Physical pregnancy signs?

[CapraCurry]

Hello fellow goat owners! My Nigerian dwarf doe, Bella, was officially bred for the first time on October 28th when I suspected that she was in heat. She wasn't showing very many signs- however her pen mate, Asteria, was showing ALL the signs. Bella has never really shown any big signs of being in heat - ever. Her breeder recommended that I try breeding Bella around the time that Asteria appeared to be in heat, seeing as, in her experience, does will often "sync up". Bella stood for the buck just fine and allowed him to breed her, though she seemed to be taken by surprise! Any who, she was bred once more the day after (she stood). Since then, whenever the buck is around she does not allow him to mount her at all and will run away from him and vocalize her disapproval. She seems to have widened up in the barrel a fair bit but there's no changes in her udder. How soon do you all, in your experience, see the signs? Is it typical got them to "barrel up" so soon or is it just bloat/fat/rumen activity? I know that sounds ignorant but she's a first freshener and I'm very new to raising goats. I just want to make sure I'm not jumping to conclusions. I know that I've heard some does will hardly show until just a couple of weeks before.

 

[nstone630]

I'm new to Goat Pregnancy myself...but there are amazing people on here to help! I'm sure you'll get some response soon!! Good luck and happy Kidding!

 

[Hens and Roos]

Each of our does have shown differently once bred. Given that yours are almost 2 months bred it's hard to say....can you post some pictures, maybe a side picture and a picture taken from the top. We bred our 4 does 1st part of Nov and we aren't seeing much change as of yet.

@OneFineAcre @Goat Whisperer @babsbag @Southern by choice @NH homesteader and many others can give you some more thoughts too!

 

[NH homesteader]

Thanks for the vote of confidence lol, but I don't know much about pregnancy and kidding (yet). I have had goats as pets for quite a while but am new to breeding.

If you look through people's kidding pages (I'm thinking Goat Whisperer and Southern By Choice's in particular because there's lots of pictures) you can get an idea of what others' goats look like at different time frames of pregnancy. @Ferguson K has a good kidding thread also with plenty of pictures.

 

[babsbag]

I raise mostly Alpines and it has been my experience that the bigger goats don't show as quickly as the smaller ones. I see pictures of Nigis that are a few months along and you can tell they are bred; my Alpines can hold out and not really show until 4 months or more. Of course it also depends on the number of kids they are carrying.

The udder can wait until the last possible moment and then bloom but you will usually start to see some changes around the third or fourth month with a first freshener.

 

[CapraCurry]

Will see about getting some photos up here ASAP, most likely tomorrow! Thank you for the advice guys. I could just be seeing things with the wider barrel so I definetly want to get some photos for those with experience to compare with.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Like the others said, all does show a little differently.
Some carry low, others wide.
Some don't show at all, others show soon after being bred.

Click on this link and scroll down to the pics of the goats. They are almost half way thru pregnancy and are showing big time.
http://www.backyardherds.com/thread...ng-thread-easier-kidding-time-d.32492/page-58

If she stood for the buck, was bred, and hasn't stood again chances are she is preggers

You could do a blood test or ultra sound to confirm. Blood tests aren't very much $$$.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Also, you could start taking a few pics every couple of weeks to track progress.

Try to do it before feeding, around the same time of day.

 

[CapraCurry]

Bella is the doe on the right in the first image and the only doe in the second. The two of them eat approx 1/2lb a day in grains and eat Timothy hay + browse. What do you guys think?

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Hard to tell. She's a little wider but her rump is wider anyway, so hard to tell.
Looks like you are running your buck with them, if you are doing this full time she might have been bred at a later date without you knowing.

I'd pull some blood and send it out. They need to be at least 30 days bred though.