Bloat?

[Green Acres Farm]

I'm hoping "Moon Pie" is preggers, she's been living with the buck since we got her. Doesn't seem to have any interest in him at all.

I have a vet coming to the house Monday to draw blood, and they will possibly do an ultra sound on her.

There is a blood pregnancy test that most labs testing for CAE, etc. can perform. It should be cheaper than an ultrasound unless you want to have a better idea on how far along she is, which the pregnancy test wouldn't tell you.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

X2

 

[nstone630]

Also, when I inspected the body after I got home from work yesterday evening the ONLY visible things were she had blood coming from her rectum and her vagina was protruding badly, almost looking like a balloon. I'd say sorry for the TMI, but we all raise animals, I think we all know there is a lot of gross stuff that comes with it. She had hard fecal pellets around her as well, again no diarrhea.
I do have photos, but I'm unsure if that would be ideal to share, they are a bit graphic.
She had no wounds, and didn't look "bloated".

 

[nstone630]

I raise boer. Well, I'm trying to. The poor guy in my picture with his head turned, who I called Paper Towel Roll (PTR) for short since his earls looked like them, died from a horrible worm infestation that fecal test after fecal test I just couldn't beat for him. They are brothers. The other seemingly true Boer is "Smokey" he had almost just as bad a battle, took months of meds and fecal tests to get him right. He pulled through and now if my only buck. All the others I purchased from the auction were also Boer Does. I should have known a $40 Doe was too good to be true. Looks like where ever they came from didn't care for them AT ALL from birth until then.

I'm saddened to hear Boer goats don't do well in NC (I'm in Person County). Does anyone have tips on what breeds do better? I'm trying my best not to just give up on this. I do want to be a successful goat farmer

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I'm saddened to hear Boer goats don't do well in NC (I'm in Person County). Does anyone have tips on what breeds do better? I'm trying my best not to just give up on this. I do want to be a successful goat farmer

I think @Southern by choice and @Goat Whisperer raise Kikos (if it's meat goats you want) which are supposed to be much hardier and more parasite resistant than Boers.

 

[Southern by choice]

We aren't that far from you. You should visit.We have Boer farms around us so I see what most deal with. We raise Kikos.
Before we got into meat goats I talked extensively with Dr. L from NC State. After that it was a no brainer. Bo-Ki's tend to do pretty well if the Boer in the breeding was a good animal. And by good I don't mean "lots of money".

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I second SBC's comment.

All goats can and will get parasites, managing them is key. That being said some do better than others.

What is your purpose in raising goats? Meat, milk, pets, showing? Not all goats are created equal but there is a goat for every need Go over and look at your goal for raising goats and then we can go from there.

 

[nstone630]

I second SBC's comment.

All goats can and will get parasites, managing them is key. That being said some do better than others.

What is your purpose in raising goats? Meat, milk, pets, showing? Not all goats are created equal but there is a goat for every need Go over and look at your goal for raising goats and then we can go from there.

Long term goal is to have them for meat and milk.

 

[NH homesteader]

Maybe look into one of the full size dairy goats (Nubians, Alpine, Lamancha, etc.) A lot of people use the excess offspring for meat. Some people cross a Boer or Kiko buck with a dairy doe, but I've also heard some concerns about does being able to kid safely. No personal experience here. I have little goats! I am getting a Pygmy buck to cross with my Nigerians and mini alpines to put a little excess meat on the kids.

 

[Southern by choice]

Long term goal is to have them for meat and milk.

If that is your long term goal then Kiko's are your best option.
Kiko's were developed by taking the TOP dairy goats in NZ and crossing them with the feral goats in NZ.

They are truly a dual purpose breed.
I know our kikos have beautiful udders.
One year we bred our Kiko doe to one of our Lamancha bucks.

Kikos can produce 2-3 kids and raise them without creep feeds etc.

They are extremely hardy but husbandry and management are still important. They do best with land. They are not the best hay eaters and thrive on land. Trees, ground cover, vines etc.