If your old goat is struggling to keep its weight balanced, breeding from him/her again may be a bad idea. This is mating between goats that may be somewhat related but not direct family. During Standing Heat, she may even stand with her rear end up against a fence when she knows bucks are on the other side. There are many goat farmers who do this themselves, if they have the right equipment and training. However, many breeds and species of goat are living longer and longer lives as they are adopted into good and loving homes. However, a better practice requires breeding adults who have achieved 70% to 75% of their mature weight. So, depending on breed, we'll say the average healthy domesticated goat lives 10 or 12 years. This form can easily be inserted into a 3-ring binder, and you can make a copy for each of your does. Many bucks have been able to actually breed a doe through the openings in a fence and get her pregnant. This is the weight they will need to reach before you begin weaning them off of milk. On the other hand, we prefer to keep several bucks around. Ideally, goats should be a healthy weight before being bred, which older goats may have slightly more difficulty maintaining. What age do yo normally stop breeding your does and what do you do with them when they are to old? Surgical castration is considered the riskiest form of goat castration with a high risk of possible side effects like infection. Methods for Wethering Goats. 2. No wonder it takes a lot more does to get the job done. In other words, use a buck that has more desirable characteristics and conformation than the goats you already have. Here, the kids can nurse whenever they want while developing a strong maternal bond. 7. Even though you are looking at the age or days to wean goats you should also focus on the weight of weaning goats. how many kids have they had thru their lives? You can't alway stay up all night waiting to see if your goats breed. This Breeding/Kidding Record Form includes sections where you can record all of those things. The elder, age 6, is a cheerful, friendly saanen who looks like skin and bones in her back hips with a huge belly done below. Doelings (female goats) are generally ready to breed at 8-12 months of age. Most goat breeders don't like keeping bucks around if they can avoid it. You must log in or register to reply here. A doe continues to ovulate and can get pregnant throughout her entire life. Usually a young buck, about a year old, should only be allowed to breed with a group of 10 does max within the same month. The best plan is to watch the calendar while also monitoring the kids growth and food consumption. However, goats have also been known to safely deliver septuplets (seven kids) on more than one occasion. Follow label directions. One sure sign that your doe is in heat and ready to be bred is when she shows evidence of "Standing Heat". By using this to record breeding and kidding details, you won't forget which doe bred with which buck, when they bred, when kids are expected, when kids actually arrived, how many kids were born, which ones were male or female and what challenges, problems or other special circumstances you encountered with your doe's kidding that you want to remember for next time. When a buck and doe actually "do the deed", if you blink you might miss it. So you will want to give your goats a supplement like "BoSe" which is a prescription Selenium/Vitamin E injection. You are using an out of date browser. Lots of people have asked online if a urine test can be used to detect goat pregnancy, and whether they can just use a human pregnancy test kit from a drug store. 3. Regardless of which method you use to determine if your doe is pregnant, the main point is that it's important to learn as much as you can. Many people say their homemade buck apron failed because it got stuck to one side of the goat, rather than staying down as the goat moved around. The male goat is called a "buck" or "billy." If he is castrated, he is called a "wether." Male goats up to 12 months of age are sometimes referred to as "bucklings." Adult male goats can weigh anywhere between 100 to 350 pounds, depending on their breed, health and nutritional status. that is not good. You can tell it's goat breeding season just by watching your goats. In about ten minutes or so the bleeding will stop and the goat will up and moving again. This involves holding the doe with your hands, or on a lead, so she can't run away and the buck can have a chance to mount her. Goat kids should be weaned when their birth weight increases to a specific amount, usually sometime between 2 and 3 months old. If a goat is determined for the butcher, you can castrate baby goats as soon as it is one week old. Because line breeding is generally acceptable, and farms that use inbreeding tend to keep it quiet (especially when things go wrong), goat farmers pass around an old tongue-in-cheek saying that says, "It's called line breeding if it works, and it's called inbreeding if it doesn't.". Attractive and desirable coloring is sought after by many buyers and recognized by many goat show judges. Another possibility if your goats aren't breeding, or if you don't have your own bucks, is to use Artificial Insemination (AI). Of course, it depends on your personal preference. The amount of time can differ depending on the breed. Lastly, when a doe is bred before she has reached her full growth potential herself, her growth can be stunted. I suppose I'd think twice before breeding, say, a 10 or 11 year old. . Surprisingly, there is usually minimal pain for the goat (treatable at the start with some medication) and it's usually not as big of a deal as you might think it would be. If you suspect this illness, consult a vet immediately and separate your sick goats as soon as possible. Of course, to know when a kid will arrive, you also need to know when the doe was bred. Inject the medication and remove the needle. Generally, after 3 months of age, inject 2 cc subcutaneously and repeat in two to four weeks. Toggenburg does are pregnant for 179 days. The main thing is to keep a close eye on your buck's health and his nutrition during periods of breeding. If you want to dig deeper into these revenue sources as a possibility for your own farm check out our blog post "Raising Goats for Profit: 7 Proven Ways to Make Money.". So only do line breeding with a buck that is high quality and has few or no bad characteristics. The milk is super rich and can contain as much as 11% butterfat. This is because a doe will never quit going into heat. Once a buck reaches 2 year of age, he can probably service up to 20 or 30 does. This allows us to grow our herd faster, while avoiding inbreeding. Nutrient Requirements. They sometimes will borrow or lease someone else's buck just to breed him with their does as a "stud buck", and then they return him back home. By the way, be careful if your doe is doing this and you're not ready for her to be bred yet. A doe can often reach the safe goat breeding weight by around 8 months old or so. But, as I mentioned before, you may decide to use a larger number of bucks if you want more genetic diversity in your herd. Their weight should pick up over time. By 2 years old goats stop growing physically with no more physical milestones to hit. Sometimes a doe needs to be taken to the buck on a lead (leash) and held so the buck can mount her. At the age of five to seven years, the goats reach their peak efficiency. I step on the scale and measure my own weight. Putting a buckling apron on him can prevent an accidental inbreeding from occurring until you're ready to wean him. These can be ordered online, and they come in a variety of bright colors so it's easy to see your goat when he is wearing one. Then, I pick up the goat, step on the scale and measure the weight of myself and the goat together. Although weaning goats can be stressful for all involved, mama goat, kid, and goat owner alike, there are some tips that you can follow to help keep your goat kids happy and healthy after weaning. If you have multiple does coming into heat, you only need one buck available to breed with them. So some people use a device called a goat "breeding harness" or "marking harness", especially if they have a large number of goats. A 35-day breed-back schedule is recommended. Here's my two cents: For the record, most of my experience comes with Pygmy goats who tend to live a long time. Age at onset can vary between breeds and is influenced by environmental factors, such as the season of birth, breed, and nutritional status. Goat Reproductive Failure Physiological Factors. A normal heat cycle is 21 days, but the actual range is more like 18 to 25 days. However, it tends to be more expensive since it usually is performed by a trained vet technician. It may sound kind of crazy, but it's better than not knowing when your new kids might be born. at 7 we would stop, take them to the sale or keep a few favs and put out to pasture to retire. You will want to introduce them to the pen and possibly let them live there with their mother or other goats they are comfortable with, for a few weeks. Even if you are extremely careful to observe the breeding and calculate the gestation period, you will find that new kids can often arrive unexpectedly several days early, or several days late. An advantage of having Nigerian Dwarf goats is that they go into heat about every 21 days year-round, so you don't have to worry as much about missing it. We had a good friend whose goat reared its head and stuck its horn into the friend's eye socket. It's also tough when you add the time to wean, bottle feed and care for so many kids