[thaiblue12]

The true pygmy I got a few months ago, from the lady I bought Mr. Nasty stinky buck from seems to be pregnant :flame: It is the one goat I did not want to be pregnant.
The reason she is even here at my house is because her mom died giving birth to the big headed icky buck's kids. She was all alone and that lady did not want to get anymore goats.
Ok maybe she did something incorrect since she never had goats before and the mom was in labor for over 12 hours and so forth. But the buck still was bigger than her and her mom.
I thought she was getting some pygmy fat on her because my girls who are pregnant are still getting some grain. I have been limiting her to a very small handful so she will leave them alone. But now she is getting a bag and her stomach is larger. I will post a picture as soon as my camera's memory card is emptied.
She is a year old, have no clue when she would be due. I do not know if she got pregnant where she lived before or here. I tried so hard to keep him away from her.
What should I be looking for? If the kids are too big, what should I do? Any advice would be great. Thanks

 

[Jim S.]

It is the one goat I did not want to be pregnant.

Shoot her up with 2 ml lutylase SQ and let her abort, then.

You get it from the vet.

 

[thaiblue12]

Can you do that if you do not know how far along she is? If she is 2 weeks away from delivery will she have preemies?
I did not want her pregnant because he was bigger than her and he was big headed as well.
If the vet will not do this, can I avoid her or her kids dying by being more on top of the situation?

 

[Jim S.]

Check to see if she is bagging any. No bag is usually earlier-on, and you can more easily abort her. It's not a matter of whether the vet will abort her. You just go to the vet and ask for the drug, then you administer it SQ. (It is also used to synchronize heats.)

If you decide to take them to term, cut her out of all grain, put her on browse, grass and/or hay only, so you won't grow kids any bigger than needed, and so she will not be overly fat when she kids. Get some surgical gloves to have on hand in case you need to help, and some KY jelly to use as a lube. Buy broad-spectrum antibiotic like LA200 or your choice of knockoff and syringes so you will have it to inject her afterward if you need to go inside to help her. Keep on hand a small diameter nylon rope. Boil it in water before use, if possible. You use it to loop around the head or limbs to bring them along in malpresentations. Keep a close eye on her as she bags and gets ready to go. Read as much as you can about aiding birth. There is a lot of info and drawings, and even pix, on the Net. Use Google to find it.

Then you will be ready, even though the chances are that she will do fine on her own.

 

[thaiblue12]

As usual great advice.. Thanks Jim. I have most of the supplies except the KY jelly. I better get that asap. She is bagging which is what made me think she is pregnant besides the getting to be a little fatty.
I will try the vet for the lutylase. They do not just give meds out they usually insist they see the animals around here.
I will check out the net and try to find out more. Have a great weekend.

 

[Jim S.]

Sounds like you need to find a large animal vet, rather than a pet vet. If you can.

If she's bagging, you might as well let her rock and roll, and just be ready to help. First-timer is likely to have just one kid, anyway.

The other one you mentioned, that went 12 hours with no help? That owner should be forced to try to pass a basketball for 12 hours. Geez.

 

[chamoisee]

If she aborts late term, the kid will sometimes be born still moving and the mother is more likely to hang around and mourn it. Our doe that this happened to came into milk.

If you decide to let her carry to term, it might be a good idea to call around now and find out which vets do C-sections, how much it will cost, and whether they will do it at night or on weekends. Write down the info and post the two or three best candidates who will do it anytime. You need to ask if they have experience doing C-sections on goats, because anesthesia is tricky. If you can't pay for the C-section and she labors and you can't get the kid out (I can't imagine how hard it would be to fit my hand/arm into a Pygmy- yearling Alpines are bad enough!), then you need to have a plan for putting her down if it comes to that. Sorry to sound hardnosed...but it really is better to be prepared than top be frantically casting about for options at the last minute.

 

[Caprice Acres]

A yearling pygmy that is preggo... My minis which are mostly pygmy aren't full size till 2 years. Not sure how that goes with full pygmies.

Anywho, I'd personally let her go full term. Stop graining completely. If she just started 'filling' the bag, expect her to be soon, within the month. If the bag is just showing and is relitively 'empty' looking, the duedate is within 6 weeks. Just watch her ligaments close (2x per day when she is close) and make sure you or someone else experienced is there for her when she does kid. When she looses her ligaments, don't leave her side. You might want some oxytosin on hand to help her pass her afterbirth if she's too tired after kidding.

 

[thaiblue12]

Sorry my camera had to die. Anyway here are some pictures of Ariel. Since I first poasted this her bag is the same or a bit bigger. She is a fearful thing so I cannot feel her ligaments. Only thing she will let me touch is her had and that is not helpful. I am going to let her go to term with the baby/babies. I hope they do not get their father's big headedness!
So I am correct is she pregnant? If so when do you think she might kid?
Thanks

 

[trob1]

She looks to have a month or more to go. With all of my pygmies 12 hours before kidding their bag will double in size over night. She looks to be in good condition and most likly carrying a single.

 

[Jim S.]

thaiblue, check in after she kids and tell me if I was right, but it looks to me like she is going to do fine on her own. She's nice in back, and you can tell her I said so! Heheh, I'll bet by looking that you won't HAVE TO help her unless you just want to.

She's too far along to abort it. Let her do her thing.

And uh, LOL, every goat ya got in the pic could do with less grain! Save yerself some dough! Cut it gradually back.

 

[thaiblue12]

LOL Jim they are all pregnant. Poor girls I will tell them you think they are fat!
They are due next week.
I never give grain during the summer but they are getting a small amount with pellets since they are carrying. I have cut it for little Ariel since I do not want to stick my hands up in there.
I hope she does fine on her own. Thanks for the advice.

 

[waygr00vy]

I would just keep a close eye on her, I have had pygmies with bag not much bigger than that when they kid. She doesn't look very large though, so I agree probably a single.

 

[Jim S.]

Yep, they are fat, pregnant or not.

 

[thaiblue12]

"Sigh" I have got to check out her privates for the next day to month. Ah the joys of animal breeding. Thanks for all this info.
Jim stop being mean to my girls they are pregnant and might have big bones

 

[Caprice Acres]

Yup, I also agree with a single. And most of my pygmies kid out with a bag not much bigger than that, so I'd say less than a month. Actually, I've noticed that overnight before the kid, the udder gets a little bigger, but it's more or less that it feels really tight when you touch it that tips me off. That, and weird behavior and loss of ligaments usually tip me of pretty well.

Good luck, I think she'll be OK. She is pretty, by the way.

 

[goatkid]

I've never had Pygmies so I can't tell by looking at her udder exactly when she is due, but if she's anything like my goats, she's not far off. I'd guess she is carrying a single. Just because her dam died giving birth doesn't mean she will. She may not even have any problems. My friend's two Nigerian does were accidentally bred to a Nubian buck. One was just a year old when she kidded. Neither of them had any problems. One of my Boer does had to have a C section last year when the first kid came out head first, no feet. I got her right in to the vet and both she and her twins did just fine. This morning I went down to my goat pen to find that she had delivered a single buckling on her own with no problems. Even a past problem with kidding does not mean it will happen again. The important thing is not to let a goat go without helping her and this means a vet if needed, if she's having trouble kidding.

 

[thaiblue12]

See my update under.. "It's a girl"