Goat pregnancy month by month: what happens and what to do

Want the dates for your own animal? Use the goat pregnancy calculator. It builds a dated schedule in seconds.

A goat is pregnant for about 150 days, or five months. Most does kid between day 145 and day 155. Small breeds such as Nigerian Dwarf and Pygmy tend to kid a few days earlier, around day 147.

The calendar matters less in the first three months than in the last two. That is when the kids do most of their growing and when most problems show up.

Month 1: conception and implantation

The embryo travels to the uterus and attaches around days 18 to 22. You will not see any change in the doe.

What to do:

• Watch for a return to heat between days 18 and 24. No heat is a good early sign she is bred.
• Avoid stress, rough handling and long trips. Early embryos are easy to lose.
• Keep her on her normal feed. She does not need extra yet.

Month 2: confirming the pregnancy

The placenta develops and the kids' organs form. From about day 30 a blood test or an ultrasound scan can confirm she is pregnant.

What to do:

• Book the blood test or scan.
• Give free-choice goat minerals and clean water.
• Avoid mouldy hay and silage. Some moulds cause abortion.

Month 3: counting kids

The kids grow steadily and their bones start to harden. An ultrasound between days 45 and 90 can count them, which helps you plan her feed.

What to do:

• Scan to count kids if you can.
• If she is in milk, start drying her off late this month so the udder gets about two months of rest.

Month 4: the growth spurt begins

About 70% of a kid's growth happens in the last six weeks. Her energy needs climb fast while the growing kids squeeze her rumen, so she can eat less at a time.

What to do:

• Raise energy and protein gradually from around day 100. Does carrying twins or triplets need more.
• Watch for pregnancy toxaemia (ketosis): a doe that goes off her feed, stands apart, grinds her teeth or wobbles needs a vet the same day.

Month 5: getting ready to kid

The udder fills and the ligaments either side of the tail soften until you can barely feel them. She may paw the ground, talk to her belly and separate from the herd.

What to do:

• Give the CD&T booster about four weeks before the due date. It protects the kids through her colostrum.
• Set up a clean, dry kidding pen around ten days before. Have a kidding kit ready: towels, iodine for navels, gloves, lubricant and your vet's number.
• Check her morning and evening once she is in the window.

Signs she will kid soon

• Udder full, tight and shiny
• Tail ligaments gone soft
• Pawing, nesting and talking
• Thick discharge, then a water bag

Call your vet if she strains hard for 30 minutes with no kid, if a kid is stuck or coming backwards with no progress, or if she has not kidded by day 155.

Work out her dates

Breed and the number of kids shift the date by a day or two. The goat calculator takes both into account and gives you every date above for your own doe, with the current month highlighted.

Disclaimer: This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Talk to your vet about your own animals.