10 Ways to Identify Goat Pregnancy
How to Recognize Goat Pregnancy Signs in Your Bred Does
Reading Time: 4 minutes
If you absolutely must know whether or not your bred goats are pregnant, you can always opt to spend money on blood tests, X-rays, or ultrasounds. But all pregnant goats show some visible signs. Learning to recognize goat pregnancy is a rewarding skill that takes time and practice.
1. Failure to return to heat.
A goat that has not been successfully bred typically comes back into heat on her next cycle. The heat cycle of any individual doe can be anywhere from 17 days to about 25 days, so knowing the length of each doe’s heat cycle will tell you when to watch for her next estrus. A doe that settles (gets pregnant) will not come back into typical heat. She may show some signs of estrus on the next cycle or two, but they won’t be as strong as usual. If she’s visiting a buck, she will display little interest in him. Note that if a pregnant doe resorbs her embryo(s), she may come back into heat on her regular cycle or as much as six weeks after being bred. Another fact about goats is that, if it’s the end of the breeding season, a doe that has not been successfully bred may fail to come back into heat.
2. Appetite goes up, milk production goes down during goat pregnancy.
The appetite of a pregnant doe gradually increases. If she’s being milked, her milk production may gradually decrease as her udder recedes. If a milker does not stop production on her own, stop milking her two months before the kids are due, to give her body a rest. Since the gestation period for goats is approximately 150 days, stop milking no longer than 120 days after the doe was bred.
3. The doe’s belly tightens.
Two weeks after a doe is successfully bred, her belly will tighten, a feature you can detect by firmly pressing your fingers against her belly just in front of her udder. A settled doe’s belly will feel tense and tight. An unbred, or open, doe’s belly will feel soft. Note that a doe that is not used to being handled may tense her belly out of nervousness, even if she isn’t pregnant.
4. The doe’s personality changes.
Thanks to the hormone progesterone, a settled doe often experiences a personality reversal, usually within about two weeks. If the doe is normally friendly toward you, she may become standoffish. A doe that is typically shy may suddenly become your best friend, eager for back scratches. This change is temporary, lasting only for the duration of the goat pregnancy.
5. The buck’s personality changes.
If the doe is still housed with the breeder buck, the buck may become aggressive toward the bred doe. An otherwise gentlemanly buck may, for instance, start keeping the doe away from the grain feeder. If you notice how the buck normally acts toward each doe, you will be able to detect any change in his behavior.
6. The doe’s barrel swells.
Some pregnant does start filling out almost right away. Others don’t show until a couple of months after being bred, sometimes appearing to balloon overnight. If you measure each doe’s girth (barrel diameter just behind the front legs) at the time of breeding, and then regularly each month, you can detect this gradual increase in size.
7. The doe’s shape changes.
As her fetus(es) develop, the doe’s right side may stick out farther than the left side. Swelling on the left side indicates a full rumen, although when a doe carries two or more kids, they may press into the rumen and cause her to bulge out on the left as well as on the right, giving the doe a boat-like appearance. Some does, especially those that have kidded before, don’t swell at the side, but instead develop a saggy belly. Other does, especially older ones, barely show at all until some six weeks before goat labor begins.
8. The doe snores.
All goats sometimes snore when they’re resting, especially while taking a siesta on a hot summer afternoon. But during goat pregnancy they snore more and louder than usual. Nothing is funnier than approaching a goat barn to hear a chorus of loudly snoring pregnant does.
9. The udder swells during goat pregnancy.
The udder of a goat that has kidded in the past may not begin to fill out until about a month, or sometimes only days, before she’s due to kid. If this is the doe’s first goat pregnancy, her udder should begin to gradually develop about six weeks after she settled and become nicely rounded by 12 weeks into gestation.
10. The kids move during goat pregnancy.
Three-and-a-half to four months after a doe has settled, you may be able to detect movement of the kid(s) she is carrying. Sometimes you can see them kicking against her side. If you press your spread hands against her right side and belly, ahead of the udder, you may feel the movement, especially if the doe is carrying more than one kid.
