My doe is due today, and her bag is a big zero.

-- gita (gita@directcon.net), March 06, 2002

Answers

It can vary from goat to goat. Is this her first kidding or has she had kids before. In my experience, first time does tend to bag closer to the time of birth than does that have previously kidded. My does that are due in the next couple of weeks are both softly bagged now.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), March 06, 2002.

Are you sure she is bred? Our does started bagging up over 2 months before their first freshnings.

-- Stormy in SC (tstorm@prtcnet.com), March 06, 2002.

Hi Gita, I would also doubt that your doe is bred. Was the buck with her for longer than just the one breeding for todays date? You haven't seen her in heat? She should have some colostrum or maturing of the udder, even if it is just a little. If her due date is today and she is going to hold off till tommorrow her tail should be floopy, her vulva would be pink and puffy, and you could feel colostrum in her udder. She also would look very thin across the top of her body, where the babies have dropped. fiascofarm.com has great photos of all of this. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

I agree that it sounds like she didn't breed. She may ahve at a later date if she was with a buck. Its about 3 weeks, give or take for bagging up.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

Well, she was bred twice to the buck in October, same day. Her heat signs were obvious - endless tail wagging, bleating, etc. After the mating they never came back, so I assumed it "took". She looks very pregnant as well.

By the way, she was 6 days overdue last year (this is her 3rd or 4th time).

-- gita (gita@directcon.net), March 06, 2002.

One of our does was due to deliver in th e next 7-10 days. I checked her this afternoon and she looked like she was just starting to bag up. Tonight after supper she delivered 2 kids (so much for sonograms/ultrasounds). Now, 3 hours later her udder is the size of a small basketball. So...you never know......

Russ

-- (imashortguy@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

I don't doubt that she is bred. What I do doubt are those *^%#^ due dates!! My does hardly ever kid on time, I think thecharts must be wrong. I have a doe that was due to kid Feb 26, she hasn't kidded yet. Three more were all due around March 1-2. They kidded Feb 28, March 3, and today. I was simply astonished that the one doe actually kidded early, that is not the norm here. Meanwhile, the doe who was due on the 26th still hasn't kidded, but is finally starting to bag up- a little. She did get bred twice, about a week apart, and her due date was based on the first heat, so maybe that's why. In any case, don't give up hope yet. I think we had one go about ten days over once.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 07, 2002.

My two Oberhasli women look like they have basketballs on each side of them. Their udders are medium full (why don't they have a gauge like a fuel gauge?) and they are starting to walk like their hips are disjointed. I had a goat last year that I had to MILK OUT before she kidded because her udder was so huge it looked like it would burst. About a month or more AHEAD of her kidding. Mebbe your goat woman is just thrifty or a procrastinator!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), March 07, 2002.

I have been wondering the same thing on my goat. As I recall from last year, I had NO sign that she was ready,had even decided she was just fat from eating like a mom, then boom! there were 3 little tykes.in a couple days she was putting out 3/4 gallon! Now I wait and wonder...

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), March 07, 2002.

some goats don't bag up until they kid. just like humans they are all different. every pregnancy and delivery will be different, too, even for the same animal. patience is not a virtue, it is a necessity when dealing with living things. good luck!

-- laura stump (okgoatgal@hotmail.com), March 07, 2002.

What we all really need to do is send our goats to school to learn to read to they'll start following those blasted charts like they're supposed to!:) I, for one, would like my kindergoat doe to go right off, because I've been waiting for her to kid for about 3 months now! (Yes, she is bred, and yes, it's a long story...she should be due any time now....)

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), March 07, 2002.