She's driving me crazy! Pregnant? Img heavy.

[Newgoatmom]

Hello, everyone. Sorry I haven't been around at all and am now just jumping on to ask this, but life has been way too crazy here! I think my goat may be pregnant but I just don't know. If she is, judging by how long I have had her she would have no more than about 3 weeks to go. I don't have a male so it would be impossible after that. My kids think I am crazy for thinking she may be but I thought I would post pics and hope someone has a guess. She hasn't been in (obvious) heat since I got her, btw.

So the signs I have noticed. Stomach enlarged on right side, including some movement. It's not straight across from her rumen bulge..it sits a bit farther up. Her teats have grown, though they are still small, but she's a boer so I am not expecting great big milker teats anyway, and they're is no hair around them. I know the no hair thing is significant in dogs but can't find anything about it in goats. Her udder area is soft and feels almost like an empty fabric purse for lack of a better description. Her vulva is elongated and the skin around it is very puffy. I am going to attach the best pics I could get of all these things and would be so grateful for any and all opinions. I really hope she is not. She was way too young when I got her (he said 5 to 6 months at that time) but since she was being sold for meat I don't think they were careful about her not getting bred early. Oh, and I swear her ligaments are softening but it could just be me going crazy! Lol

 

[Green Acres Farm]

If you think she is due in no more than 3 weeks, I do not think she is pregnant. Her udder should be way more developed and her belly (although not always an indicator) is small.

The movements you see are probably just her rumen. A kid will feel like a hard rock in her abdomen.

Many labs that test for CAE offer a pregnancy blood test as well.

 

[Newgoatmom]

Thanks. I really hope you are right. I just do not want her to go through that so young.

So it's possible to feel movement from her rumen on her right side, too?

I thought about the pregnancy test but since I will know for sure within a month figured it's pointless now. I am sure I will go that route when I do breed them, though. Waiting isn't my favorite thing! Lol

 

[TAH]

Was she with a buck before you bought her? And if how long and when?

@Green Acres Farm I had a doe (first timer) not get an udder till 2-3 days before and not filling till a few hours after kidding... And she is on her fourth freshening and has always been like that.

She doesn't look very wide and like greenacres said very good be her rumen but I am not sure about what you said.

 

[Newgoatmom]

As far as I know, she just lived with male and female goats all mixed. Boer, Spanish, and mixes of both. He said she's 75/25 boer/spanish. I have had her for about 4 months but I am not positive on the date so it could be another month instead of just 3 more weeks I suppose. But, that would mean her getting pregnant immediately before me getting her.

When I got her she was basically wild. I am not 100% sure but the feeling I got was that they just all live together and as they get big enough they are rounded up and sold for meat as a whole goat or butchered by him. I got the whole goat. She has tamed down beautifully, though it has taken most of the time I have had her. She's still a bit skittish but just the sweetest little girl you could imagine.

I really never suspected she might be until she started changing. One of the things I do with her and her "sister" (Nubian/Nigerian dwarf girl) is massage their teats every day while they are eating so they will be used to it when I do breed them and start milking. That is how I noticed the huge change in her teats and that little fat/flabby pouch in the udder area. Then started overthinking and checking her over. ..maybe TOO carefully!

 

[dejavoodoo114]

So she is about 10 or 11 months now? It could be that she is going through estrus now and that is why her vulva is swelling. Her larger teat size could be because she is growing and maturing. Or, she could be pregnant. Guess you will find out in the next few weeks! lol

 

[Newgoatmom]

Yeah, she would be somewhere around 10 months though he didn't seem sure of her age when I got her.

I thought of that as a possibility...my other girl, Eliza, is in heat right now but it's so obvious! She mounts Anabelle and her lady bits are very puffy but a completely different sort of puffy. The skin around it is normal, the vulva is like a little pillow. She also had a little discharge. She wags her tail constantly and pokes her little bottom to the fence while yelling for boys that don't exist. Anabelle isn't acting like she's in heat at all.

If I wasn't already crazy I will be soon. I am hoping everyone is right and she's not but I will feel better when the possibility is past.

 

[Talithahorse]

I am in the exact same plight you are in now. I calculated from the time we had the billy wethered (2 days after we got him) and the latest should be around the 13th of June. It is so hard to tell for me but I am such a newbie at this with goats.