Hi Everyone, I have a doe that is two months into her pregnancy, she is huge already and I mean huge. I checked her ribs, and I can feel them fine. I cannot grab any flesh, but there is a reasonable amount of flesh on her ribs. This will be my first kidding, and I worry alot. Does this mean there are alot of kids in there, or one really huge kid. She has kidded before and she had twins, she is not overfed, she gets all the fresh hay, grass alalfa mix, just starting a small amt of grain daily. Fresh water, baking soda and loose minerals. Is there any way to tell if she is overweight for sure or not?

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), February 19, 2002

Answers

Barbara, make sure she is getting enough exercise. There is actually a problem when does get this big so fast, it is sometimes a water pregnancy, or alot of amniotic fluid accumulated, Hydrops or something similar to that. With just some flesh over the ribs and not a roll she sounds in perfect flesh. Just watch her. No way she was bred earlier? The kids at 2 months pregnant are not any bigger than shrimp, it would be hard for them to be even seen on ultrasound, let alone be causing this doe to show this much! Can you send us a photo? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.

Hi, I will be reading the answers to this with great interest as my doe is doing the same thing.In fact, I dried her off at two months as she was getting so big.I felt for kids the other day and she seems to have a lot in there and there is not much movement going on.Due soon, she is very uncomfotable.Put her in her stall the other day, she stopped, looked around, heaved a BIG sigh, and says unghhhh.Seems I remember that feeling quite well!

-- VickiP. (countrymous@webtv.net), February 20, 2002.

I will get a pic and post it on Thursday of her, it has been raining here alot this year, for a winter, and she won't go outside when it rains. But I can start walking her in the barn alot. Exercise certainly can't hurt....

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), February 20, 2002.

I'm fairly new to raising goats so I'm probably asking a dumb question but if I don't ask it then I will be dumb. How and why do you give a goat baking soda? Is it just for pregnant does or should all goats get it. Where can I get loose minerals? I checked where I get my goat food and they said all they have is minerals for cows and minerals for livestock. It sounded like to me that these were blocks. Should I get one of these?

-- Sheila in NC (nannie@intrstar.net), February 20, 2002.

Baking soda will decrease the acid in the rumen, which makes it work better, letting them eat more, if that is possible :) Good grass hay has natural bicarbonate in it and most good grain mixes also have it already in it, along with a yeast culture. I feed it when we have any kind of changes in our grain, new hay comes in etc.

I use Purina 12 12 loose cattle mineral. They are supposed to be coming out with their own (skeptic) goat mineral in the spring. A block of cattle mineral is better than nothing, but I can't see why you couldn't find loose, course cattle are big in Texas. Even loose horse minerals are better than anything that says sheep and goat.

And there is nothing to dumb to ask! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.

I don't suppose this will affect most of you, but it has put a crimp in my mineral supplementation since I keep a ewe in with my two does. Recently NRC upped their copper recommendations for cattle. Mineral mixes that sheep could have gotten by on and not died of copper toxicity will now kill them over time. I'm currently looking around for a mineral mix to feed with the grain because I now have to feed plain salt in the stall so I don't kill the sheep!

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), February 25, 2002.

I have a qusetion...This is kinda dumb but what can u tell how many kids a doe has in her by feeling?..... **always Goats**

-- Brandon Loulou (hawaiian_stud_stud@hotmail.com), December 13, 2002.