OOPS Need Advice

[Standoutcheetah]

Hi! So we may have had a oops 2 months ago with two siblings we bought. We have supposedly 6 month old Pygmy/nigerian cross. She’s about 20/25 pounds and my favorite. We’re new to raising goats so please don’t judge. I think she pregnant because her vulva has gotten bigger and her nipples have also gotten larger.

Will she survive kidding?

 

[Baymule]

Yes she should survive. Things to look for are an enlarged udder and ligaments at base of tail, top of hindquarters along the spine.

Squeeze the ligaments now, they should be tight and firm. That way you will recognize the difference. Before giving birth, those ligaments loosen up, get soft and smooshy so the birth canal has room to stretch for the baby to be born.

Young goats and sheep , especially the males, are fertile at 3 months old and must be separated. Sounds like the seller did not let you in on that tidbit of knowledge, or didn’t separate them to begin with. I wean ram lambs at 2 months old. So now you know.

If these are strictly going to be pets, take the buck to the vet ASAP and get him castrated. If he is in with the doe when she gives birth, the birthing smells can get him excited and he could be trying to breed her while her babies are being born.

I don’t know about goats, but I raise Katahdin sheep, the first heat after lambing can come 17-21 days after giving birth and the ram can breed her again. Hard on the ewe for back to back breeding.

If you decide to keep the babies and don’t want an inbreeding explosion, get the males banded at a couple of weeks old.

With the boys testicles off and gone, you can enjoy your pets.

@Mini Horses
@frustratedearthmother

 

[Mini Horses]

Yep. Goats seem to be born humping! Only salvage for some is they're being seasonal breeders, most dairy.

But ND & pygmy are not. Nope, they are year round & seem to sexually mature faster. Those little rascals are breeders in every sense of the word! My big dairy & meat breeds are less inclined for female fertility as early.

If pets, absolutely get male castrated. Separate near kidding & after for a while, esp if not neutered! Her bag will fill before birthing, usually.

She'll probably have a small single. Mother nature usually helps protect in this way. Also, she will need extra feed once birthing, as it takes far more nutrition to make milk than to grow a fetus. Plus being young, she is still growing herself. Get a good quality feed for dairy goats. I use an 18% Blue Seal feed...they need it...alfalfa pellets mixed in.

You don't need to feed this to buck, so $$ for on doe will be ok.

 

[Standoutcheetah]

Yep. Goats seem to be born humping! Only salvage for some is they're being seasonal breeders, most dairy.

But ND & pygmy are not. Nope, they are year round & seem to sexually mature faster. Those little rascals are breeders in every sense of the word! My big dairy & meat breeds are less inclined for female fertility as early.

If pets, absolutely get male castrated. Separate near kidding & after for a while, esp if not neutered! Her bag will fill before birthing, usually.

She'll probably have a small single. Mother nature usually helps protect in this way. Also, she will need extra feed once birthing, as it takes far more nutrition to make milk than to grow a fetus. Plus being young, she is still growing herself. Get a good quality feed for dairy goats. I use an 18% Blue Seal feed...they need it...alfalfa pellets mixed in.

You don't need to feed this to buck, so $$ for on doe will be ok.

Thank you! He was banded shortly after and his balls fell off a few weeks ago. He’s currently wearing an apron as well.

I was surprised to see her nipples grow a bit since she went into heat again a few weeks ago I thought I was in the clear from the oops.

 

[Standoutcheetah]

Yes she should survive. Things to look for are an enlarged udder and ligaments at base of tail, top of hindquarters along the spine.

Squeeze the ligaments now, they should be tight and firm. That way you will recognize the difference. Before giving birth, those ligaments loosen up, get soft and smooshy so the birth canal has room to stretch for the baby to be born.

Young goats and sheep , especially the males, are fertile at 3 months old and must be separated. Sounds like the seller did not let you in on that tidbit of knowledge, or didn’t separate them to begin with. I wean ram lambs at 2 months old. So now you know.

If these are strictly going to be pets, take the buck to the vet ASAP and get him castrated. If he is in with the doe when she gives birth, the birthing smells can get him excited and he could be trying to breed her while her babies are being born.

I don’t know about goats, but I raise Katahdin sheep, the first heat after lambing can come 17-21 days after giving birth and the ram can breed her again. Hard on the ewe for back to back breeding.

If you decide to keep the babies and don’t want an inbreeding explosion, get the males banded at a couple of weeks old.

With the boys testicles off and gone, you can enjoy your pets.

@Mini Horses
@frustratedearthmother

Thank you so much! Yes he’s been banded and his balls have fallen off to prevent this.

 

[Mini Horses]

He can't impregnate now, so you can remove his apron in a couple weeks -- once he stops pestering her to be breeding. If she's shown heat cycle, maybe she's NOT preggers sometimes they develop a little from hormones / estrus.

 

[Ridgetop]

She'll probably have a small single. Mother nature usually helps protect in this way. Also, she will need extra feed once birthing, as it takes far more nutrition to make milk than to grow a fetus.

Hopefully not pregnant, but if so make sure not to overfeed during the last month of pregnancy. Too much nutrition in last month will produce large kid(s), OK if twins, but if a single it can be a difficult birth for a young doe.