If you like surprises, you could always use the wait-and-see method of identifying goat pregnancy. You will know your doe was successfully bred when kids suddenly appear in your barn.
Visit the Countryside goat section for more helpful tutorials on goat reproduction.
Originally published in 2015 and regularly vetted for accuracy.
Thank you very much for your publications.
I believe my goat is two weeks pregnant and she’s not eating much
Very new to goat breeding
Why could this be happening
Thanks
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Two weeks past breeding, she shouldn’t be acting any different than before, with the exception of no longer going into heat. If she is eating less than she did before breeding, I would look at other reasons she isn’t feeling well. Is her temperature between 101-103 (healthy goat temp)? Has she been injured? Has she eaten any bad food? Good luck!
lcant understand my Goat is pregnant or not. she is two and half month pregnant. but her belly is normal and l can’t detect her movement. she is eating to much. l think she has worms. can anyone tell me what do l do.
Same thing I can’t say about my goat too. I don’t know if she’s pregnant or not because she eat too much and play around a lot…
I have female goat here, it confuses me if is pregnant or not.
I have two doe I think one is pregnant. Not sure about the younger doe. But the buck stop trying to jump them. And I 3 eat the same as before. I will look for kids in December late or January.
Poor goats!!!!!!
My gosh I simply love learning about the goats I will soon have hanging out on my farm. I’ve been learning so much from these letters.
I have 3 does I’m trying to breed and my buck is only letting 2 of them eat so I am thinking the one that he isn’t letting eat is pregnant but the thing is the other two haven’t gone into heat and it has been about 25 ish days since their last heat. What do you think?
I have two does .. each one of them seem pregnant, if that are, it would be their first.. their belly one each side keeps increasing.. but their udder remains almost invisible.. they look out of shape.. but I am confused.. this should be their third month if they are really pregnant. Pls what do u think?
My goat is still breastfeeding her three months old kids, could she be pregnant and still breastfeeding? She does not allow the buck to climb her even though he makes many attempts
I have a fixed male goat and I just got a female goat that I believe is pregnant, can they be left in the same pen when she has her babies? And if not how long do they have to stay apart?
Can it be too hot, like over 100’ for a doe to come into heat or for a buck to do his thing. This heat wave is crazy but i don’t want any more stress on some of my does or bucklings by separating them, they show no interest in anything but nursing
Hi Jean, heat can absolutely affect goat breeding. During a heat wave, their bodies undergo physiological responses to regulate body temperature, including endocrinological (hormone) responses. Respiration rises, milk levels decrease, and immune systems can take a hit. Not only does this stress affect fertility, in that the goats don’t want to get any more physical than they have to, but studies show that heat affects estrus expression, meaning the doe’s hormone levels also discourage her from wanting to breed. Heat can alter follicular growth (how the egg develops in the ovary) and embryonic development. Very hot weather can render a buck temporarily sterile, where his sperm won’t even be effective until temperatures go down. With all this considered, it’s no wonder breeding season surges when autumn rolls around. (Further reading: “Heat Stress and Goat Welfare: Adaptation and Production Considerations”, by Seijan et. al. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8065958/)
I have a dwarf female goat and when I bought her she was already really thick and stout so I have been keeping an eye on her bc she was raised around older males but this morning she threw up after eating a lil bit of feed will a pregnant goat throw up like ppl do wen there pregnant? I’m scared to give her anything bc wat if she is pregnant and I hurt them by giving her something and she has lost a lil weight so idk what to do or think… someone reply asap I don’t want something to happen to her
Goats don’t have “morning sickness” like humans. If your goat is vomiting, she either choked on her food or ate something toxic. If you’re concerned she may be pregnant, you can send in blood tests to confirm or have your vet sonogram her. If she only vomited one time after eating, then it’s likely the food got stuck, and she choked a bit. If she vomits more than that, you will need to treat her as if she’s eaten something toxic.