Need help figuring this out

[msjuris]

I took my does to be bred on October 11th. Tini was with the buck 1 day (he died on 10/12) I was sure she wasn't bred, but was hopeful as the breeder said the deed was done. She would have been due 3/6 - 3/11 if she was actually bred, which she was not.

Boo was with her buck from 10/11 through 10/21, the breeder said the deed was done on 10/17. I figured her due date to be 3/11 - 3/16 (calculating 145-150 day ranges). I still do not have any kids. Boo did get bigger and has a belly. There is definite movement on her right side and over the past 3 days I've noticed her sides, back by her rump, start to look sunken in. I can still feel her ligaments. There is no indication of labor, no udder, no elongation of the hoo hoo.

Am I calculating the due date wrong? I figure if she doesn't kid by 3/20, then she wasn't bred in October. I didn't have a buck on my premises until 12/15.

Is it possible she aborted and then was rebred in December? There was no evidence of something like that happening. I would assume that there would have been some type of discharge or expulsion of fetal tissue that would have been noticed.

I'm hopelessly frustrated and concerned for the wellbeing of my girls. Any suggestions/comments as to what might be going on would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Marcy

 

[20kidsonhill]

Hmmmmm. Your calculations are right she should be do any day now.

I don't know about aborting,maybe just didn't get pregnant in the first place and is now bred to kid near the end of May.

There is occasionally a doe that wont get much of an udder until the day she kids or right after, but that is fairly rare, and you are saying no udder.

Has she ever kidded before?

I don't blame you for being frustrated, I am sure you have been looking forward to little onse.

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I had a similar situation happen recently. My girls Cammie and Wind went into heat and were bred September or was it August, I'm mixed up now, but anyways their due date was Feb 14. Neither went into heat again.

All signs looked good. Wind's vulva was getting red and loose, and the kids obviously dropped. No udder development at all. Experienced Nigie goat friend looked at her and said she is definitely pregnant and will definitely give birth within the next four weeks in late Jan.

Cammie never had a loose vulva, but she was HUGE, and not in a fat or huge rumen way. (see pic in my avatar) She also never developed an udder. The kids dropped on what I originally thought was their due date (145 days, Feb 9th). Feb 14th passed (150 days). About the 26th or so I started getting really concerned and brought them inside. I bought some black and blue cohosh and began the protocol to induce labor. Nothing happened. I checked every day for any signs of miscarriage since early December and there was none.

I eventually let them back outside, they have been slowly slimming down since the 9th of Feb. Both now look like they did before being pregnant. Both Wind and Cammie have since gone back into heat, and unfortunately since I have to have my buckling in with them, he has bred them again.

My theory, is that we had a really cold (-40 below zero) snap for a couple weeks in the time surrounding their due date. I do not have a reasonably warm barn for them. I have simply huts. They stay warm but it is not warm enough to give birth or for kids that's for sure. So it is my theory that they started reabsorbing the kids because their bodies knew it was dangerous to give birth or have a miscarriage.

Most people have said that it is not possible for a kid that advanced to be reabsorbed and that if my girls had actually been pregnant they would be dead because of infection from the decomposing bodies. But a lady here in AK just recently had a doe give birth to a live kid, and in another sack there was what had been a fully formed kid that was being reabsorbed and nothing was left recognizable at the time of birth but the hooves.

It certainly is possible that they were never pregnant, but I honestly believe they were.

I hope this doesn't happen for you and that you get some healthy kids, but I thought I would share my experience just in case.

 

[msjuris]

They are both first fresheners.

I just had the vet out yesterday to draw blood on all my goats to check for CAE, Johnnes and Brucella. I'm gonna call her to see if the lab can do a pregnancy test on them.

My kids and all our friends and family are asking everyday if we have babies yet. Its just so disappointing.

At least they have been in with a buck from 12/15 - 2/15 so in that time, they should have been bred. And, if they didn't get bred in that time period, at least I don't have to take them to someone else to breed them, I can just put them back in with Prince Alex.

Thanks for the imput. I was hoping I calculated the dates wrong or something.