In July of this year I bought a young goat from a friend. He said she had been bred in June. Well here it is Christmas and she doesn't even look overly fat. Though she does look and act very healthy, I have seen pregnant goats and she doesn't appear to be one. She is in with a male and he has not paid the slightest bit of attention to her, ever. Nor has she particularly bothered him. Could she be pregnant and just not showing? Oh, and her bag isn't filling either. This goat was extremely shy when I got her and though I kept her tied for a month before she settled down I'm afraid she may have lost it through trauma. Is that possible?

-- Red Neck (Secesh@CSA.com), December 18, 2001

Answers

Yes to all of the above. Yes to the abortion, which in early pregnancy you could have missed. Has she had kids before? Has the buck fathered kids before, either one could be sterile or she could be a non-breeder. How young was the buck? If she is of a dairy breed, she did not get bred in June, of a swiss breed she more than likely didn't even come into heat until early fall. There is still a chance she is bred and you just missed the breeding, but more than likely the breeding was in September or October, giving you Feb or March kids. Ultrasound can tell you very quickly what is going on, and in some parts of the country it is now very inexpensive. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

Vicki, of course, is probably right. But one of my first goats (Nubians) kidded November 1. Being a novice, I had no clue she was pregnant until I came home to find the kids(although I did comment to my sons that morning that Callie was putting on a little weight and we needed to cut down her grain a little--she definitely did not look fat enough to have kids in her!) Last year, I had two goats that kidded in December.

-- mary (mlg@aol.com), December 18, 2001.

Oh dear, here it is Christmastime and I don't know what season it is! Of course she could not have been bred in June and be due now. (I realize after redoing the math on one of mine!)

-- mary (mlg@aol.com), December 18, 2001.

Vickie is exactly right. But i will add that your time frame is still off a bit, if you got her in July and she was supposduly bred in June then that would make 6 months. But there is a possibility she may be. Is she uddering up or getting a full udder?

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 18, 2001.

I read this in the practical goat forum, I know it sounds wierd but it's true for my goats.If your goat is at least 6 weeks pregnant, the hairless skin on the underside of her tail will feel soft and squishy.If not pregnant it will feel firm.They do give you some funny looks when you do this test,like has this woman lost her mind?But it does seem to work.

-- VickiP. (countrymous@webtv.net), December 19, 2001.