Last year I had a doe miscarry and Deborah mentioned that bleeding is not always a sign of miscarriage. The doe last year did miscarry but she bled bright red blood for 4 days. She was 8 weeks along. Now today I let my girls out of the barn to find another doe who is currently 13 weeks pregnant has some blood crusted on her tail and vulva. It was light and dried up so I just planned to keep an eye on her. A couple hours later she has some more brownish discharge just at the opening of her vagina that is half dry. None of it has been bright red. However her vulva seems more swollen than the last few days and her vaginal opening has more space between it. Her ligaments are not soft at all and she is otherwise acting normally.
is this consistent with what you saw in your doe who did not miscarry? Is there anything I can do? Thanks!
Replies
You could get a blood test or ultrasound to check for pregnancy if you really want to know.
If you have a second doe that starts bleeding, I'd be thinking about infectious causes of abortion. I'd probably get verification that they are no longer pregnant, and then talk to a vet about possible diseases.
Yes last year when the doe did bleed that long and did miscarry I was dealing with copper issues but those have gotten under control. The doe this year had one day of some brownish bloody discharge then never had anything again. It didn’t even last the whole day it just happened one time. I’m hoping that she did not miscarry but unless she comes into obvious heat again soon I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.
If you had told me the doe bled for four days, I'd have said that sounded like a miscarriage. I've seen a little blood one time where a doe didn't miscarry, but extended bleeding like that would definitely make you think of a miscarriage. Brown blood just means it's older and taking a little longer to come out, but if you're seeing it for days, then definitely would lead me to think it's a miscarriage also. The ligaments don't need to be soft this early in pregnancy for a doe to miscarry. Most does do not seem bothered by miscarriages, so I wouldn't expect the behavior to change.
I'd be looking at possible nutritional deficiencies, and if you're absolutely sure you don't have any issues with that, then I'd start looking at possible diseases that cause miscarriage. This is not normal. Once we got our nutritional deficiencies cleared up back in 2007, our does get pregnant and stay pregnant. Prior to that, it was a nightmare with abortions and miscarriages and stillborns. But there are a number of diseases that can cause these problems.