my fcr bitch is due her 1st litter in 7days(making ither 63rd day) but she isnt as big as id expected. its her first litter shes 28 months,  she showed signs early on of being pregnant but just isnt as big as i thought she'd be, maybe there is only 2 or 3 and shes carrying them high but i thought fcr usually had larger litters, im not worried how many there are as long as shes alright,  how long should  i leave it after her due date before taking her to the vet, i know 63 days is quoted but in this breed what is regarded as average?(her breeder says 65 days is normal)
any advice would be great
she has had her hip scores, eye test clear and is dna profiled the stud dog used was similarly tested.

I've often found FCR bitches to be a day or two early with a first litter. It could be that you bitch has not dropped her pups low ready for the birth yet. If she is not very large I would get her scanned as I know from experience this could mean she has one or maybe two large puppies inside. If this is the case you will probably find she will need a ceasarian delivery, to ensure both she and any puppies are ok. My bitch had one puppy which was very large and born dead, her second litter she just had one puppy again and it was delivered by ceasarian because she would have had that one die if I had left her. After her first mating when she produced the one large dead puppy, she was very unhappy looking for her dead puppy, so I took no chances with the second litter.

In my experience if it is a small litter they will go a couple of days over.  Also if the weather is very cold they could go over.  Personally I would not leave it more than 2 days over.

Did you get her scanned at 28 days?

I would not recommend scanning now.  last year when we mated Chloe we did not scan her and at 7 weeks we were not sure either way so we had her blood tested.  It proved positive.  63 days came and went so did 64 days.  We took her to the vet on the 65th and he could not feel anything so he took an xray and there was nothing there.  She had reabsorbed whatever she had.  Her previous litter yielded 11 puppies and she was the size of a small house!!!

Becky

Guest - My FCR never looks big when pregnant & although has been scanned each time for a large litter - she always looks extremely slim whilst pregnant - even late on. Noone believes she is in whelp! She has always had at least 10 pups & an easy time whelping.  :) She is very slim & with deep ribs, she just carries them well!