Goat Due Date Dec 14th - Questions

Hip_Shot_Hanna · #1 12/08/06, 10:46 AM

Hi - hope someone can reassure me or give me some insight.

The doe will be seven next month. She is hugely pregnant, and the "due dates" are Dec 14th or Dec 22nd. This is from the info I got from the folks that I bought her from.

She's a registered Nigerian Dwarf Doe. We've moved her into a whelping pen that is better protected from drafts than our barn (it came with the place.)

She isn't showing much interest in eating anything at all. However, she's still pooping and drinking etc. Her temperature is completely normal. There's no mucus and it doesn't appear that her udder has become tight yet either.

She has noisy breathing when lying down, but no lung noise, and when standing she doesn't sound that way at all. She is plumb FULL of kid, and I guess that's why she's noisy when lying down.

She was a bit clumsy when we walked her from the barn to the kidding set up, but then she was being led and didn't really want to come either, plus our idiot small dog was running around her and she was trying to butt him too.

Should I be concerned at all about anything? We only got her and another goat around 3 to 4 weeks ago at the most, and she was eating fine then.

Thanks!
Deb

trob1 · #2 12/08/06, 10:52 AM

It could be due to being separated from her friends. I ususally do not put my does in a kidding stall untill I see they are in labor or there is a problem. I even had one doe that refused to stay in the kidding stall while in labor she kept crying and trying to get out. She wanted to be with the herd but when it came time to push she went into the kidding stall all on her own.

Sweet Goats · #3 12/08/06, 11:16 AM

I agree, I would not put her in the stall yet. Plus as big as she is, she NEEDS the exercise, and all that she can get. do you know for sure she is not eating? or have you just not seen her eat. I have a doe that the larger she gets, the less at one time she eats but she eats more often. Is she eating any grain? Just think about how she MUST feel being so large and not being able to move around real well. Is her back end getting good and puffy? can you take a picture of her so we can really see her? By the way, not all my does bag up real big before kidding either, some wait until the kids are born. Good luck

Hip_Shot_Hanna · #4 12/08/06, 01:04 PM

I can't put her with the other goats - she is new to the herd (of two) and both of them try to bash the stuffing out of her. They would probably succeed, one is a Nubian and the other is a La Mancha with horns. The best I can do is put her out in a corral where she can see the other goats and move around. She doesn't much though - tends to want to lie down for the most part. And since she's fed by herself right now, yes, I'm sure she isn't eating much. She does have a mouthful or two once in a while, but she's not finishing her full ration, which is only a pound a day, plus alfalfa hay.

It's difficult moving her around, because the other goats are out and want to bash her even when I'm leading her around. I did purchase an Alpine doeling at the same time that she gets along with to some extent, but she was bullying her too!

I wonder if I'll EVER be able to blend this herd. I have only four goats! But with the ND being so much smaller and so very pregnant, it's not a viable option right now.

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #5 12/08/06, 02:13 PM

Plus for the health of your other goats, you don't want to put everyone together. During this first 3 or 4 weeks of newness is when disease will crop up.

Spend lots of time with her. Can you call the previous owners and see if she is one of those does who doesn't eat alot late in pregnancy? Did you worm her the day you got her? Might want to do that. Also did you change her feed? Or hay? You could also offer her warm nearly hot water, the does love hot water and it's werid just how hot they will drink it.

It's tough to move goats in the south when very heavy bred. So many things that mimic the beginning of metobolic disease in goats (laying around more, stumbling, wierd gate in the rear, not eating enough, lethargy) are also all symptoms of being heavybred, and also symptoms to of a doe pineing for her family.

Good luck with your doe! What area of Texas are you in? vicki