I almost but this in the other thread, but here is a mystery for you guys. Penny & Annie were bred on the same day, Annie kidded at day #143 with two perfect spunky bucks. She was HUGE, we thought she had triplets. She had started making her udder way early, nearly two months ahead of time.
Penny is now at day #147, she tested pregnant through Biopryn at 2 months. I have felt and continue to feel what I can only think is a baby moving and kicking. Not the rumen, I feel it on the other side. However, her udder is hardly changed, I think it is slightly bigger but it is not significant. Last year she kidded at day #148. No sign of loose ligaments either.
Plus, she just doesn't look very pregnant. And isn't she way behind to make her udder? I honestly can't remember when she did it last year, but I am making notes on everyone this year so next year I know what to expect.
She is very loud when she goes into heat and I have not noticed a heat from her and they have even shared a fenceline with the bucks recently (I figured no danger since they are all heavily pregnant). Bucks had no particular interest in her & I noticed zero signs of interest from her to them.
So she must still be pregnant, right? I know they can carry for much longer than this, but the udder thing is a little worrisome. Might wind up being a huge blessing I got that colostrum from Annie.
Replies
Sounds like it will be soon! Hope she listens to you and waits for the nicer weather!
Well..in case anyone is curious what some does may do: Penny just hit day #151 and between turn-out this morning and turn-in this evening, she has filled up her udder. Last night I noticed her ligaments were slightly less tight than they have been, today the udder...so needless to say I will be glued to the baby monitor tonight. Although I don't get that "feeling" from her this evening.
I'm guessing tomorrow. At least, I begged her to wait till tomorrow lol- because of the weather. But her twin sister had what looked like a ready-to-kid udder a month prior to kidding, such an overachiever.
Funny you should ask! Prior to a month ago, my answer would have been different! I just had a couple of FFs kid four weeks ago, and they started to show some udder development about a month ahead of time, but they were TINY and they didn't really get much bigger. It would just about fill up my cupped hand. One of the goats was screaming when I was doing evening chores, and I said, "What are you screaming about? You sound like you're in labor!" But she had this tiny little udder, and she'd been pen bred, so I didn't think she could have really been in labor. Well, five minutes later, I was walking past, and there was a kid halfway out! Those two does kidded a few hours apart. One of them had NO milk ... I mean nothing. I tried and tried and tried, and I couldn't get even a single drop out of her. Thankfully, I had some colostrum in the freezer, so I defrosted it and gave it to the kids but continued to encourage them to nurse. A few hours later, I was able to get a few drops out of her. In the past 11 years, we had only one other FF with an udder like that, so it's not very common, but it does happen. NORMALLY, you usually start to see some kind of development by 3-4 weeks prior to the due date, and then they keep growing as they get closer to kidding.
Margaret Langley said:
Deborah, how late can a FF make an udder, and when do the FFs usually make udders?
Well...here's hoping there's a little girl in there!!! I will let you know how it turns out.
I thought Annie had to go on and get hers out because she just couldn't get around anymore lol. The whole two weeks prior to kidding she looked like she could literally plop them out at any second and every day I prayed she'd make it to full term. Technically I guess she didn't, but they are okay, so...yay!
My first fresheners seem to be making udders a lot later this year than usual, and the pregnancies are lasting a lot longer. I've already had three does go over 150 days this year, which is more than I've had in the ten prior years combined! And I've had a couple of does already that didn't start to lose ligaments at all until the last 24 hours. It is shaping up to be an odd year! A couple of friends have said it's because I'm writing a book! LOL! But it is a very legitimate reminder that every goat is different, and every year can be different, as well!