Ok i am sure all have had this question a lot but i have only had my goats for about 5 months. My husband seems to think that my doe is pregs. but i am very reluctant to think so.
Well, going by your introduction in the Welcome thread..... how long has it been since your doe had the little boy? Her udder indicates that he is still nursing or she is making one. And if you have them all together, the chance that your older boy and her own son, if he hasn't been wethered, is very high that they bred her. The mini goats... pygmies, Nigerian Dwarfs as well as a few standard breeds will breed year round, and most mini does will come into heat at around 4-6 weeks after they deliver.
Hmmm.... the little guys are capable of breeding at 6-8 weeks old, so if she hasn't been with his daddy it is still possible that her son could have bred her. So he was around 3 months old when he was banded right? Looking at her pooch, the anus isn't tucked up...it does suggest she is preggy, I am really not positive on the pooch until they are at least 3 months along. If she hasn't been with the older buck, and IF her kid bred her before he was banded, she'll be delivering around mid December.
oh i really hope the buck got to her not the boy. So we are looking at between mid December and first part of February. Early febuary because about 2 weeks ago she started changing her atitude a little and the buck is no longer actively rutting. I really hope she is preggers.
Is she housed with the buck? If so, I would separate them as it isn't good for the doe to be stressed by the buck while pregnant, the closer she gets to her due date the more he'll want to try and breed her....he doesn't know the difference between pregnancy hormones and heat hormones. Has she weaned her kid yet? If he is still nursing you will need to separate him so that she can produce colostrum for her new kids...she won't be able to do that if she is producing milk for the boy.
Thank you Liz, Yes they are all three together. I was wondering if i should seperate them now. I was planning to separate them when she had about 2 more months to go. But i will start on a new inclosure now so that i can seperate now. Thank you for the help.
Is there something i can put on her teets so that the boy will quit if he is while they are still together?
there are things like bitter apple spray that you can use, as well as teat tape. but i find that kids just urse anyways. A lot od does pull teat tape off too. beth
I've tried the tape, bitter apple spray, etc....kids will nurse regardless. The only way to totally wean them is separation from the mom.
