Fainting goat breeding question

[lalabugs]

My sister has an American Fainting doe. Trying to figure out what is the correct age or weight or both she should be before breeding?
She was born December 2016.
She's not in a hurry to breed her. Just wants to know when she could breed her.

I googled this, trying to find any information out for her. I've seen weight saying from 60 to 100+ lbs that they should mature to. Read minimum of a year, but waiting for 12-18 months old before breeding.

Does anyone have fainting goats that could shed some light on this?

 

[samssimonsays]

The minimum weight will depend on how large her parents are in my mind..... I know people near me who raise them and some range is size drastically. I would wait so she freshens as a 2 year old personally but I raise full size goats.

 

[lalabugs]

Thank you. The doe is a mini silky fainting goat. Waiting until she's 2 is no problem. She's just wanting to make sure that she is doing what is best. Thank you again.

 

[samssimonsays]

After talking with my friend who raises them locally, she said If she does not reach a certain weight that is needed for her breed she should not be bred, do you know how big the parents were? But she also mentioned If she is small and bred to a small buck who is same size (fully mature, not baby) or smaller than her it "should" be ok. She does not guarantee that it would be ok but she said with the wide range of sizes in the breed this is how she and those she knows will breed.

 

[lalabugs]

Did your friend happen to say what the weight should be? I do not know the size of the parents. I'll ask my sister. The does current weight is 30 lbs.

 

[samssimonsays]

She said there was a wide variety of sizes depending on genetics. If she reaches the size or larger than her parents, she is good to go. If she is smaller than them, do not breed her. But here is a blurb that I found that "might" help you that she sent me.

SIZE/GROWTH RATE: There is no minimum or maximum height set. Original herds ranged from 17”-25” and weighed between 60-175 pounds. AFGO believes that most goats today will still come very close to this original size. We do understand that over time the breed has slightly grown due to better management and nutrition. Ideally the bucks should be no taller than 28” and the does not taller than 26”. Remember they are a small to medium size goat! This is one thing that has separated the Fainting Goats from the Myotonic Goats. Historically Fainting goats are known to be slower growing than your other meat goats. This is not the best attribute for a good commercial goat. That is why the push is on to breed them to become a bigger goat that matures faster. This will and has changed and divided the breed. You must keep in mind goats either bigger or smaller than the original size may lack some of the important traits and characteristics that breeders are encourage to breed for. AFGO’s goal is to preserve the slow growing goat that is small to medium in size like the original goats were.

MINIATURE GOATS: AFGO offers a specialized miniature registry for our miniature goats. We refer to this as a registry within a registry. Here we offer a mini certificate for does remaining 22” and under at the age of 3 and for bucks remaining 23.75” and under at the age of 3. AFGO also grants a temporary mini certificate to the offspring of two certified miniature goats that are registered with AFGO. At the age of 3 years old this temporary certificate will become permanent if the goat is of the correct height. If at any time prior to the age of three a goat exceeds the maximum height it will no longer be considered a temporary mini. Any Miniature goats that are shown will be measured to verify they are a mini at the judges’ request. Remember that miniatures are just a smaller version of the bigger ones. The miniature fainting goats will be required to match the breed standard! They too must be historically correct.