Input please... doe may be pregnant

[cjb]

I have posted about this doe in the past.

Carmel is 5 years old and has given birth twice. I let she, her sister and her daughter run with a buck starting Jan 6th for 4 weeks. I assumed that she was pregnant, however, the vet came out about 8 weeks ago and bumped all 3. She said that sis/daughter were pg but Carmel didn't feel like it. In addition, Carmel had a huge cyst on her udder. Vet said that it was not CL - a local breeder looked and said the same. The breeder also said "she does not look/feel pregnant".

I am unconvinced about the CL so am having my herd tested for that and CAE. I should be doing so anyway, so I've learned here.

So... tomorrow is day 164 after first exposure and one doe delivered 6 days ago. The daughter looks anyday-ish (ff) and we have assumed that Carmel didn't take. Last night, my wife said "Carmel looks a little bigger - are you sure she's not pregnant?". Her bag is a little biggish too and, alas - there is milk in her bag. I tried bumping her but I am terrible at that.

?? Anyway -what are the chances that she would come into milk but not be pregnant?

?? Her milk bag looks deformed now from the cysts so, even though she is slightly bagged up, they now look like two separate units and they are small. Is there a chance that the cysts would have rendered her udder useless and I'll have to pull the kids and bottle feed?

?? Don't most does come into heat within the first week of exposure to the buck or could she really still be a week or two away from being due?

I have not been prepared for another birth for the last couple of months so this should be interesting.

Sorry for the long post. Please reply with your opinions. I know you have them.

[MamaDee]

?? Don't most does come into heat within the first week of exposure to the buck or could she really still be a week or two away from being due? >>>>

We had a buck here for the whole month of March. We have one doe who was bred right away. So soon in fact that we didn't think she took b/c we saw no evidence of heat or breeding. But I can feel her babies so I know she is pregnant. The other doe showed NO interest in the buck at all until he was here 3 weeks. She then came into heat and was bred. We saw that deed get done. Maybe some girls are just shy and take awhile to come around......

What was the last exposure date? If it was toward the end how far along would the doe be. Maybe she's not far enough along to tell anything. I didn't know lightning was pregnant until she was over 3 months along. I've read of some not knowing at all until a kid showed up.

I'm sure others can help more and with the cyst.

Dee

[Jcran]

A friend had a doe with repeated cysts/abcesses on her udder; as the doe had been here for breeding, I was neurotic when I found out. She had it tested and it came up specific for a type of staph infection that is specific for the udder. Anyhow, the good thing is it wasn't CL. Maybe that's what your doe has. The downside is that the vet told her that the doe's udder was so affected it would never completely heal or the udder was ruined or something like that. Anyhow, maybe testing would clarify and you could find out if she could recover. IF she's preggers, can you bottle raise the babies?

[goatkid]

She may have just cycled prior to the buck going in with her, so she could indeed have been bred a few weeks after first exposure. If she is pregnant and you are suspecting CL or a bad staph infection in her udder, I'd definately pull the kids immediately at birth and feed them the colostrum from a different doe or cow colostrum and then raise them on either pasteurized goat milk or whole cow's milk. You don't want to risk exposing the new goatlings to disease from their dam.

[cjb]

Is it just too much of a coincidence to believe that approx 5 months after she was exposed to a buck, she's producing milk but is NOT pregnant? Could she have a false pregnancy?

I just bumped her and there really doesn't feel like anything in there. Of course, I'm not a good bumper. Her vulva also looks entirely diff from the doe that is definitely pregnant.

Hmm... I am really terrified of CL, I hope its not that

My vet and a breeder both said it would be unusual to have on her udder and not on her neck/nodes at all. If she does have CL, I assume the entire herd could?

[mygoat]

If she does have CL and one of the cysts has burst, most likely all your goats are at least exposed and probably infected. Now, does she have several cysts or just one? If it is several, I would doubt it to be CL, as they only show up on lymph nodes and there is only one site I know of back there that is a common cyst site. Either way I think I would pull her kids at birth and bottle raise them. If the doe is a milking breed you will have to milk her out 2x per day for a long time, however.

I've personally always heard that bumping only works during labor. All other times and kids cannot be felt. That's because bumping is to feel for another kid in the birth canal. I cannot bump one of my preggo does and feel kids when she's not in labor. If you're really wondering, ask your vet about prices for an ultrasound or just go out and get a cheap stethoscope, put that doe in the milking stand, and listen around on her right side for baby heartbeats. It make take some searching and you may not even find it the first few times you try... but if you keep looking a couple times a day for a few days, you should know wether or not you've got a baby in there or not, hehe. As for how large a doe looks before kidding, an alpine of mine this year didn't even look really pregnant, and she kidded twins this year.

Also, false pregnancy is possible but not really very likely. A doe produces milk because she has to... If she had an udder that is producing colostrum/milk, I'd expect babies.

[cjb]

She has them all over her milk bag. I think that's why the vet said that it was not CL. There are none on her neck or other lymph areas.

So I should prob expect babies then. Weird. The latest she could be due is a week from today or.... two weeks from today, if its possible for her to get pregnant 4 weeks into exposure (I dropped them off with a buck for 4 weeks)