Either way, its cool with me. We got a doe from a lady to replace my daughters pygmy that died. She says that she is preganant. 4 or 5 months pregnant. I know for a fact this isn't true, there are no babies to be palpated and no bulges. She is now in with our other doe and buck, who tries but she won't let near him. Her udder is bagged up a "leetle" bit, but her flanks are soft and not sticking out one bit. Could she just be not so far along.. Her vulva is more swollen than my other doe, but agin, could that be from coming OFF kids? My other doe is getting a big tummy, but nothing with udder/vulva yet. I rescued her, she was pasture exposed to a buck, but they said nothing about pregnant or not. This would be her first litter? Should I post pics? or is this enough info? Any help is appreciated!
You can't tell anything just by looking at their bellies...a healthy goat will always look preggers - esp a mini (and even a buck LOL). Also you can't always palpate the kids...there's a lot of room for them to hide in there. For instance, my Nubian doe...who is due any time now - I JUST felt her fetuses two days ago. Before that...I couldn't find them anywhere in there. Usually in the late 3rd or early 4th month, a doe will start to build their udder. Could be nothing more than a little thicker mammary tissue at first. Get some pooch pics, post them...maybe something will be telling. Sorry your daughter lost her doeling. ETA a buck will almost always "come onto" a new doe, heat or no heat.
yep as said there is no sure way to tell if a Pygmy is pregnant by look or feel, unless you can feel kicking. I could always palpate my Alpine does just a few months in and tell. The pygmies because they are so chubby and stout to begin with its really hard. I can somtimes see that if they have a lower belly right in front of their udder that is a good sign. Otherwise I almost always send off blood to Bio-Tracking for a pregnacy test. Even after 8 years of raising pygmies I still cannot be sure anyone is pregnant until I feel kicks, get babies, or send in the blood with a positive result. I would just assume she is pregnant until she proves it otherwise.
