Thinking of breeding my doe!

[dianneS]

I'm thinking of breeding one of my does so that I can try my hand at milking next year!

I have a pygmy doe (I know pygmies aren't really dairy goats, but its just for personal use) that I think would make a good candidate for breeding. She's never been a mom before and she's about two years old. She would be my best candidate for milking as well. She's the easiest to handle.

I checked with a friend whom I've done business with before and she has great looking myotonic bucks, so I would have half pygmy, half fainter babies. Her goats are all very healthy, very well cared for and good breeding stock. I'm probably going to just keep the babies anyway. I have room for more goats!

I was asked if I can tell when my doe is in heat. Sometimes its pretty obvious, sometimes I'm not sure? She's been letting everyone mount her lately. How can I be sure she's ready? How long are they in heat? She seems to be in heat forever when it does hit her!

Any advice on first time breeding would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[freemotion]

First order of business....get that doe on the milking stand and start handling her udder YESTERDAY. Or there will be tears. Many tears. Ask me how I know. Pass the tissue.

Mounting is a dominance thing, too, so if she is the mellow little sweetie some or all of the mounting may be pecking order stuff or the other does in heat. Is she flagging her tail? Do you have a buck? If so, does she moon over him, gazing longingly in his direction, walking away from the group to stand and wave at him (her back end)?

If you don't have a buck, get a buck rag (rub a rag on the stinky buck and keep it in a jar or ziploc) and let her sniff it a couple times a day and watch her response. Heats are 18-21 days apart. They can last for a few hours to 2-3 days.

I'd be hesitant to breed a first-timer to a buck who is significantly bigger than the doe. Is he little?

 

[dianneS]

The buck I think we're going to choose is small. He may be a mini fainter or half mini.

This doe was flirting with the wethers a while ago, but I haven't noticed it lately. We don't have a buck. No one typically mounts anyone in our herd unless someone is in heat. Mounting is not a common behavior for my goats. This doe is usually sort of stand-offish with all of the other goats except for her sister. Recently she's been hanging around the boys a lot and letting them mount her.

Last year it was easy to tell when she was in heat, this year not so easy. I may have missed it. They've been spending a lot more time in the barn recently since we just gave them a big round bale of hay to keep them busy, so I haven't been able to observe them as much

I'm not in any rush, and was thinking of maybe a January breeding so I could start watching her for signs of when she's in heat now. I can also get started with acclimating her to the milking process!

I'll try the buck rag thing too, that sounds like a good idea! I'll be going to meet the bucks in person soon, I can take a rag along with me then!