Boer breeders, I need some sanity please (Update with photo)

[chickenrunnin]

july 24th.

 

[helmstead]

So you've had her since February?

 

[chickenrunnin]

No, I got her July 24th very pregnant. Due last week of July/First week of August. Mid August she had milk and lost mucous plug. No there is no milk at all. Her stomach moves unevenly and pokes out on various sides. When I got her you could see her belly moving all of the time, it was very busy, there was no doubt in my mind she was pregnant.

 

[helmstead]

I would tend to say she wasn't very pregnant at all back in July - perhaps she was drying her udder off, not building it? You probably were seeing her rumen moving, not kids. Bellies change shape all the time based upon fill... and you might have just seen her in heat rather than a mucos plug.

Can you feel anything if you palpate? Just going off her udder, I'm guessing late Oct or early November, if she is bred.

I could always be wrong...but she just doesn't look anywhere near close. Really, she could be due anytime between now and December if you purchased her in July...or she might not even be bred. It's so darn hard to say with goats, most of whom look preggers all the time.

 

[chickenrunnin]

I totally agree. I am very disheartened though. I was so wanting babies. My buck who is 7 months old and very much a boy was not interested in her at all. You think her stomach could move that much moving the rumen around? I am tending to believe that she is not and was just heavy. But that doesnt explain that she had milk for a week. The lady I bought her from said that when she purchased her and her sister that they were both due around the same time. So that would mean that they were bred Feb/Mar. Her sister had hers 2 weeks late. Oh well, another time. Bummer deal though, that I bought a "pregnant" doe on purpose and we didnt have any. Thanks Kate for all your help and support. I think I need a support group for miscarriages for goat moms.

 

[helmstead]

Well don't give up on her yet. Did the individual you purchased from own a buck? How long had she owned her? Take each date and run it through the calculator...

I've had several does lead me on. Some I swear are bred, turn out open. Some you can't tell they're bred at all until their udders build in ernest. I have a few that build little precocious udders when they're in season...ya just don't know until you've had the doe awhile and know their ways.

And, if she is open, your buck being 7 mos old is just to where we'd expect one to be starting to do his job. I'm sure this fall, he'll fall into a good rut and help you out for spring kids!

This is why (well one of the reasons why) I don't sell bred does. Sure, I might be willing to expose a doe before it leaves here, but I won't sell on as 'bred'. Heartache, headaches. I have purchased a few myself who were supposed to be bred and weren't (or weren't bred to what I was told they were, etc)...I don't want to put someone else through that.

By the way, she is a beautiful lady! I love her ticking/roaning!

 

[chickenrunnin]

So guess what, after all the weirdness of last week with my goat, this week (today) I saw dried dirty goo on her butt cheek. So I decided after a week of giving up on her I would check it out. Her belly on one side was soooo hard. Like there was a critter in there and the other side was soooo soft and no hard spots. Then being as thorough as I am decided to check her bag. While its a little more full than previous days I decided to do a gentle/firm tug and I got milk in my hand again. So I called my mom and had her come over to make sure I wasnt crazy and she felt the same thing suggesting maybe her belly was really full from the grass...then...I showed her....watch this mom I say and checked her bag again and filled my hand with milk cuz she jumped and made me pull harder. So, if she wasnt pregnant and was in heat would that cause her to still milk up? I asked my friend again when she got her and she said a couple of weeks before the other goats had babies she was purchased with. So it could be that she got bred toward the end of April and not February as she was told. See Momma goat was bred when she purchased her. So the hope is back that I can still be a goat momma

 

[Mini-M Ranch]

Goats are weird, wonderful little creatures, aren't they?

 

[bheila]

Good lord chickenrunnin, too bad you aren't a little closer or I'd come down and palpate or pull her blood for you. This is driving me nuts and she's not even my doe....

 

[chickenrunnin]

LOL I wish we were closer too bheila. Ya know of all my animals in my life having babies and what not, this has been the most difficult, most interesting, most frustrating. In all my other animals I have ALWAYS been able to tell. Animals have always been my life. Then I get this crazy goat, and all of my knowledge has suddenly disappeared. Its driving me crazy, grantide its not a far drive. I had to laugh at the statement Good Lord, because when I tested her milk supply that is exactly what I said to her. So now, I dont know what to think. I tried for a week to believe that she wasnt pregnant and now I think she is again. But maybe like my original belief they might have been completely off on their dates.