# Pregnant goats shivering



## luvzmybabz (Sep 15, 2008)

All my girls are pregnant but 3 are ready to go within the next 2 weeks. It has been on the chilly side for Oklahoma and have had a crazy snow storm with another on it's way and a few nice days in between. Thus 3 girls that are getting close to kidding are shivering at times I have not noticed any of the others shivering at all. 2 of these are in a spereate pen and shelter but one is still in the main herd and I catch her shivering and the others look to be fine. Is it the weather or could something be missing where they are not generating as much heat in digestion as the other girls?


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## Jryan (Nov 30, 2010)

When reading about Nubians, there were several articles that talked about them being good for hotter climates but that the cold did effect them more than say the swiss breeds. During that last snow storm, our last preg doe was the only one not shivering at night. I took them out some warm soaked beet pulp right before bed and it seemed to help keep them warm. Amazingly, our goats weren't shivering nearly as bad as some of our horses. The horses seem to have a much thicker coat... ? Sorry I'm not more help!


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

While it certainly could be the cold, you might want to read up on Hypocalcoemia in GK101. What are you feeding? Are they getting enough alfalfa? Is she eating well?

I only have one limited experience - last year my doe started to shiver about 2 weeks before her due date. She also started to refuse her grain (which at the time was a molasses mixed feed). This is actually how I got to DGI. I was on another forum and someone sent me here (thank you, Audra). I strongly suspect it was hypocalcoemia, but the vet would not give me CMPK without me hauling her in for a blood test (which I believe will not tell us anything). I ground up minerals from the store as it says in GK101 and it got her through, but I really wish I had the injectable.

Just a thought. I'm sure the forum gurus will correct me if I'm wrong and steer you in the right direction.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

When does are heavy bred there is a restriction on the amount of roughage they can pack in unless they are very well sprung indeed. They need the processing of the rumen turnover to help keep them warm and so you are looking at less capacity for expanding the gut providing less energy for warming. The soaked beet pulp is a good idea but really all you can do is keep chow in front of them 24/7 and let them eat and cycle as needed. 

I read an interesting article that I cannot find again (too many bookmarks) that said the theory that giving warm water is more helpful does not prove out. The idea was that cold water actually stimulates more circulation and gut activity warming the animal better but I personally love a hot cup of tea when it's cold so not so sure about this idea.

If you have some old sweaters or sweatshirts see if you can't modify them to give them another layer of insulation. It is easily done and they generally appreciate it.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

My goats wardrobe just expanded yesterday. I bought four more coats for them on sale. Milk production stays steady with our temperature extremes. Shivering doesn't happen here.


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Mar 2, 2009)

My girls have shivered some when its down to 0 degrees. But as long as the temp is above the 0 mark, they seem to do okay.


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## LaManchaLady (Feb 5, 2011)

I had an old (14 year old) doe that I kept inside our garage because she shivered in the winer.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Do they have hay out in front of them all the time and they get their belly full of it. I also have been putting out alfalfa pellets and grain twice a day on those really cold days to my heavy bred goat. She has a barn to go into out of the wind and I haven't seen her shivering. She is due in March.


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Mar 2, 2009)

Mine have brome hay and alfalfa pellets in front of them 24/7


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## J-Basqo (Oct 26, 2007)

I would be careful "coating" them. If they are sick or old and need an extra boost, a coat can be a life saver. But giving an outdoor animal a coat is just teaching the body it doesnt need to work as hard, and once coated will need to be coated as the body hasnt adjusted to the temps.
Regardless of whether you give your water is hot or cold, make sure it is THAWED!!!!!! If they are NOT drinking, or the temperature of the water is to cold for them to want to drink enough, they wont eat as much ans thus wont be burning calories as efficiently, so regardless of studies between hot or cold, I still reccomend a heated bucket in the winter to keep it thawed in of a temp that will encourage them to drink. If they drink MORE of the warm water than they do cold, I feel their 'burners' will be running better anyways 
Thats my 2 cents! :biggrin


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

I would make sure that they have good free choice hay (as much as they can eat and always available to them). That is what should keep them warm. As long as they are not wet and have some sort of shelter they shouldn't have a problem.

If this is the case and they are still visibly shivering I would check into some of the other suggestions made her.


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## luvzmybabz (Sep 15, 2008)

The have a covered round bale of oat/grass and have a large hay feeder that always has alfalfa hay in it. They are fed a commercial goat grain and alfalfa pellets daily and have free choice minerals and diamond v yeast. They are tucked into there stall that stays fairly warm and wind free. It is snowing here now and I will be making my bi- hourly trips out to check on the pregnancy. I do not see how she or her udder could possibly get any bigger.


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## luvzmybabz (Sep 15, 2008)

I also notices today that her pee seems darker then usual. Wow I just realized that I know the usual color of goat pee


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## Jryan (Nov 30, 2010)

Hahaha Kasi! Funny the weird things we didn't even know, we know! Too funny!


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Hope they get warmed up soon with this next cold blast that has come down. It is dropping into the 20's here this afternoon as the front passes and will be in the upper teens tonight. Got my girls penned up in their shed today with the rain and cold wind. Brrrrr....


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## luvzmybabz (Sep 15, 2008)

I was doing checks every 2 hours last night in single digits with wind chills in the negative teens I even ended up putting a wind black on the small doorway of their stall because it was so cold so they can't get out right now but are seeming to be much more comfortable. Warm water bucket everything we go out and I gave them some warm Gatorade last night as I has thought back about one had not been drinking as much as I would like. But now with the small doorway shut off and the warm water they are acting more comfortable then they have been in a while. They can not get out of their stall but even though we only got 1/2 the snow prediction the lows tonight are supposed to be even colder so they would not be going out anyway. the barn is not horribly cold if I hunker down in a pile of hay to watch for a while not it's not bad at all. Thank goodness all the barns got a complete cleaning during the break between bad weather and I was actually able to hunt down more straw for them as we ran low after complete rebedding while cleaning.


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