A couple of random breeding questions.

[Newgoatmom]

Hello, everyone. I am new here and new to goats. I have a couple of questions that I hope aren't TOO stupid.

First, I just recently got my two girls from different places. Anabelle is about 5 months old and Boer/Spanish, Eliza is about 7 months old and Nubian/Nigerian dwarf. I know for a fact that Eliza was in a mixed pen with everything from tiny babies up to intact, adult males. I am assuming Anabelle was, too, but I am not sure. It never occurred to me to worry that they might have been accidentally bred this young but everything I have read indicated it's definitely a possibility. How worried should I be since they are both so young? I have my fingers crossed tight that they aren't but these are my babies and I worry.

Next, I plan on milking them, even Anabelle, if possible. I wad wondering if it would be worth it to try and breed Anabelle to a milk goat and if I got a doelings keep her for better milk production than her meat goat momma and not worry about trying to breed Anabelle in the future. Would (or, I suppose, could) it makes a significant difference in milk production and ease of milking?

Thanks in advance! Sorry this ended up so long. .I tend to be too wordy.

 

[Goatgirl47]

Some doelings have been known to get bred at 2-3 months old. It is a possibility that Eliza is bred. How long ago did you buy her? You can have an Ultrasound done on her (and Anabelle too) when she's at least thirty days bred. Also, first fresheners usually start developing an udder 1 to 1 1/2 months before they kid. So look out for udder development if you don't have an Ultrasound done on them.
If you do Ultrasound them and one or both of them are in fact pregnant, put together a kidding kit just in case something goes wrong with the birth(s). Here is a link to a thread I started when I got my new Alpine doe last year. Goat Whisperer recommended what I should put in my kidding kit: https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/my-new-alpine-doe.32485/

You can and should milk Anabelle as well as Eliza when she freshens! I used to have some Myotonic (Fainting) goats. They were meat goats, and I bred them to a Mini-Lamancha (Lamancha/Nigerian Dwarf) with getting great milk goats from them in mind and, although I didn't end up keeping the kids (It's a long story but I wanted to keep a couple of them but two of them had extra teats, and the other two, by the time I realized that I should keep them - since the other two doelings born after them had extra teats - were already sold). I did milk both of those Myotonic does and they gave 2-3 cups of milk, which is pretty decent, considering my purebred Mini-Lamancha doe, Kendall, only gave me two cups of milk after a long hard battle of trying to milk her.

 

[Goatgirl47]

And BTW, neither of those questions are stupid! Anyone who has goats has questions.

 

[Newgoatmom]

Goatgirl, thank you very much for the link to that thread and the information. I have had Eliza for about 3 weeks and Anabelle a bit longer. I may try the ultrasound in a couple of weeks since I am going to worry until I know something for sure. I have heard that the milk from meat goats is really high quality even if it is harder to get and less of it. I have no idea how to tell if their udders will be good or not, but Eliza definitely has much larger teats than Anabelle already so I can tell she will be much easier to milk! I saw some silky Myotonic goats the other day and it was all I could do to control myself! Nobody warns you that goats are addictive!

 

[Goatgirl47]

I agree, goats are very addictive! We started out with two goats (the two Myotonics) in the fall of 2014, and we only got them because we wanted our new LGD to have a few companions. Last spring we had as many as 13 goats at one point, but now I am down to 8, but I might be getting a blue eyed Mini-Lamancha buckling soon....
I also have a Mini-Nubian (Nubian/Nigerian Dwarf). She is a bottle baby and will be two weeks old tomorrow. I love Mini-Nubians.

And a tip - next time you think of getting another doe/doeling, ask the owner for a picture of their dams' udder before getting them, it will give you a good idea of what their udder will look like in the future, and you want to make sure the dam of the doeling has a good udder in the first place anyway, because she could pass it on to her doelings.

 

[Newgoatmom]

Oh dear! I am afraid my goat supply is going to increase, as well. I haven't had these long and already want more so that's a really bad sign! I bet your bottle baby is such a doll. I know when my girls have babies I am going to get way too attached way too easy! Thankfully I am determined not to keep any males so that should help. ..until I decide wethers are a good idea!

Thank you! That's a great tip on the udders.

 

[Latestarter]

If you eventually get a buck to breed your girls, you're probably going to want to keep him separated from them except when you specifically want him to do his job.

"Female goats (called does) go into heat every 21 days and lasts about 1-3 days. Some breeds, like Nigerians, Boers, Spanish & Fainting, Pygmies and (sometimes) Nubians can breed year round. Most other dairy breeds are seasonal breeders, which means they will only go into heat every 21 days in the Fall from about August to January."
https://www.weedemandreap.com/goat-breeding-101/
https://www.weedemandreap.com/goat-breeding-101/
If you keep the buck with the does, you'll never be sure when (or if) the breeding happens and therefore won't know when (or if) the kids are due. Obviously this can cause undue anxiety for you with waiting and dealing with doe code. If you keep him separated, he'll need company to keep him sane, and that's where the wether will come in. Since the buck won't be able to get to the does, he'll often (try to) take out his amorous moves on the wether, so you want them to be about the same size... From what I've heard, little wethers could get abused pretty bad by larger bucks.

 

[OneFineAcre]

If you are interested in milk, then yes it would be best to get a dairy buck.