Possibly bred Misty?

[Jamie Hunt]

Hello everyone. I don't have a barn cam because I board but I would love for you to take a look at my girl and share your thoughts. She is possibly 6 to 8 months pregnant. We haven't noticed a lot of change to her belly shape and size since her rescue (by a close friend of mine) 6 months ago, so I'm not sure. Now that she is mine, I'd love to know for sure. She is 13, She has had a foal before so that might be the issue. For my goats, I draw blood and have it tested for pregnancy.Can I do the same with her?

http://imgur.com/a/l6yU3#1 This imgur album has pics of both sides and an udder pic

Also if any of you board AND have a barn cam I'd love to know how you pull that off! I've been dreaming of a barn cam for years now.

 

[weerunner]

At six to 8 months, you should be able to feel baby kicking at supper time. Put your hand just in front of her udder and if there is a little one there, you will feel your hand being kicked. Dont be fooled by the feeling of her swallowing her food, that movement is up closer to her ribs. The movement you want will be right in front of her udder and will be fairly obvious. Sometimes it takes several meals to feel it as baby doesn't always feels like kicking. But stick with it and you should feel it soon if she's preggers.

 

[Eagle]

Hi, I am so glad you decided to come over here and join us in the Nutty Nursery (if you stick around you will understand why we have this nickname)

I know you can get cams now that will run off a cell phone but you would need to have a spare iphone/smartphone to hook up to the cam and leave a the barn.

Your girl is very cute and looks like she could be pregnant, can you take some more pics for us to get a better idea.

Thanks Renee

 

[Jamie Hunt]

I don't know much about the father other than he was black, since it was a rescue situation I'm not sure how much I should say. Right now, Misty lives with my three nubian goats who I show. Charlotte, Odalisque and Bandit Queen. Bandit Queen is bred and due on May 11th. Charlotte is bred and is due in 2 weeks. I kept Oda open this year to show as a dry yearling. I also keep 12 hens and a rooster. They are bantam silkies and cochin with a couple frizzle/serama mixes. I also just got a shipment of 8 silkie chicks that are currently brooding in my guest bathroom. I have a pug/boston mix named Winston and an 18 year old pug named Louie. LOTS of animals!

I posted my website in the intro thread, but here it is again www.graystablesdairygoats.com

 

[Jamie Hunt]

Here is an updated album. I added a view from the back, but it isn't very good. =/ http://imgur.com/a/QHpjx

 

[cassie]

Hi and welcome I hope you will stick around its an exciting time of year for us "Aunties" lots of babies being born and we love to share it with everyone

your little mare is beautiful and definitley looks like she could be in foal... the back end pic shows a little lopsidedness to her which often means there is a little bubba in there... but not always it can also be from her standing funny etc, to me she looks to be cooking something in there

but time will tell! have you tried what Amanda suggested with feeling for the movement?

also when your goats have their kids you HAVE to show us piccies we love all sorts of pics

 

[Jamie Hunt]

I will certainly show you kid pics. I'm addicted to taking them! I tried to feel her there, but she wasn't really happy about it. I'm going to keep trying though.

 

[Jamie Hunt]

I felt in front of her udder area today, no kicking... Her udder is squishy though. She was not a fan of me touching it. I'll try again tomorrow!

 

[cassie]

sometimes even feeling their flanks (sides of their tummy just in front of the hip) you can feel movement there as well... if she isn't too happy about you feeling her udder don't push the issue, its good to get her used to you feeling her around there just in case you had to milk her at all... but we don't want to stress her out... give her a good brush and lay your hands on her sides I used to love cuddling my mini and feeling her baby moving... sigh lol

also during dinner or while she is having a drink of cold water are good times to feel movement

as she gets further along you could possibly see movement as well

but some babies just don't move that much...

sorry for the rambling lol. hope you are able to feel something soon

 

[AnnaC]

Hi Jamie and a big welcome to you and Misty - so glad you have joined us here. Misty is such a pretty girl and I love your goats and chickens, hope to see lots of pics of them too while Misty is progressing towards having her foal (yes, she looks preggers to me!)

Can you tell us a little more about her - how tall is she and also her present diet/daily routine where you board her. In that first picture she does look as though she's going to need a little more feed if she is going to successfully carry this baby, but in the last one she looks as though her back is well covered so maybe there is a time difference between the pics?

Good luck with your goats kidding - cant wait to see the pics of the new little ones.

