I have a doe who would have been due on or around Jan. 10. However about 5 days ago we had a bear get into our barn. Because we had the girls in the barn we had left out LGDs with the boys in the pasture. So one he pushed in he basically had a free for all. Some girls were able to escape one of whom is the pregnant doe mentioned above. I fully expected that this could lead to the death of the kids as she was injured though minimally. However, at 4 months I'm not totally sure what to look for or what I should do if she does miscarry. My vet told me to watch her for anything unusual and I'm hoping to get her in for an ultrasound to check fetal viability. But until then here is what I'm seeing, she has had some discharge the last two days. Some brownish some completely clear. However her udder has not progressed in size from where it was pre- attack and her ligaments are as hard as I'd expect. At this stage, would she just go into labor early? Would she carry dead kids to term? Would she still be able to resorb at this stage? If she does miscarry should I give her antibiotics? Is there a higher rate of infection if the kids die inutero? Since she is so far along should I treat her as if she carried to term and wait till next fall to breed her again? What about her udder... will she ever get milk? Thanks so much in advance!!
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You're welcome! Let us know how it goes.
You were right I was worried for no reason. Also looks like her first due date was the correct one. (She seemed too short cycle so I brought my buck in again but she had settled on the first go) and she kidded yesterday without issue. She gave birth to perfectly healthy twins.
Awesome! Congratulations!
Congratulations!!!
~Tammy
What you described would not have killed the fetuses, and if it would have put her into premature labor, that would have happened already. Years ago, I had a doe go into labor at day 137 because other goats were beating her up mercilessly, and the kids were born very premature but healthy. The doe did not produce enough milk to cover the bottom of the milk bucket, and she looked at the kids like they were aliens because her hormones were not where they should have been, so we bottle-fed the kids. If your doe goes full term, there is no reason she would not produce milk based on this situation.
There is no definitive outcome to what you described. It's really anybody's guess, but I would not expect the worst at this point. If she is not due until Jan. 10, I would not expect her ligaments to be softer yet because they don't go away until 24 hours before kidding. I also would not expect a big change in her udder because you also see the biggest change within the last few days before kidding, sometimes the last 24 hours. And as I mentioned about my doe that was premature, she didn't have hardly any milk when she kidded, so even if your doe were to go into labor prematurely, you will probably not get much if any milk.
It's not that unusual for a kid to die in utero while other kid(s) are still alive and healthy, and the doe delivers the live kids at her due date, as well as the dead kid, which may be mummified, if it died a couple of months before the due date. I have pictures and video of mummified kids in my kidding course. A doe may not necessarily get an infection if she is carrying a mummified fetus. It can happen, but it's not guaranteed.
It is impossible for a doe to resorb full-term kids. A vet professor told me that she had a goat that held on to a dead fetus for four years and died of other causes, and it never made her sick. You just don't know what will happen. If a doe shows signs of infection and gets sick, then you need to do something, or she will die. "Something" means going to the vet to figure out exactly what has happened and what needs to be done. The list of possibilities is rather long, but based on everything you've said, I would not necessarily expect anything bad.
I understand your anxiety, but I'm not sure I'd do an ultrasound. It could confirm at least one live fetus, in which case you would do nothing -- just wait. But if you saw fetuses that were not moving, I would not do anything to induce because what if a live kid is hiding behind a dead one? There is no reason to induce a healthy goat that is acting normally. Your decisions are going to be based upon the doe and whether she is showing signs of infection and/or sickness. If she goes off feed without any signs of labor, that would be the biggest sign that something is wrong. It could be an infection or pregnancy toxemia, so I'd call the vet at that point.
Thank you so much. This is all reassuring and helpful. She is acting as if nothing has changed. I will just keep waiting and hope for the best.