I was going to say the same thing
@Green Acres Farm
If they were seasonal breeders it would be better, but still not the best practice
The apron may work for some, but like I said I would never trust it. And they can still get caught in it. Maybe not strangle but anything around the body of a goat IMO can cause issues. It seems like one of those things where it's fine intil it's not. But that is just MHO
While the does are pregnant they release different hormones. Those hormones can cause the buck to think the doe is in heat and- sometimes causing the buck to chase the already pregnant doe- and causing her to abort. This actually happened to a member on this forum years ago…
You are also more likely to deal with behavioral problems. Nigies cycle every three weeks. If you are running the buck in with them full time but are using the apron you are going to have a very frustrated buck. When they are frustrated they cause problems (like being aggressive towards humans, goats). If they are always dealing with this stress they will not keep adequate body condition. We are all speaking out of experience here, we have these animals and have been breeding and raising them for years. Everyone here is trying to look out for you and your animals- no one wants to see anything bad happen and it seems like everyone is trying to warn you. You can take it or leave it but hopefully you are educated on the matter
Like OFA said- there are many many ND breeders here in NC. We do a lot of teaching on our farm. Last year our extension agency asked us to teach a class involving dairy goats in Greensboro. That same year they asked if they could bring about 20 youth learning about livestock to do a farm tour- not something we generally do but in this case we allowed it. We haven't done much with public classes this year (not enough time) so most everything is private classes.
We also have taught private classes on disbudding & tattooing, drawing blood, McMasters fecal analysis, proper hoof trimming, to name a few.
Working with your local extension agents might be beneficial.
.) And we may even look into getting a pygmy doe, Just because, contrary to what most people say, They can milk. Some just have problems with cramps because of the small udders. I have very small hands though. Some pygmies have been recorded to produce 2 gallons of milk per day at the peek of their freshening. That seems like something worth looking further into, but i'm sure i can find some person who writes articles on it>>>>I really appreciate you guys!!!