 

[Jamie Hunt]

Hello! I'm not sure how tall she is. I need to measure her, but I don't have a stick like I've seen people use for minis. Can I just use a tape measure? I've been feeling her fore udder area every night while she eats, and haven't felt any kicking. The whole bag area is very squishy and seems like it is filling with liquid, but I've heard fat minis can produce milk.

Misty lives with the goats in a large paddock with some grass. They have free choice coastal hay during the day. In the afternoon, I feed alfalfa chaffhaye to everyone. They get their fill for about 10 minutes or so, though I have been limiting Misty more than the goats just to get her used to it. The heavy bred goats get a non medicated feed with min 13.5% protein, min 3 % fat, max 22% fiber, min .8% max .9% calcium, min .30% phosphorus. I've not been giving this to Misty. I also have these loose minerals available to them. http://www.acnutrition.com/images/product_tags/tech-mastercompletemineral.pdf. My goats require copper bolus and selenium in this area, so I'm sure Misty will need supplements as well. I give my goats shots of bo-se when they are pregnant, do people do this with minis as well?

I've been working on her with leading daily. She is very respectful and doesn't seem to need any practice. I also free lunge her in the round pen every other day. Sometimes she is easy to catch, and walks right up to me, sometimes she is skittish and stays away from me. I think we are still figuring each other out.

here is my fb album of misty. I add to it every day. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100606061445145.2423156.34401609&type=1

As you can see in the photos, I'm having a hard time finding a halter that will fit her. I've got two, one is a foal size for 100-200 lbs, the other is a colt size for 300-500 lbs. The nose band on the foal is too small, while the part that goes over her poll on the colt is too big. Either work to lead her, so who knows. I clipped her bridle path/ears a bit and the feathering on her legs with no problems. She is a sweet, respectful girl but also a little timid. Her winter coat is VERY thick. I am not a fan of it and want to body clip her as soon as possible, but just like with the goats... comfort is more important than looks.

 

[Jamie Hunt]

Here are some photos about a week apart of Misty for those of you who don't like links. I added one of my girl Charlotte's belly. No guesses needed... she is confirmed bred. =)

 

[Eagle]

She looks such a sweet little girl

I have a halter from Chance's miniature horse rescue, this way you are helping then too. I just love their colours. Here is the link for you.

http://store.chancesminihorserescue.org/haltersleads.html

 

[Jamie Hunt]

I'm not feeding her grain right now

 

[Eagle]

I think you should consider giving her some grain as she will need plenty of extra nutrients to feed and grow baby. Diane will fill you in with what she will need.

 

[Jamie Hunt]

I have access to lots of feed stores in my area and I'm sure I can find that feed, but what I'm afraid of is feeding her like a pregnant mare, if she isn't pregnant. I haven't felt any movement, and I really don't want her to founder. I've owned "easy keeper" full sized horses in the past who did not eat grain because they were predisposed to cushings and founder. Thoughts?

 

[chandab]

I have access to lots of feed stores in my area and I'm sure I can find that feed, but what I'm afraid of is feeding her like a pregnant mare, if she isn't pregnant. I haven't felt any movement, and I really don't want her to founder. I've owned "easy keeper" full sized horses in the past who did not eat grain because they were predisposed to cushings and founder. Thoughts?

If you are worried about founder, try a ration balancer; they are protein/vit/min "feed" and usually are fed at low volumes so less likely to cause issues, but still provide necessary nutrients. They usually come in a formula to balance grass or grass/mix hay and a formula to balance alfalfa hay. [The ration balancer I fed, before it was priced out of my budget for the size of my herd, was fed at only 1/2# daily for my B-size minis and it provided what their hay didn't.]

 

[Eagle]

If she isn't pregnant then her tummy could be this big due to lack of protein or worms. I personally would put her on a small amount of high protein feed and see how she goes or if not definitely a ration balancer as Chanda suggested. When was she last wormed?

 

[Jamie Hunt]

If she is not pregnant, is the food I'm giving her not taking care of her nutrition? She has free choice coastal, some pasture, and roughly (maybe 3/4) a flake of alfalfa a day (9.5% protein) . I also have minerals available to her.

She is 32.5 inches tall.

I don't mind putting her on grain at all if that is what she needs, but I've always been of the mindset that roughage is what horses naturally eat and it can be a healthy diet.

 

[Jamie Hunt]

Misty was wormed every 60 days for the past 6 months. I am going to do fecals and base my worming program off that.