At What Age Are Bucks Able to Breed?

thailand

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My kids, Jabari (M) and Aaliyah (F) are now 5 months old and still living together with their mum, Khaleesi (although they are penned separately from her at night).

My question is: how soon should I be worried about Jabari trying to mate with his mother and sister? He is definitely head butting with Khaleesi. And, Khaleesi has been acting like a spring lamb in response! She's been jumping and cavorting like I've never seen her do before. Does this mean she's ready to breed again?

Jabari has been 'riding' the backs of the girls for the longest time, but I believe it's just playing. I have not yet seen him make a serious attempt at anything.

I know it's a ticking time bomb....but here's my problem. We built a great goat house for our goats a few months back, before the kids were born. My husband is now very reluctant to spend money building anything extra for our little buck. :duc I know that is exactly what is needed, but I need some ideas friends on possible alternatives to building a separate goat house/penned area. :hu Thanks
 

babsbag

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He is old enough and quite capable. If your native goats are seasonal breeders as the daylight hours get shorter the does will start to cycle and he will breed them both. In USA they will start to come into heat around the end of Aug. and do so every 18 days until they are bred or until the seasons change...usually in March.

Most large sized (also called Swiss Breeds) dairy goats are seasonal. But no idea about your native goats.
 

Latestarter

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You don't need anything as fancy as your existing goat house, just a simple box style in a partitioned area away from and separate from the girls,with a shelf for him to climb up on to get off the ground when it's wet will suffice. Section your existing pen so he's kept separated from the girls, but can still see them. When they come into heat, he WILL try to get to them, and they may try to get to him. He may also become aggressive during his rut, and of course fragrant.

Most male goats become "functional" anytime after 8 weeks of age. By 5 months, there's little doubt that he could "get the job done". Mounting behaviors are not "playing"... they are practicing, and practice makes perfect as they say. I would have been worried about the potential outcome months ago :hide He's already been "trying". Where you're at in the world (no real seasons) I have no idea when the goats cycle? :hu However, many times the practicing and trying will bring the doe into heat. I'd say 50:50% chance they've already been bred. :(
 

babsbag

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I would have been worried about the potential outcome months ago

But again it depends on the does and when they are ready to breed. Any meat goat, ND, or "some" Nubians can cycle year round. (there may be others) The Togg, Alpine, LaMancha, and Saanens wait until the daylight hours start getting short. I leave all of mine together until August. And @Latestarter , if you can get a doe to come into season by having an anxious buck in with her then please come work that magic for me. I would love to have kids being born year round once the dairy is done. ;)

That being said I have no idea what the daylight/nightime hours are in Thailand or if Khaleesi, being half native goat, is a seasonal breeder. I would wether him ASAP.

Or you going to get a buck for your does?
 

thailand

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Thanks everyone for your quick replies. I was wanting to keep him entire so that he could be bred back to his mother. Goats are not very common at all in Thailand. Well....they are in the south, but up here in the hills of the north they are not, and so finding someone with a buck I could 'borrow' for breeding would be like finding a needle in a haystack! I was hoping however that I might be able to find that 'needle' for Aaliyah to breed her (but later when she's older).

Our shortest day here would be in December (our winter time).

This is my first experience of breeding for any goats so I don't have a clue at this stage if Khaleesi is a seasonal breeder or not.

Thanks Latestarter, I guess I'll just have to find a way to get a separate little shed made up for him. It really is the only way to make this work. I'm hoping that with the next round of kids we'll get another buckling, and this time I'll wether him and keep him as a companion for Jabari.

Worst case scenario and both girls are already bred by him....it should be fine for Khaleesi, but what about Aaliyah (5 months old)? I understand this would be a very bad situation, but supposing that she could cope physically, genetically what are the chances of a problem?
 

TAH

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It depands on how much your 5 month old goats weighs?
 

thailand

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Oh ok. Well, I'll see about figuring that out today and get back to you. :)
 
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