in such a short period. The heat may last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. An ultrasound is considered one of the most reliable tests for goat pregnancy. Thread starter Jesusfreak101; Start date May 8, 2019; May 8, 2019 #1 . Weaning baby goats, also called kids, off milk can be a difficult and During the fall, the endocrine system also increases levels of the sex hormones,testosterone and luteinizing hormone (Ritar,1990). Research suggests that the ideal weaning time is not a date but actually a weight. Keep in mind that Mother Nature never follows an exact calendar or clock. The following information will help you recognize when your baby goat is ready Just be careful if you do this and make sure you get proof that any other goats in contact with your goats have been tested to prove they are disease free. Estrus, or heat, is the period in which the doe will stand and allow the buck to breed her. It's logical if you think about it. They are serviceable even for up to 12 years in exceptional cases, and up to 14 years in rare cases. Before we focused on planned goat breeding, we had several Nigerian Dwarf kids born during Winter snowstorms back when we lived in Virginia. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Does go into heat, called estrus, roughly every 21 days. Most goat gestation calculators online don't account for the fact that different goats have different gestation periods. A common age for breeding is between 10 and 12 months. Be sure to separate bucks and does if you don't want them breeding. (source). The process of weaning, along with the kid's weight and age, will play significant roles in its ability to fight off illnesses and thrive well into adulthood. Pygmy goats can produce a ton of milk for their small size. It's typical to see two, and sometimes three, kids born per pregnancy. Best of all - it's simple and all fits on one page! That doesn't mean her body is prepared for the process. Also consider giving your goats a "Copper Bolus" for extra copper. But they are fairly easy to pick up. Of course, that's approximate, and we have often had kids born many days earlier than that, as well as many days later in some cases. Also, don't turn your back on a buck in rut. Not only that, people have found that if you retire your doe after she reaches about 10 years of age, it can increase her lifespan to 20 years or longer. They attain puberty after 4 to 5 months of their birth. . If you put a buck and doe together when the doe is in heat, sometimes the doe will run away rather than breeding. While some goats breed only during a certain season, some breeds of goats will breed constantly and breed year-round if you let them. Sometimes it may be because the doe is young, has never been bred before and is nervous about the process. This phase of the reproductive cycle may last between 12 to 36 hours. Nannies have gestation periods of 150 days. Domesticated goats are descended . You can always pay a vet to do this, but it can be expensive. This crayon is a big thick rectangular piece of crayon. Full size dairy type goat does can be bred at about 8 months of age if they have "made weight". That way, they'd at least have the horses for company. The younger the goat kid is banded, the less stressful and painful . Usually about 6-12 inches tall is ideal. A friend of mine retires hers at 10 yrs old. Another less-permanent method to keep goats from breeding is to use a goat "anti-mating apron", or "buck apron". There are three popular methods for wethering goats; 1) surgically, 2) burdizzo, or 3) banding: Surgically wethering goats is done by physically cutting and has the disadvantage of leaving an open wound. Females are called does or nannys, and immature goats are called kids. to be weaned and prepare for the journey ahead. These does come into season (into heat) approximately every 21 days from late summer until January or so. When using a buck to breed your does, always make sure the buck is healthy and exhibits excellent conformation to the breed standards. Or a doe can be sent to someone else's farm to be bred and returned later. solid foods. Diet, living conditions, and other factors also affect the lifespan of the average goat. They get very aggressive during rut and will do just about anything to reach a doe for breeding. Some goat breeds may produce one or two kids per pregnancy. I would be real careful breeding at that age. Many goat keepers have had a pregnant doe pass away during kidding because she was bred when too young and her body wasn't developed enough to carry kids to full term and deliver them. As your kid inches closer their weaning weight, you should be offering them a goat starter feed. One way is to look for a milky white liquid coming from her vagina after she's been around a buck. When choosing goats for breeding, your decisions will depend on what your purposes are for your herd. But for the doe, it involves a few seconds of mating, followed by many months of pregnancy, delivery, nursing and caring for her kids. 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. A ratio of 20 to 30 does per buck is typically recommended for best results. This is normal and will fade with time. This common question can be taken two ways. We keep several bucks to create some genetic diversity in our herd. Other breeds can breed year-round, such as Nigerian Dwarfs, Boers, Spanish goats, Fainting goats, and Pygmy goats. 4. Excessive Tail Wagging. The Complete Guide to Choosing Dairy Goat Stock, 18 Important Health Questions To Ask When You Buy Dairy Goats, 23 Reasons Why You Should Raise Goats in Your Homestead, Suckling and the Vital Importance of Colostrum for Goat Kids, Goat Milk Uses: 23 Genius Ideas to Use Goat Milk in Your Everyday Life, Basic Goat Care Management Responsibilities for New Goat Herd Owners. I dont want to take a chance. One option is to buy a livestock scale, but that could cost you several hundred dollars or more. From there, count backwards on the calendar 145 to 155 days (gestation period) to arrive at the approximate target breeding date. Once they reach 2-3 weeks of age, we start allowing the mother goats out to forage for a few hours each day, keeping the babies safe in their enclosure. A buck apron is a weighted apron that hangs around your buck's waist, held in place by a girth strap, and the apron gets in the way when he tries to breed a doe. A doe in heat will often exhibit "buckish" behavior like blubbering and tongue flapping. So, we simply use a regular bathroom scale. Beginning with the proper type of goats will save you lots of future headaches. but it would depend on how long and how well I know the doe and if she can handle it. Weaning age varies greatly in goat breeds. The gestation period, or length of pregnancy,of the doe ranges between 145 to 152 days, or 150 days (5months)on average, and under normal circumstances, the doe can have multiple births (twins, triplets and rarely, more). The average lifespan of pygmy goats is 10 - 15 years. Getting butted unexpectedly can really hurt and cause injuries to you if you're not prepared for it. This means they can breed year-round! Be sure not to reintroduce them to their mothers too soon after weaning. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Some involve more effort and expense than others. Or, if you have someone show you how the first time, you can easily draw the blood yourself to save some time and money. There are some better ways to test for pregnancy. We keep them in an area where they are separated from the does until we want them to breed. Plus whether they were used for milk production as well. The story illustrates one reason you should castrate bucks unless you know they will be sold for meat: they outgrow their cuteness and become undesirable as pets. Under-feeding can lower her chances of getting pregnant and having kids and canalso reduce milk production after having kids.The genetic makeup of the animal also determines when puberty occurs in the female. This will make your life a lot easier at kidding time, and will allow you to manage your goats for a healthier, happier herd. Bucks can be very determined when they want to breed, but a sturdy woven wire fence with electric wires on the top and sides will do the trick. Consider Mineral Supplements. The average is two. If she comes into heat, then you can place her with a buck to be bred. Bucks can breed, but they also take on some problematic behaviors that might not be a good fit for your setup. Colostrum provides baby goats with the immunity they will need to survive during the first months of their lives. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. Southwestern Idaho. If she's not prepared for that, it can be life-threatening. At the age of 3 and older, he can breed up to 40 does at one time, as long as his health and nutritional needsare met. oh good idea cause horses and goats are good companions definitely! For standard-sized goats, you simply multiply girth x girth x length; then you take that result and divide it by 300. There was one incident where someone found a 24 year old female goat, which is quite a good age . Nannies give birth, usually to a single offspring, after moving to an isolated ledge; post-partum, they lick the baby dry and ingest the placenta. This is a sign that will persist through a goat's entire estrus cycle and doesn't necessarily mean she's reached her standing heat phase. So, to the question of at what age should you stop breeding your female goats, we say: If your 10 year old doe is active and healthy, then you can continue to breed her. Just be patient. As you can imagine, with everything else going on, it can be