A goat thinks it's pregnant and a kid milks the situation: The story of Bella and Gus

Things on the farm, as in life, don't always turn out the way you'd expect, and owners of a farm in western Newfoundland know that well after their seemingly pregnant goat turned out to not be expecting after all.

Bill and Terri Lynn Robbins of Deer Lake thought their six-year-old female goat, Bella, was having a kid, after she started looking larger and her udders filled up with milk.

Once they realized it was a false pregnancy, the Robbins Family Farm in Deer Lake didn't want the milk go to waste, so it adopted a young kid for Bella to nurse.

"I really wanted Bella to have an opportunity to be a mom," said Terri Lynn Robbins.

The new kid on the farm is Gus, who was just four days old when he came from a goat dairy in nearby Cormack.

He and his adopted mother have been getting to know each other slowly, based on the advice of agricultural veterinarians.

False alarm, number 2

The technical term for false pregnancies or pseudopregnancies is pseudocyesis and, while they may not be common, they're not unheard of in goats.

In fact, this was Bella's second false pregnancy.    

The first happened two years ago at a time when the Robbins didn't have a male goat, so they knew it had to be a false alarm.

This time, they were hopeful it was the real thing.

Bella's abdomen grew larger than the first time and milk was coming out of her teats.

But, after things didn't progress, the Robbins called in the provincial veterinarians who did an ultrasound which confirmed their worst fears, that Bella's uterus was filled with fluid, and there was no baby.

"I was emotional, actually quite disappointed," recalls Terri Lynn, who only got into farming about eight years ago with Robbins Family Farm as strictly a greenhouse operation.

"Bella is the very first farm animal we've ever owned. And so you know we were so excited and hopeful, and she would have had our first farm baby."

Breeding contempt

The Robbins had tried their best to get Bella to have a kid.

They acquired a male goat named Carmel whom they thought would make a great mate for her.

"She's a great goat, and we really wanted to breed her," said Terri Lynn.

That was a year ago, but the attraction only seemed to go one way.

Hear the Robbins family relate the story of Bella and Gus, in this podcast from Newfoundland Morning: 

"They basically were just bunkmates, penmates," said Terri Lynn, laughing.

Bill said it wasn't for a lack of effort on Carmel's part.

"He tried desperately to make babies. She was having nothing to do with it," he said.

Learning to be a wet nurse

Perhaps Bella's lack of interest in a farm romance stems from her origins.

When Bella came to the Robbins Family Farm four years ago, she had not previously been exposed to other goats.

That lack of socialization could account for her slow-to-develop maternal instinct, too.

Getting Bella to nurse Gus was initially quite a challenge, according to the Robbins.

It involved holding Bella in place while she was haltered and tied off to a fence.

But, already, they've started getting rid of the halter and they don't need to keep as firm a grip on her to make things happen.

Bella is warming up to little Gus, and is now nursing him two or three times a day.

The rest of the time, Gus is bottle-fed, but it's still milk from Bella, as the Robbins milk her by hand so they can supplement Gus's diet.

• Read more articles by Bernice Hillier

Terri Lynn said they'd still like to breed Bella, but they have to give her time to finish nursing Gus and for her body to return to normal, before she will go into heat again.

The farmers are hoping that, for Bella, the third time will be the charm.

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