water to wash the udder of the doe I milk, and after that usage, I would use it to help clean up the other does' back ends as well. They didn't really seem to appreciate my ministrations while in progress, but afterward, they seemed mighty happy to be clean once more.


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## Alaskan (May 3, 2018)

Squick7314 said:


> She is the sweetest mom might be going for round too she is now breathing heavy again View attachment 47748



very cute, nice color


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

One thing our momma goat ripped a little bit pushing the baby goat out and I feel horrible she must be in a little pain it isn't really bad it's just a little and she is really brusied is there anything that might help her with any pain or discomfort she is eating drinking she had pooped ND everything she seems fine but also like she is in pain a little bit


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## Wehner Homestead (May 3, 2018)

Maybe some banamine (anti inflammatory) but it has to come from the vet... if it was mine, I’d spray it with dermoplast if you have some. That’s what they had me do after I had my kids...


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## Squick7314 (May 3, 2018)

That I was thinking poor momma did good ND pushed right threw ND she is loving her baby she is such a good first time thank you all for ur responses I really like this web page and plan on using more and more loving g life on our homestead


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## Alaskan (May 4, 2018)

A good mama sure makes our lives easier!

So happy for you!


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## Latestarter (May 4, 2018)

Since Banamine is prescription only... need to get from a vet, you can go buy a bottle of generic aspirin and grind 2-3 of them up to powder, mix with a little molasses or sugar water and give to her. It will ease her pain much the same as it does for humans. Glad everything is going so well.


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## horseymama2 (May 5, 2018)

Congratulations on your cute little doe.


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