| Author | Message | ||
     kenneth winter jr New member Username: bubbawinter5 Post Number: 9 Registered: 09-2005 Rating: N/A |
I have questions. I have pygmy goats and I have a what I call a very small one, she is just going to turn two yrs. she is 34lbs and is between 12-13 in high with four teats.is this normal? also when she eat, which is like a pig. her skin gets really tight like it is going to split open. she dosn't seem to be in pain. it looks like she is bloated but she has been like this all her life. she is in good health I trim, weight, and worm her every three months. some of my other one do the same. like they are wider than tall.also billies don't seem to have any interest in her. do any of you have or seen this? and is normal for her to have four teats? she loves attention.almost as much as eating. thank you | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 133 Registered: 07-2005 Rating: N/A |
She is not normal. She is very small for her age and she should have only 2 teats. But having 4 teats is not all that uncommon among ALL breeds of goats. Pygmies do tend to be shorter bodied than other breeds they also have larger deeper bodies and are more rounded than other breeds. This is due to their being achondroplastic dwarfs. This form of dwarfism is characterised by having a rotund body with barrel chest, short limbs, a short neck and a proportionally large head (think about what the Munchkins looked like in the Wizard of Oz). Pygmies are descibed as looking perpetually pregnant, even the bucks. She may also be a freemartin or hermaphrodite. These kinds of goats have genetic faults in their reproductive systems. A freemartin actually does not have any sex organs at all. They look like a female but don't have a vagina, uterus or ovaries. This happens when a doe fetus shares the placenta with a buck fetus. The testosterone of the buck fetus keeps the sexual organs of the doe fetus from developing. A hermaphrodite has some of the sexual characteristics of both sexes and is stuck somewhere in the middle. They also often look more like a doe than a buck and their vulva may look strange and have an enlarged clitoris (would have been a penis). Neither of these kinds of "does" cycles and they are sterile. Even though the bucks don't seem to show any interest in her, until you have determined for sure she can't be bred I highly recommend not breeding her. If she does become pregnant she is definitely not built for carrying a pregnancy well or kidding well. She is just too little and very likely the result of being very inbred. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic |