Calling goat experts! Need opinion!

[GabCar]

Hello friends! I'm very new to keeping goats. I bought my first 2 alpine/nubian almost 5 month old doelings about 2 weeks ago. I began to notice 1 of the doelings was growing in the belly area and the area near her utter area began looking puffed up as well. I spoke to the original owner and it turns out a buck got into their pen a few times in the last month or so. I'm worried because she's only about 50lbs. Does she look like she could be expecting???

 

[britesidefarm]

She doesn’t look very far along if she is. You can try and feel around the right side of her, and see if you feel any movement, but that’s usually easier when there around 3-4 months. How old is she? She could just be getting more mature if she’s younger

 

[GabCar]

She doesn’t look very far along if she is. You can try and feel around the right side of her, and see if you feel any movement, but that’s usually easier when there around 3-4 months. How old is she? She could just be getting more mature if she’s younger

She will be 5 months old next week, she still very young...i think that's what makes me nervous. I feel movement on her right side sometimes but then I wonder if its just digestion or a muscle moving/twitching haha

 

[britesidefarm]

She will be 5 months old next week, she still very young...i think that's what makes me nervous. I feel movement on her right side sometimes but then I wonder if its just digestion or a muscle moving/twitching haha

Are you able to get a vet to ultrasound her? If not it might just have to be a waiting game

 

[GabCar]

Are you able to get a vet to ultrasound her? If not it might just have to be a waiting game

I called the vet today and unfortunately, he doesn't have one... and i don't know how to draw blood. I may just have to be patient but I want to be sure I tend to her extra closely if she is because she's so young still.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Drawing blood id not that tricky. We do it for our goats before breeding every year. You could call a vet and have them talk you through it!! It's pretty fool-proof. You just shave the area around the jugular on the neck, get the correct needle size and a syringe, attach the syringe to the needle, press firmly on the goats neck, find the jugular, insert the needle and draw the blood. Then refrigerate it until you can get it to a lab

 

[britesidefarm]

Goats tend to be more heavy as they have more than one stomach. She could also be gaining wait if she was underweight before you got her. Doe’s are able to become pregnant at 4 months, and start showing signs of udder growth around 3 months. It’s very unlikely that she’s expecting

 

[NatJ]

I feel movement on her right side sometimes but then I wonder if its just digestion or a muscle moving/twitching haha

You said you have 2 doelings, right?
Have you tried feeling the same part of the other one?
(Sometimes comparison is the best teacher!)

 

[cassie]

Look. Either she is pregnant or she isn't. I am betting she is. In any event there isn't a lot you can do about it at this point. If it makes you feel any better I once had a kid get bred at three months. I'm not proud of it but it happened, I named the baby Yoletta's Surprise because Yoletta was not the only one who was surprised. In this case I did not milk Yoletta that year because she was so young when she kidded. She was not quite eight months. Both goats eventually matured into nice big does. You want to feed this doe all the hay she will eat and I would feed some grain too. You want her to have enough nutrition to support both her and the growing fetus but you don't want her to get fat, either. I didn't look at the picture as closely as I should have, but udder development starts when they are about three months along.

 

[chickens really]

I suggest joining Backyard Herds. It's a sister site to Backyard Chickens. Lots of dairy goat owners and great help there. Very friendly informative people..