At what age can goats breed?

 

Believe it or not, a goat kid of either sex can be fertile at 7 weeks of age. That is not to say that they should be bred at this age. Intact bucks and does over 7 weeks of age should not be kept together because a young buck can, and will, breed a female at 2 months of age, this includes his mother and 2 month old sister!

 

At what age should I breed my does?

 

Full size dairy type goat does can be bred at about 8 months of age if they have "made weight". They should weigh at least 80 pounds.

 

When can I expect my doe to come into heat so she can be bred?

 

As far as breeding goes, there are two "types" of goats:

• "Equatorial type" goats that come from climates that are hot all year long. These goats will breed all year long. Examples of these breeds are most meat breeds like Boers, Spanish & Fainting, and also Pygmies and (sometimes) Nubians.

• "Alpine type" goats. These are most of the Dairy breeds. These goats are seasonal breeders, like deer, and have a definite breeding season. This usually is from about Aug. to Dec/Jan. The does will come into heat about every 21 days and the bucks will stay in rut during the entire breeding season. Once the buck go out of rut, they loose most of their interest in sex until the next rut

 

How many years will a doe continue to produce babies?  How long can a doe keeping safely breeding?  When should I "retire" my doe?

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A doe will continue to go into heat and breed her entire life. She never goes through menopause like a human. Since the "normal" life span is 11-12 years , if exposed to a buck, she will continue to breed and have babies until she dies.  BUT, the cause of death for many older does is usually kidding/pregnancy related so if you wish to extend her life, you may decide to retire her at some point from kidding. If you decide to retire your doe, do not expose her to bucks any longer. She will continue to go into heat for the rest of her life. Does that are "retired" from breeding around age 9 -10 live longer (16-20 years, 

 

Can I stagger breeding so that I can have milk year 'round?

 

It is very difficult to stagger dairy goat breeding due to the fact that most dairy goats are seasonal breeders (see above). This is why goat milk is practically nonexistent in the winter. Commercial goat milk producers manipulate their goats hormonally to breed year 'round. My goats naturally come into heat in the Fall, so this is when they are bred. They kid in the late Winter/Early Spring. I milk in the Spring, Summer and Early Fall and put up milk (by freezing or making cheese) for Winter use. Also, even if the doe were to come into heat off-season, you'd need a buck who was in rut. Yes, they are seasonal as well, and may not breed a doe off season. We have a buck who will not breed a doe, even if she is is raging heat, after December because he goes into rut only from Sept.- Dec..

 

Can I breed my does again right after they kid?

 

Even if they were to come into heat after they kid (which they may not do) you really should wait to breed the doe. Kidding and lactating takes a lot out of a doe and she needs her rest between kiddings. Does should only be bred and kid once a year.

 

Can doe get pregnant when she is still nursing or being milked?

 

YES

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Line-breeding and Inbreeding

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The old saying goes: "If it works it's called Line-breeding and if it doesn't, it's called Inbreeding." This saying puts a very complicated subject very simply, but it has some truth in it. I also like to say: "There is no better way to improve your herd than with Line-breeding, BUT there is also no better way to ruin a herd."

Line breeding (breeding closely related animals) can quickly improve a herd because the good qualities of the animals get accentuated. BUT the bad qualities are also accentuated. Because of this, you have to think about what you are doing, look at the animals and use your head. You can't just simply go by some arbitrary "rule" like "it's OK be breed grandfather to granddaughter", but look at the individual goats and decide if their particular good traits out weigh the bad traits.

Since I only keep very good bucks, I do not worry that much about "bad" traits, since if my buck had discernible bad traits, I wouldn't use him for breeding purposes. 

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The only hard and fast rule that I know of is do not breed a full brother and full sister. In some circumstances, it is ok to breed father to daughter, but I hardly ever do that. I much prefer to breed grandfather to granddaughter, uncles to niece, etc.\

I would recommend that unless you are an experienced breeder with good stock, you will probably have healthier animals by starting out incorporating genetic diversity into your herd as opposed to Line-breeding; start out with a buck that is totally unrelated to any of your does, and then work from there. Eventually you can't help but Line-breed because no one that I know can afford to buy a new buck every year. The most important thing is to start with good stock and keep more than one buck so you are not forced to keep breeding the same buck to all your does every year.
 

