All right, I have another question. I have several pregnant does that I have no clue when they were actually bred. I bought them pregnant! And the person I got them from had the buck in with the does since April. Anyway, went out to spend some time with my girls and saw that one of my girls is forming a nice little udder. I felt it and it is nice and firm. It has gone from a pooch to an udder. Since I'm a first time goat momma, how close to giving birth to they form an udder? I've researched and it seems everyone has different answers!
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Tail ligaments are definitely accurate, but they're the hardest thing to learn. It took us at least three or four years to get them figured out. In the early years we couldn't find ligaments in some goats that didn't kid for two weeks!
This will be the first time she freshens with me, but she is 4 and I believe this will be her 3rd freshening. She comes from a very good milking line. It's not Wow yet. :) Just gone from a barely noticeable pooch to hm, there's an udder there. I tried to get a picture of her udder, but her being a black goat, pictures don't do well! And yes her sides seem to be hollowing more. I've also been feeling their tail ligaments, is that pretty accurate for the Nigerians?
It is hard to get a good picture of a black goat, but it looks like she may be hollowing out like the picture I posted of Lizzie. Is that you're seeing?
You hear all different times for udder development because goats do it at different times, and it's gradual rather than overnight. You usually start to see an udder about a month before a goat kids, and then it gradually increases in size. If I don't see an udder a month before a doe is due, I start to worry. Usually it means she is not pregnant. About the only thing I can say somewhat definitively is that the udder needs to look like it's big enough to feed kids. If you have no first fresheners, the udders will probably get quite large just before they kid. If I walk out there, and a doe's udder makes me say, "Wow!" when I see her, then I start watching her for a little while to be sure she isn't in labor. However, with some of my better producers, it can look like the udder is about to explode for several days before they kid.
This is a picture of a full udder on a really good producer:
Ok, here is the goat in question. I was trying to get some different angles because she's black and I think in the pictures is harder to make some things out! :)
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Tail ligaments are definitely accurate, but they're the hardest thing to learn. It took us at least three or four years to get them figured out. In the early years we couldn't find ligaments in some goats that didn't kid for two weeks!
It is hard to get a good picture of a black goat, but it looks like she may be hollowing out like the picture I posted of Lizzie. Is that you're seeing?
You hear all different times for udder development because goats do it at different times, and it's gradual rather than overnight. You usually start to see an udder about a month before a goat kids, and then it gradually increases in size. If I don't see an udder a month before a doe is due, I start to worry. Usually it means she is not pregnant. About the only thing I can say somewhat definitively is that the udder needs to look like it's big enough to feed kids. If you have no first fresheners, the udders will probably get quite large just before they kid. If I walk out there, and a doe's udder makes me say, "Wow!" when I see her, then I start watching her for a little while to be sure she isn't in labor. However, with some of my better producers, it can look like the udder is about to explode for several days before they kid.
This is a picture of a full udder on a really good producer:
http://www.nigeriandwarfdairygoats.com/does/charlotte.html
Here are some udder pictures of a doe that is a more average milker:
http://www.nigeriandwarfdairygoats.com/does/carmen-pictures.html
It is incredibly challenging with pen breeding, so good luck!
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