difficult to track all things happening with your goats, especially as you get more goats. In goats, the estrous cycle occurs every 18 to 24 days, or 21 days on average. Day length has an effect on reproduction in the buck and the doe. Many commercial rabbit producers will breed does back 14 to 21 days after kindling. Neither method is wrong but the goal to transition them completely from milk to solid food is the same. The fist reason that I separate my bucks from my does is that a buckling can breed very early. An alternative, if you plan to do a lot of goat pregnancy tests, is to invest in the equipment and training so you can do it yourself. Producing kids will drain nutrition from a doe's body. It is good practice to spray the tail and scrotum cuts with anti-bacterial. Handling the goats during this time gives you the opportunity to completely examine them to ensure that they don't have any problems that may affect them during breeding season. The Goat Horn Guide: Should You Dehorn Your Goats? You may also notice her making lots of noise, and her tail "flagging" (rapidly waving back and forth). The groups of nutrients that are essential in goat nutrition are water, energy, protein, minerals and vitamins. Sometimes this can occur when they are raised in pens and don't get enough natural "browse" to eat. For does, it's been determined that a lack of proper nutrition can actually decrease a doe's chances of becoming pregnant. It's in PDF format, so you can easily save it and print it. Some are more reliable than others. We had to rush out to rescue him. Stay tuned for the first newsletter in the morning, straight to your inbox. This is completely normal due to the initial shock of all the changes they are facing. If you're still doubtful about breeding goats, you don't need to worry much about the specific goat breeding age. The major disadvantage of this method is that the cords are . I have an 8 yr old who just had triplets. Typical Goat External Parasites and How To Treat Them, 6 Things You Need to Understand About Versatile Miniature Goat Breeds, 31 Goat Breeds for Milk, Meat, & Fiber Youll Need on the Farm, 10 Common Mistakes First-Time Goat Owners Make & How to Avoid Them, How Train Your Goat to Milk on a Stand the Easy Way, How to Trim a Goats Hooves in 5 Simple Steps to Prevent Infection, How to Build a Goat Shed with a Loft Bed for Almost $0, 3 Efficient Methods for Castrating Goats Safely, 9 Tips to Help Improve and Get Better Tasting Goat Milk, 14 Benefits of Keeping Goats Around Your Homestead, Goat Fencing: Important Tips to Consider to Build the Perfect Fence, Essential Things You Need To Know About Feeding Goats. When a goat kid begins to reach the two-month mark, make sure that you are offering them a goat kid starter food. Whatever method you use to stop your goats from breeding, the main point is for you to stay in control of the process. Some Nubians will breed year-round. We had one buck that was so desperate he tried to scale over a really high electric fence, got stuck and almost broke his leg. plus older they may have trouble . As we were taking care of those three, we were totally surprised and caught off-guard when a fourth suddenly shot out. You can gradually reduce the milk access until they are completely off it. Not sure, this year we have a doe who turned 7 years old and she just had triplets and another doe who turned 6 years old and she currently has quads. By having your doe give birth less often, you can possibly produce more kids faster. Insert the needle under the skin into the tent, toward the body. First, when someone makes their own buck apron pattern, it probably hasn't been tested in different variations like a professionally made buck apron. The most humane practice is to stop a doe from being bred after she passes a certain age or physical condition. Inbreeding is mating between direct family members such as father-daughter, brother-sister, etc. When I say "crayon", it's not the kind that your kids use to color in coloring books. Male Nigerian dwarf goats are about two feet tall, on average. Breeding Age. Typically, a male goat can be castrated when he's fairly young (a "buckling") using elastrator pliers which apply an elastrator band (a small circular latex rubber ring) around the goat's testicles. If you choose to "retire" your doe at some point, you will need to keep her away from bucks for the rest of her life. ORIGIN: Dwarf goats evolved in West and Central Africa, mainly in coastal countries with humid, sub-humid, or savanna climates.Known collectively as West African Dwarf goats (WAD), local types vary widely in size, body proportions, and coat colors. These goats have what is often referred to as a "Roman nose" because their muscle is long and convex. To help make your life less stressful, we've created an easy-to-use "Goat Breeding/Kidding