How to choose a buck to breed your does to:

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It's really just common sense. Don't use a buck solely because he has a penis. Always try to "breed up". Look for a buck where he, and his family, look better in body and udder than your own does and also look at temperament. Never use a buck that you know nothing about (if you can help it). You should decide what you want to see in your kids, and look for this in the buck you are considering and his family. 

Look at the buck. Does he have the conformation (body style and shape) you desire in your kids? If a buck has bad conformation (body style and shape), he isn't going to produce kids with good conformation. Is he strong and healthy? 

Look at the buck's family. Look at the buck's MOTHER. What is her udder like? You want the very best attachments (the udder is held up high to the body and not saggy and hanging low). If the mother has a crappy udder, her son is not going to "throw" (give to his kids) good ones. Look at the buck's father's mother (if possible). Does she have a good udder and body? If the buck has a sister, she would be a good one to look at. How is her udder and body? Of course if the buck has other kids, you can look at them.

 

Things you want in a dairy goat:

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• Good conformation - that means good body style and shape.

• Good udder - Udders need to have good "attachments", that mean how the udder attaches to the body. The udder should be held up high and tight to the body and not hang down and sag. A sagging udder will not get any better and will only get worse. You do not want a sagging udder because an udder that hangs low will not hold up to many years of milking, will be difficult to milk because it hangs lower than the milk pail, and most importantly, risks damage (I have seen a low hanging udder get ripped open from getting caught on a protruding object, leading to the need for a total mastectomy)

• Teat & orifice size - If you are going to be hand milking, you want teats that are big enough to comfortably milk. Also, the "orifice" (hole the milk comes out of) is important. If the hole is tiny, it will take forever to milk the doe. I have not found orifice size to be genetic, but teat size is.

• Color - Many people who show do not really care about color, to them conformation and udders are the most important, but let's be honest, pretty coloring is always nice. If you are wanting to sell your extra wethers as pets, coloring is important because people buying goats as just pets want pretty as well as friendly.

• Temperament - We breed for good temperament and friendly goats. Of course this trait is environmental as well as genetic: it's how the goat is raised as well as breeding.

• Strength, health and hardiness - It doesn't hurt to look for these traits.

 

• A doe's heat cycle is approximately every 18-21 days

 

Signs of heat: (A doe may exhibit any, all, or none of these signs)

• "Flagging" (wagging) her tail.

• Mounting other does.

• Letting other does mount her.

• Fighting

• Letting herself get beat up without defending herself.

• Having a "crush" on another doe.

• No interest in feed.

• Swollen and/or pink rear end.

• Mucous discharge from her vagina

• Her side tail hair is wet and/or clumped together.

• Yelling for no reason.

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How long does a heat last?

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Anywhere for 6 hours to 3 days depending on the doe.

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How can I tell if my goat is pregnant?

 

The normal gestation time is 145-155 days. Some breeds tend to kid on the early side and some on the late side. Count 150 days from when the doe was bred and prepare for kids at least week before. 

• You cannot tell if a goat is pregnant by looking at them.

 

What if I don't know the breeding date?

 

There is really no way you can tell a goat is pregnant from just looking at her. If a doe does not come back into heat after she is bred, she may be pregnant (note I say may). Most goats are seasonal (see above), so your doe should come into heat every 18-21 days from Sept. through Dec. There is really no sure way to know if your doe is pregnant without ultra-sounding her.

 

A goat can look pregnant and not be. Healthy goats are naturally "wide". This is their rumen, which makes them wide and is a sign of good health. Many people mistake a healthy goat, with a well developed rumen, for being pregnant. I have had people ask me, "This is a nice goat, when is she due to have her babies", and I answer, "She had them 3 weeks ago" <smile>.

 

A goat may not start "showing" until at least a month or less before kidding, and sometimes they never show at all. This is why I stress to people to know the date that their does were bred. That is the only real way to know when she may kid.

A doe, who has never kidded before may usually start "making her udder" (developing an udder) 4-6 weeks before kidding (note I say may- I have had doe wait until a couple days before she kidding to even start making their udder and it didn't really fill out until hours before she kidded). A doe that has kidded before may start "bagging up" (filling her udder with milk in preparation to feed her kids) a week before kidding but she may even wait until the day she kids.

 

Since there is really no way to be certain when a doe will kid without knowing the due date, does should NEVER be housed with bucks. If you "run" does and bucks together, you will never know when to expect kids, you won't be able to prepare for the kids, and you will risk loosing them.