How long from the time a doe has a kid until she gets re-bred?

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

If you have dairy goats and she has a kid, how long do you have to wait before re breeding her again? I would assume after she stops producing milk? If so, how long is that usually? And how long of a break do people usually give their does?
Thanks in advance.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

Well .. You can let the doe dry out .. ( all the milk dries out ) It takes about a month or two I think ... Then you can breed her when she comes back into heat ...
If you plan to milk her she will produce milk for about a year then she needs a break and then you breed her again .... My plan for my does will be to let kisses have her kids then milk her ... Before she runs dry I will breed Betty so when kisses runs dry milk will come from betty .... See ?? The process will repeat itself over and over again .....

 

[ksalvagno]

Most people only breed once a year. You can breed them 3 times in 2 years but many people feel that is pushing it and you do wear out the females sooner. You can keep milking them up to 2 months prior to their next delivery. You want them dried off for the 2 months to make sure they make good colostrum for the new kids.

If you don't want to breed every year, you can see if the female will have a longer lactation. I have a female that I can breed every other year and I may even try going 3 years with her. She is just such a heavy milker that kidding every year isn't necessary.

 

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Most people only breed once a year. You can breed them 3 times in 2 years but many people feel that is pushing it and you do wear out the females sooner. You can keep milking them up to 2 months prior to their next delivery. You want them dried off for the 2 months to make sure they make good colostrum for the new kids.

If you don't want to breed every year, you can see if the female will have a longer lactation. I have a female that I can breed every other year and I may even try going 3 years with her. She is just such a heavy milker that kidding every year isn't necessary.

What breed is your heavy milker? And when you say "dry off" does that mean not to milk her anymore?
Thank you both for your input.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

Most people only breed once a year. You can breed them 3 times in 2 years but many people feel that is pushing it and you do wear out the females sooner. You can keep milking them up to 2 months prior to their next delivery. You want them dried off for the 2 months to make sure they make good colostrum for the new kids.

If you don't want to breed every year, you can see if the female will have a longer lactation. I have a female that I can breed every other year and I may even try going 3 years with her. She is just such a heavy milker that kidding every year isn't necessary.

What breed is your heavy milker? And when you say "dry off" does that mean not to milk her anymore?
Thank you both for your input.

Yes dry off means that .. When you stop milking she stops producing ...

 

[DKRabbitry]

I have lamanchas and they are seasonal breeders. Even when i have a buck around, they do not come into heat untill the fall, so I can only breed them once a year. All of mine are due in April. I choose to milk them up until 2 months before kidding (So I will be milking untill Feb) then let them dry up. I also have a doe that I have milked through. She kidded in 2010 and I milked her all through this year. I will be freshening her this year (hoping for a daughter) then next year I will leaver her open and milk her through again. She isn't a "heavy" milker by any means, she just has a long and level lactation. I still get 5 cups from her/day right now and I was getting a little over a half gallon at her peak this past summer. I would actually like to try breeding every other year with my whole herd. Long lactations is something I will be selecting for so I don't have to freshen them every year. From what I have read and just common sense makes me think that the does' bodies will hold up better without having the stress of birthing every year.

 

[ksalvagno]

Most people only breed once a year. You can breed them 3 times in 2 years but many people feel that is pushing it and you do wear out the females sooner. You can keep milking them up to 2 months prior to their next delivery. You want them dried off for the 2 months to make sure they make good colostrum for the new kids.

If you don't want to breed every year, you can see if the female will have a longer lactation. I have a female that I can breed every other year and I may even try going 3 years with her. She is just such a heavy milker that kidding every year isn't necessary.

What breed is your heavy milker? And when you say "dry off" does that mean not to milk her anymore?
Thank you both for your input.

My heavy milker is an Alpine/Nubian mix. I was getting 3/4 of a gallon per day with her. As far as drying up, you can do a search here or just do a search on the internet. Some people just quit milking cold turkey and some do a drying off process. If you do the drying off process, then you would want to start it prior to the 2 months.

 

[lasergrl]

Wouldn't it be better for the breed to select for does that do hold up well to more frequent kidding as opposed to longer lactations? Or at least both. If they aren't doing well kidding once a year then something isn't right. Some are still producing into the teens without any issue.

 

[ksalvagno]

She can kid just fine every year if that was what I wanted. I have her for milk. So that is more important to me. I have my Nigerians to give birth every year. Everyone has to decide what they have the goats for and then go forward with their plans.