Record Form" which you can download for free. Access Goat Breeding Resources. You can definitely make money in goat breeding, because many different farms, both small and large, are doing it. This serves for supporting their maintenance and growth during weaning when milk in their diet is absent. Goat breeding is a subject you definitely need to understand if you're new to raising goats. As you learn about goat breeding, it's important to first learn some of the basic terms that goat keepers use. If you miss one heat, there will be another one coming around again shortly. The period from one heat cycle to the next is referred to as the estrous cycle. Coccidiosis is a dangerous and often fatal sickness in goats and needs to be caught early or prevented if possible. If does are bred twice a year, kids should be weaned at 2-3 months of age. However, many breeders who want to be extra-careful will wait until the doe is at least one year old. This squirts the supplements directly into her throat so she can't spit them back out. As you can see, when kidding time arrives, you may suddenly be handling multiple little kids all at once. A doe can often reach the safe goat breeding weight by around 8 months old or so. One tool that can help identify does that have been bred is a harness called a "breeding harness" or "marking harness". This is why, as we mentioned earlier, at a minimum a doe can safely kid about every 9 months, but the best practice followed by most reputable goat farmers concerned about their doe's health is to aim at having a doe give birth to kids no more often than about once per year. For really small kids that were just born, we sometimes hang them in a little harness hanging from a spring scale on the ceiling to get a more accurate weight. Fortunately, his eye was spared, but he had a long painful healing process. They do have shorter lactation periods than some of the dairy goat breeds and will only be in milk for 120-180 days before drying up. Other reasons you should castrate bucks: You need only one buck to breed many does: Your herd is in its best shape if you allow only the best of the best to become breeders. stressful task. A young female goat, referred to as a doe (plural does) or a doeling, will typically reach sexual maturity or puberty at 6 to 9 months of age. Knowing when to wean and understanding the weaning process are They can breed while in estrus for 12-36 hours. On our farm, we recently had one of our Nigerian Dwarf does deliver four kids at once. Next, let's look at how goat breeding works exactly. How do you stop the mean goat? Physical Characteristics. Most goats breed easily when they are put together. Also, you don't want the apron so short that it doesn't cover the goats genitals, or so long that it drags the ground. So, ironically, if you try to speed up your doe's birthing process, it actually lowers the rate of producing new kids. He will certainly watch out more closely around his goats. With the exception of the fryers, aged animals here become weed wackerskeeping the fence line clear is an important job. Many goat owners recommend weaning goat kids between 2 and 3 months old. Female goats, especially dairy goats, can produce milk for up to 8 months after giving birth. Lambs typically weigh around 9 pounds when they are born. These are the reasons some goat owners don't even own a buck, but will lease one when needed for breeding. Many people have reported a lot of success using a buck apron from House of Bacchus. Yearling kids may be bred in the first year at 7-10 months of age, depending on breed, if they have grown well to about 80 lb. Standard breed does will usually start coming into heat in August and should come into heat every 18 to 21 days. Oh, I didn't know that. A lack of Selenium and Vitamin E can also cause White Muscle Disease (Nutritional Muscular Dystrophy) in new kids. We just got our first 2 goats yesterday, both does that have been bred. Lift the skin (in the armpit of the goat) into a tent. Pellet feeds are not enough, goats need grass or hay to balance their diets and keep their digestive systems working properly. They can survive for a long time. They should weigh at least 80 pounds. After age 3, he can probably handle twice that many. However, it's fairly common for a Nigerian Dwarf doe to deliver 3 or 4 kids, and sometimes 5. By 1-2 years goats are fully matured. You can shorten the interval between kindling and breeding as you gain experience. If you do that, you will never know when they are being bred, so you will never know when kids are coming so you can be prepared. Or, you may have a young buckling you don't want to wean from his mother yet, but you also aren't sure if he might be old enough to breed already. JavaScript is disabled. Goat kids can fall prey to dehydration quickly if they run out of water.