New doe, may be pregnant?

So I was recently given two registered does in good condition, both are almost 2 years old. One of them, Angel, kidded with triplets in April for the first time. The other, Bella, was apparently bred but didn't kid when expected and supposedly has been bred previously but never kidded. The previous owner did mention that she may have gotten her dates wrong, to me she looks pregnant. She has a decent udder as well, which leads me further to believe she's pregnant. She has also become aggressive towards Angel when they're penned up in the shed together. I've had them for four days now. Bella is much more round than Angel and her udder is almost the same size. I really don't know what to think, or whether or not I should be preparing for kids...

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  • So my bucklngs are still engorging themselves and have fat stomachs, most days worse than others. They eat a ridiculous amount of hay and browse. Very little grain, 1/4-1/2 cup a day.

    Bella has not kidded, but she seems to be getting larger. I also noticed mucous from her back end. She lies down a lot and paces in circles when in the pen. When she's out and about, she's eating voraciously. I have to put her up in the shed during milking because she steals grain from my other doe! She even broke through the fence to get at the bowl! She drinks a lot more now than before as well. And she's also been way more interested in minerals. I give them as much as they'll eat, two or three times a day. They end up on the floor if I leave them free choice 24/7.

    We kinda have the same symptoms it seems as far as appetite, thirst and activity, and I'm 2 weeks from my due date. Maybe Bella's that close too? Her udder is larger too it seems.
  • Oh my! I promise I'm not being heartless, but I couldn't help but snicker! I could so see the little buck turning around and giving "that look". I remember when I first got my babies, they had a bit of the sticky poo. I reached down and grabbed a little dry turdlet off the back of the does leg and when I pulled it some hair came off. She shot around and looked at me with this "look" and bleated at me like STAY AWAY FROM ME!!! (I must mention that within about 10 minutes she was rubbing against me and trying to climb on my lap. It's just funny to see the different emotions and looks that they get...

     

  • I did the first by injection, his reaction was quite startling but he was fine 10 mins later...
    I thought he was gonna die.
    He started bleating as though he was quite alarmed and was walking funny, stretching his lower jaw side to side, searching for something on the ground actively, then he just went down on his knees, then layed on his side and stuck his feet right out. That's when I thought he WAS dead.
    When I rushed over to pick him up, he jumped right up and ran away from me, turned to face me and angrily bleated at me.
    Then he was fine, just a little jaw stretching.
    I looked up Ivermectin side effects and disorientation and dizziness were among the common ones.
    Because of his adverse reaction, we dose the other one orally.
    I missed the oral part of Debbie Lynn's advice... =/

    I thought I had killed my buck for sure...
  • I've never noticed any different behaviour after deworming with Ivermectin or Panacur. Did you dose orally? That's how I've always done it so I wouldn't be able to speak to injectable. 

  • Also, is it normal for a goat to act funny after recieving Ivermectin?
  • Well, I can tell you that the platform was really the hardest part. The yurt itself took about 2 days to put up, even with all the cold weather accessories we got. It's where we plan on living as our daughter grows, where she'll be born as well. The key thing I noticed about the yurt is that the outer wall is what keeps the roof up, basically the rafters push against a wire and against a tension ring at the top. The wall on ours is a lattice that gets stretched around and attach to the frame of the door on both sides, the door acting as an anchor point. An indoor, circular horse arena is basically the same thing, only it's permanent. The yurt is meant to be disassembled, moved and reassembled. We really want to build one for our goats, one for our chickens with nesting and roosting spots, and a large one to put all our rabbit hutches in and also have a run area for young ones. It's not really feasible financially to buy them, even though we will buy at lease one more, probably two, as seperate bedrooms at some point. The lattice really isn't that hard to put together I'd say, just really time consuming. And the fabric cover could be done differently. They make them in Mongolia all the time, it's a traditional solution to nomadic housing.

    I've been meaning to start a thread... Perhaps I will a bit later. Been really busy lately, lol.

    But about goats...
    I read a bunch about the Ivermectin, it says that it doesn't kill tapeworms. I feel like it definitely kills the more dangerous types of worms, but I definitely saw that they were passing chunks of tapeworms.
    I've been contemplating ordering the Herbal Wormer from Hoegger Supply, but I'm not sure what's in it nor how well it actually works...
  • Oh, wow, that is all great! The boys are better, Bella is going to kid and the yurt is done. Things are really coming together. I am so happy for you and your family. I wish I could get that to happen but it seems that something is always in the up in the air. I am thinking that the yurt idea might actually help. I might need to consider building one of those. I think you said 30 feet. I am going to look back and see but I would love some info about how many people worked on it and how long it took. That sort of thing could help me decide if we could possibly build one. Are you all building yours to live in? I think that sort of thing sounds so exciting! I wish I knew exactly what it would cost me to build one, I think I would like to build one made of reclaimed materials, but what? I am going to do some thinking about this one.

  • Bella still hasn't kidded, but she's been pacing and lying down and getting up over and over.
    The yurt is done too, I'll post pictures soon... =]
  • Well that makes me feel better, at least they should be alright soon.
    One of them weighs 20lbs., the other 22lbs. But he looks a lot larger than the other, which seems strange to me.
    They get very little grain and as much hay as they want. I've been giving them some bakng soda with their grain and they seem to be almost to normal, though I did notice that the larger of the two started passing large amounts of worms, so we're definitely worming them again.
  • Hello Maggie,  Oh, good to hear that it's not full blown diarrhea. I agree with Rachel, soft stools since you have had them are a sign of stress from the move and pro biotic powder or paste can be used.  I like using the paste for the young ones. You can get it at your local Tractor Supply Store and it comes in two different size tubes.   I will take their tube, and inject the paste into a smaller syringe (no needle) and then squirt it far back into their mouth. About 2.5 ccs would probably do it. If you prefer to use the powder you can sprinkle that on their feed.

    As far as a dewormer, I like using Cattle Ivomectin injectable, but given orally at 1cc per 34 pounds.  I realize your bucklings may not weight 34 pounds, so you take their weight and divide by 34 and multiply 1 (cc) to get how much you need.  And if they weigh more than 34 pounds you use the same formula.

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