Plus, you don’t want to introduce excess bacteria to the milk sample. Milk is easier to acquire than blood, but that only works for does who’ve given birth before and who are used regularly for milk.
You can also use the food to help lure the goat onto the stand. Treats you can use include fresh weeds or grass, alfalfa hay, or grain. [3] X Research source
You can use a dash of castille soap or a tiny bit of bleach in warm water. You can also use udder-cleaning wipes, which you can find at your local feed store.
Dump the first few squirts out, as they are higher in bacteria.
Refrigerate the milk until you send it, and mail it as soon as possible after collection.
It’s important to shave the goat so you can see her vein more easily. It’s in about the same place that it is on humans.
You may need a person on the back end, too, to hold her in place.
You should be able to feel the goat’s pulse in the vein. If you have trouble getting the vein to pop out, move the goat’s head away from the side you’re working on.
Pull the plunger out, and you should see blood in the syringe. Draw the plunger back until you have enough blood for the test and then remove the needle from the goat’s neck. If you don’t see blood, you need to try again to hit the vein.
Label the tube with the goat’s name and the date, as well as any other information the company requires. If you’re using a home test, you can simply use the syringe to push a few droplets of blood onto the testing stick.
Check companies like BioTracking, Genex, Dairy One, and Rocky Mountain Instrumental Labs. Tests can run anywhere from $7-$20 USD. Typically, these tests measure progesterone or estrone sulfate. Estrone sulfate tends to be more accurate for a positive test, but only if you perform it 50 days after conception. Before then, it has about an 83% accuracy rate for positive and negative results. You can perform a progesterone test as early as 18-22 days after conception. However, it tends to be more accurate in its negatives than positives. It has a 75-86% accuracy in positive tests.
Typically, these work similar to a human home pregnancy test. You place several drops of milk or blood on the testing stick and wait for it to develop. The test takes about 5 minutes. Kits are $5-$10 USD apiece, and you usually buy them in bulk.
These tests are usually inexpensive. They often run $20-$40 USD.
Some vets do have portable ultrasound machines they can bring to your farm. A rectal ultrasound is more difficult to perform, but by using one, your vet can determine pregnancy as early as 20 days after conception. An abdominal ultrasound is accurate, but your vet usually won’t be able to hear a heartbeat until 25 days after conception.
At 75 days, the vet can usually tell how many kids the goat will have by counting the skulls.
