[Beeducked]

I think one of my goats has developed hydrometra.


She is almost 6 years old and currently milking having milked through after kidding in 2013. She came to me last June a bit skinny but has put on a bit of condition and has been looking really well. Fun of beans and very much herself.
It kind of crept up on me a bit as has happened slowly over, in retrospect maybe as long as 6 weeks, that her belly has been getting bigger and bigger (that or my arms are getting shorter and shorter as getting to her teats is a lot harder than it used to be!). She has not been with a billy but we do have a ram but they have shown very little interest in each other at all.
In the last week she developed a wet tail and bum and is a bit bigger and a jokingly said to a friend "If I didn't know better..." and the penny kind of dropped.


The vet is coming out to confirm on Thursday but was wondering if anyone has any experience of this condition.

[Talana]

I have had one that was being milked running through with cloud burst we just left her and one day she gave birth to a big bag of water and she went about calling for a day then was fine and even boosted her milk yield, she kidded as a goatling and did this every year continually boosting her milk yield, the next time she kidded she was 7 years old so was running through for 5 years.
 I also had one who was dried off and mated and as she didn't come back into season i presumed she was in kid, but when we got them scanned she was empty, perhaps losing the embryo early on but still thinking she was in kid. She kidded her bag of water, called for a day but she did not make up any milk. So as it was late in the season she had a holiday year and she actually kidded yesterday all well.
The vet can give them injection to stop the cloudburst so she can get back to normal quicker and I've heard other goat keepers say if you want to mate them put them with the male as soon as they give birth to their water bag as they come into season then.
It can be quite common with goats especially with ones running through.

[Beeducked]

Done quite a bit of reading and certainly it doesn't seem to be too uncommon and they seem to return to normal quickly. Reading is so different to people's real experiences so nice to hear yours. Will see what the vet says (keeping my fingers crossed they do sent the experienced goat vet this time!).

[sokel]

We have had 3 that have cloudburst. The worst one passed the water while I was in her pen my boots and trousers got soaked and she then decided I was her kid 
She followed me around ,screaming if I went out of sight and would lick me the whole time I milked her.
This went on for nearly 2 weeks

[Beeducked]

 

[Beeducked]

Right the vet has been. Took advantage of having someone with a scanner out and got the others scanned too. Huelwen, the goat who I thought was pregnant is, probably a single. Eira, the one I was pretty sure wasn't, isn't and Blossom who is the goat i'm pretty sure has hydrometra is carrying twins!


The vet had agreed with my provisional diagnosis and scanned to be on the safe side. She was so surprised she made me look at the scan myself and definitely a foetus!


The question is WHO'S THE DADDY!? We had a billy here 2 months ago but he was kept separate and was never with her unsupervised. It is possible that he jumped the fence and then jumped back again into his pen which seems a bit unlikely but not impossible I guess. The vet also thought that the foetus was bigger than the other goat's  so further along (Blossom looks massive!). The alternative is the ram but hybrids are very uncommon so probably unlikely and they very rarely go to term. I have checked my records and I thought she was in season less than 2 months ago so clearly I have no idea!


All a bit embarrassing but also a bit exciting and a bit scary!


I am clearly a terrible goat keeper. 

[fsmnutter]

Not at all, I think they're just cheeky! We had triplets at the end of January, from a goat I'm sure I took to the billy when she was in season on 5th nov so would be due April, clearly she wasn't in season!!! Must have caught before separating the billy in august. Good luck with all the babies 

[Beeducked]

Still feel a bit of a plonker!


As I said to a friend " If I didn't know better, I would think she was pregnant" Clearly I don't know very much and need to think more!


Better stop milking her!


As I said, a bit of a plonker.

[Lesley Silvester]

When does the vet think the kids are due? You can milk up to six weeks before.


Maybe Blossom has been sneaking out at night and meeting her paramour. Has she looked tired in the mornings?    You didn't have that billy long, did you? Just long enough to do what he was there for with Huelwen and Eira, so if Blossom's are due earlier... Very mysterious.

[nutterly_uts]

Ooh quick get her on Jeremy Kyle 

[Beeducked]

The vet isn't sure when they are due. She thought that Blossom's kids looked bigger than Huelwen's so presumably earlier and Huelwen was mated the day after the Billy got here so all very mysterious! He was only here a week at the beginning of Dec and on the basis of dates she is 63 days pregnant. Vet thought that was reasonable on there basis of scan but who knows.


Blossom is certainly the quiet one of my goats and they do say it's the quiet ones you need to watch!
I guess I could keep milking her a bit longer but would rather dry her up a bit earlier so she can put her energy into the kids. She's only giving me about a pint a day at the moment but it does seem to be picking up with the increasing day length so guessing it might be better to dry her up before she gets back into full swing!

[Lesley Silvester]

That makes sense. Cut down on her concentrates and only milk every other day.

[Beeducked]

Going to go down to alternate days this week and then see if she is ready to stop. Needless to say this morning she produced over a litre!

[Lesley Silvester]

Typical. You shouldn't have mentioned drying her up in her hearing.

[Beeducked]

I know, I should know better by now!