My husband gave me a Nubian doe for Mother's Day and she came expecting since we don't have any male goats. Anyways he brought her home May 27, 2002 and she's huge and still no baby goat. I figure she should have it by now but nothing. I'm really getting worried. I can see and feel the baby goat moving around but no labor signs except she looks really thin & bony in the back. That's it. Any advice as the only vet in our area who will talk goats doesn't really know a whole bunch about them and got me parasite info. off the internet. My books aren't really helping either. They are just giving lots of after the birth info. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

-- Cindy (cdathey@aol.com), November 16, 2002

Answers

What about her udder- is she bagged up at all? If her udder any fuller than it was when you bought her? The gestation for goats is 5 months so she would have been due Oct 27. While I have had goats go almost 2 weeks overdue, it looks like this doe is about three weeks overdue.

I would tend to suspect that she may not be bred. If this is the case, she should have been coming into heat this fall, getting unusually loud and vocal for a day or two about three weeks apart, and flagging her tail and acting restless during that time. If you can borrow a buck for about a month that would do the trick, or if you could board her at the place she came from for a month. Since they said she was bred and she is not, the sellers may breed her for free, or at least not charge the full price.

Good quality dairy goats are supposed to have a huge belly, so a good goat looks as though she's always pregnant, and the rumen turns and rotates in the belly as it is digesting the food which can sometimes fool the most seasoned goatkeeper. If she hasn't uddered up at all, I'd say she isn't bred. But like I said, it's not too late to get her bred this year, right now is the best time for it.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), November 17, 2002.

Well that's what's worrying me because her udders are a slightly bit bigger than when we first got her. But as to bagged up she's slightly that way at best but it has gotten more pronounced since we've had her but not huge like our other gal, who's a milker. Gracie was super skinny when we got her and actually looked quite unhealthy by that I mean skinny and had a dull looking coat. I started the parasite deal immediately and she gained weight and her coat got shiny like our other goats.

Now also her rear end looks bigger/swollen and more pronounced than before. That's been like that for a few weeks. Otherwise she's acting normal and she is a quiet goat. She hardly ever makes noise like the others. When I noticed her stomach moving it was majorly moving like it would stick out in one place and then the next. I've never seen that happen to any of our other goats. I have read about inducing labor but I guess if she may not be pregnant that may not be the way to go. Plus I would guess I'd have to get the stuff from our vet who knows little to nothing about goats. Well I guess I'll just keep watching her and seeing if anything else changes.

-- Cindy (cdathey@aol.com), November 17, 2002.

Has she ever been around any male goats at all since she came to live with you, even little buck kids? It kind of sounds like she may be bred, but isn't due yet. She should have been due Oct 27 if she was bred the day she came to you. It does sound like she has a good home. :-)

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), November 19, 2002.

This will be academic now. I'm sure the matter is resolved. However, I will add my perspective.

I bought a doe said to be pregnant. One of my gardeners, experienced with cows said, "Oh, she'll give birth by the end of the month."

The end of the month went by. No kid. Another week. Then another. The doe was looking big. Then she was looking not so big. Then big. Then not so big.

I was beginning to think that the purported state of pregnancy was a fake.

However, one fine day, about a month after the gardener predicted the kid would soon be due, the birth took place.

I read somewhere that you can really only tell that a goat is pregnant in its final six weeks. That was probably when the gardener made her prediction.

-- gregory barton (gbmillion@hotmail.com), May 11, 2003.