problems with a baby belly

[animalcrackeracres]

problems with a baby belly.....
I just bought home a 3 month old baby doe, a boer cross, a few days ago and I am worried her belly seems way too round. Like she is a basketball with stick legs and a scrawny neck and tiny head. Her belly is hard as well but I can see her hips and spine. The prev owner said her mother died suddenly last month (bloat from lush pasture, didn't get to her in time) so the baby was weaned suddenly and has been eating hay and pasture but no grains. The prev owner said she has already been dewormed and vaccinated and isn't due for the next set until next month.
She runs around and does not seem to be in discomfort, she nibbles at the hay and grass and even some grains and seems fine. Her poops are normal. The whites of her eyes are fine. Her legs and neck seem a little scrawny and not muscular like my other babies but they were not weaned until 5 months.
She was in with some baby bucklings, is it dumb to think she might be pregnant? Or has bloat with no pain? or a parasite that normal wormers doesn't take care of? She lets me poke and prod at her belly and it doesn't bother her, but it bothers me because it feels hard like a back muscle and not squishy like a normal goat stomach. Remember she showed up with this belly: she did not get it from a diet change or anything on my farm.
Could it just be a simple as a nutritional deficiency? The owner didn't say what kind of hay or grass, whereas mine all grew up on the best that was available.

 

[Moonshine]

I'm pretty new so I'm hoping someone with more experience will come around. It could be a couple of things, does she have free choice baking soda and minerals?

 

[SDA92]

If you want to you can draw blood and send it into Biotracking and know for sure if she is bred or not.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Some babies do have a rounded look to them if they are eating hay/grass, so might be nothing. If it is weirdly large (a photo would help) I would treat for bloat for starters just as a precaution.

Then, take a fecal sample into a vet to check for parasites (eye lids check are fine but that is only an indicator for one of many types of parasites that could cause a potbelly). Even with okay stools, she could have parasites that need treatment and finding out what kind if any is the first step there.

How old were the bucklings in with her? At 3 months, she *could* have had a heat cycle and been bred if the bucks were over 8 weeks. It might be a good idea to have a blood test sent in to check since that is too young for her to be carrying a pregnancy. Another option would be to talk to the vet and see how they feel about giving her a dose of lute to abort any possible pregnancy.

 

[Rocco]

I currently have a set of triplet Myotonic-Boer cross doelings. The runt is like you describe...skinny-necked, skinny hind quarters, etc...but she has the biggest rumen/belly of the three. She is also the least likely to ever get to a feed trough and the most likely to continue browsing or munching hay.

She is a April kid, but has had the "hay belly" for quite some time now. Otherwise, she is very healthy, active, athletic, playful and normal.

 

[Moonshine]

Some babies do have a rounded look to them if they are eating hay/grass, so might be nothing. If it is weirdly large (a photo would help) I would treat for bloat for starters just as a precaution.

Then, take a fecal sample into a vet to check for parasites (eye lids check are fine but that is only an indicator for one of many types of parasites that could cause a potbelly). Even with okay stools, she could have parasites that need treatment and finding out what kind if any is the first step there.

How old were the bucklings in with her? At 3 months, she *could* have had a heat cycle and been bred if the bucks were over 8 weeks. It might be a good idea to have a blood test sent in to check since that is too young for her to be carrying a pregnancy. Another option would be to talk to the vet and see how they feel about giving her a dose of lute to abort any possible pregnancy.

2x that's exactly what I was thinking but being so new I didn't want to give bad advise if I wasn't right. This forum teaches so much and I have learned so much on here!! Anyhoo, if your doe is pregnant its way too soon for her to be showing. If she did get bred it would have had to happen in the last month and does don't usually start showing till month 3 or later. Its possible she is bred but I don't think that's your answer to the belly.

 

[bcnewe2]

I'm just blown away that a goat could be pregnant at 3 months. I've always kept my ram in with my ewes. No one has ever gotten pregnant till after 5 months or so. Are goats that different?