Breeding a Mini Lamancha doe to a Lamancha buck

Ridgetop

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1. After they are bred, you can keep them together BUT if you are milking and drinking the milk, the milk will take on the taste of the buck odor. If the does recycle (come back in season after being bred the first time), Romeo will rebreed the does without you realizing that they recycled and rebred. This means you will not have a definite kidding date for the does.
2. Romeo will be fine alone in a pasture next to the does. When they are cycling he will call for them and they will call to him. They can see each other and talk through the fence so he will be happy. If you want to put them together when rutting season is over, he will live comfortably with the does and kids. The does will protect their kids, and he won't be big enough to do any damage this year. Just watch them and if he gets aggressive with the kids or does as he gets older, move him back to his own pen.
3. At 3 months old his rutting smell will hardly be noticeable. Every year the smell will get worse (as he gets older). By 3 or 4 years, in his prime, he will be the smelliest. The smell can be controlled after rutting by bathing him after rutting season ends and clipping the hair that he pees on. That is usually the back of his forelegs, his belly, and his beard.
You didn't ask, but at 3 months he might not be sexually mature to breed. By 5 months he should be mature but might not be able to breed more than 1 doe every few days. He should certainly be able to produce kids by November. I would pen him next to the girls and watch him interact through the fence. When he starts getting excited about them, and they will be seducing him too LOL, then you can try putting them together on lead ropes. That way, you can control their interaction if the doe isn't ready and butts him, etc.
 

Ridgetop

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By the way, some people used to try to control the odor by burning the scent glands out with a disbudding iron. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND A TERRIBLE THING TO DO TO THE BUCK! I don't think it is practiced much any more, thank goodness. If anyone suggests it to you ignore them! The buck needs his scent glands to be attractive to the does. That buck smell is like the most expensive cologne to does. It makes their cycles stronger and them more receptive to breeding.
 

Goatgirl47

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I read somewhere that when rutting season is over and if you put the buck in with the does, then sometimes the bucks presence can stimulate the does and so they come into heat, is this true?

The breeder said that Romeo won't be able to breed until he is about five months, maybe a little older, but I am a little glad because Kendall is still a little too young to breed.

How soon do you breed your does back after they kid?
 

Ridgetop

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Dairy does are seasonal breeders so they only breed once a year. The breeding season is August until January (this is the longest). Nigerian Dwarfs may have different seasons - I am not familiar with that breed. I would still only breed her once a year. I know Pygmy goats will sometimes breed all year. If your myotonic does (another breed I am not familiar with) and Nigerians breed all year, I would definitely NOT let him run with the girls. Your does are young and you don't want to wear them out by kidding too often or too soon.
Any Nigerian or myotonic breeders - what is the breeding season for your breeds? Are they seasonal or all year breeders?
 

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If nigis breed all year, I would definitely keep Romeo separate from the does! With cross breds you never know which side they will favor in which area, right? Although whether or not the does come into heat is another matter. But if mini Manchas are part Nigerian or Pygmy, the does might cycle all year too. Is that right? I let my Dorset sheep breed all year round and they will breed back when the nursing lambs are 2 months old, but would you want to do it with the goats? I only had standard dairy animals so minis are new to me.
 

Goatgirl47

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Here is a website that says a little bit about Fainting goats http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/tennfaint. It said Fainting goats have an extended breeding season (it didn't say exactly how long) and that they sometimes have kids every 6 months. :ep I won't do that, because than they only get 1 month of rest before they are bred again. @Ridgetop do you think I should breed Magnolia and Penelope once a year too? Thank you so much!
 

Ridgetop

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What is your goal with your herd? With dairy animals you breed and milk for 10 months after the goats kid in order to get the milk to use or sell. With meat animals you breed for babies that you will raise to eat or sell for others to eat. The thing you need to ask yourself is: What is your goal with breeding goats? What are you going to do with the goat kids?
Are you breeding to get the does in milk so you can have milk for your household? If this is your goal, you only breed once a year. Goats will milk for 10 months before you dry them up so they can have 2 months rest before kidding and milking again. With a dairy, kids are only important to make milk. To a dairy farmer doe kids are worth money, buck kids are not, and milk is the important product. You only breed as often as you need to produce the largest volume of milk.
Are you breeding the kids for meat or sale? If you are breeding for meat that is good because meat buyers consume and buy more kids. Pet buyers do not usually come back as repeat buyers. Now you have a steady market for the kids you produce. The number of kids you produce is important because each kid is worth money as a product for sale. When selling meat, buck kids (that you turn into wethers by castrating them) become more valuable. They are the end product and the more you produce, the more money the rancher (you) earns.
If you are breeding kids for fun and to sell for pets, things change again. There are only so many pet buyers. They do not consume the goats which live for many years. They may want another goat as a buddy for the first, but if they are keeping their goats as pets, you can sell wethers or does and they will each have a similar value. In this case, since you are breeding your goats for fun, and selling the babies for pets, or keeping them as pets, you will only want to breed your goats once a year. There is no need to breed any more often, and it will be easier on your does not to be continually pregnant or nursing kids. In fact, since your goats are not year round breeders, you could breed each one to kid at a different time of year. That way you have the fun of kids, and are able to sell the kids for pets if you want, all year round. If you breed all 3 does at one time, you have 6 kids (or more) to feed, take care of, muck out, and find homes for all at once. With seasonal breeders, this all at once kidding season is normal, but for you if your goats are year round breeders, you can stagger the breedings and enjoy kids all year.
I hope this helps you decide how often and when to breed your goats. Since the fainting goats are older, I would breed them first - as soon as your buck is mature. The mini Mancha can be bred when she is older and larger. There is no rush, although I hear that does past 3 that have never been bred can sometimes have a hard time settling when finally bred.
If you do not have a ready market to sell your goat kids, I would not breed more than once a year. If they will breed all year, you could breed one doe every 3 months and enjoy the kidding process, and the kids. Once they are born the feed costs will multiply rapidly until you sell the kids. Try to get them sold by 3 months when they can be weaned, You will need to keep accurate breeding records, vaccinate the kids with 2 doses of CDT 1 month apart, disbud ass the kids, and castrate any buck kids. Raising kids is a lot of fun and very educational - the part your parents will appreciate! LOL Have fun with your girls and Romeo. Did you pick him up yet?
 

Goatgirl47

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We originally got our two fainting goats because we were getting a LGD for our chickens, and she would settle in better if she had some goats as her friends. The person we got Ayla (our LGD) from had a herd of fainting goats (about 40 I think and so Ayla was used to them) and so we bought two. When we got Magnolia and Penelope, they were three months old and Me and my younger brother fell in love with them and later bought them ourselves. We weren't planning on breeding them, let alone getting another goat, but we want to make money on selling the kids, and it would be fun (and as you said educational) to raise them. Because Magnolia and Penelope are meat goats we would probably castrate and sell all the bucklings, or eat them ourselves. The doelings we would also sell, even though I would love to keep a few! :p

We are picking up Romeo until tomorrow, I can't wait! :weee The reason we are getting a Mini Lamancha buck is because I LOVE Lamancha's (their personality and their ears), and I would love it if Magnolia and Penelope's babies have little ears!

What kind of ears do your Lamancha's have, elf or gopher?
 
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Goatgirl47

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@Ridgetop actually we aren't getting Romeo tomorrow. The dairy we are getting him from is five and a half hours away from us. Originally one of our friends was going to pick him up and bring him almost half of the way here, but now she is sick and we can't drive all the way to get him tomorrow because we are getting two new cows and a calf dropped off.
 

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