When do goats breed

You can read about — and laugh at — my experience with renting males here. Stud services may be found on Craigslist, the bulletin board of your local feed store, through local livestock associations, or just by asking around. As soon as you see the telltale signs mentioned above, alert the other party that Operation Copulation is a go. If the time is right, it is love at first sight — with lots of nuzzling, bleating, urinating, strange farting noises from the male , and other signs of affection.

If the time is not right, the female will run from the him, fight him off, and not allow him to mount. But if all goes smoothly, he will mount her several times in a short period. One common trick is to take an old shirt and rub it all over the buck; then leave it in the pen with the shy doe. As with humans, some males are sterile and some females are infertile, which are generally genetic conditions that cannot be remedied. Sexual ambiguity, which experienced livestock owners will tell you is quite common, is also a challenge when it comes to breeding.

These animals may not be capable of having kids of their own, but can be integrated into the herd as loving aunties and uncles. Goats and sheep become sexually mature when they are a few months old, so make sure the males are castrated at this point, or separated. Females may be bred in their first rut season as long as they are big enough — if they are at least 70 percent of the mature weight for their breed when mated, they can give birth without complications.

So mark your calendar accordingly and be prepared for the birth within a week window before and after the calculated birth date — not a good time to plan a vacation. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The body should be wedge-shaped and sharp at the withers.

The depth of the ribs denotes capacity for consuming large amounts of food. The skin should be loose, pliable and free from dryness. Poor condition of flesh may be an indication of a good milker, while a poor milker may be in good flesh.

The neck should be thin and the head narrow. The eyes should be clear and bright. Does should be truly feminine in appearance and mild in temperament. It is difficult to handle, milk, feed and manage nervous goats. The milk potential cannot be estimated from the size of the udder. The udder of a good milch goat should be soft and pliable rather than meaty. The teats should be pointed slightly forward. The udder in a freshly milked goat should have a collapsed appearance.

The buck should have a strong, well-developed frame, and good conformation and breed characters. Good depth of ribs is essential.

Legs should be straight and well placed under the body. The buck should be healthy and free from external and internal parasites. He should be chosen from a good milking strain and should be the progeny of dams having good performance record.

Poor condition of flesh is not a serious drawback, since bucks usually worry a good deal, especially during the rutting season. Many herdsmen prefer the bucks to be hornless. When 18 to 24 months old he may be permitted to service 25 to 30 does, and when fully mature 50 to 60 does in a breeding season. The does are more or less continuous breeders. The signs of heat in the doe usually are uneasiness, tail shaking, pink and swollen genitalia, frequent urination, restlessness, bleating and a little mucous discharge for one to three days.

The period between heats varies from 18 to 21 days. It is better to inseminate the doe on the second day of the heat period.

The sperms survive in the female genital tract for 22 to 42 hours. The best approach to separate does from bucks is to develop a secure buck pasture. The buck pasture should be far enough from the breeding doe herd, otherwise bucks will attempt to go through fences to breed does in estrus. In goats, estrus can be induced with the strategic exposure of anestrus does to intact males.

This response is dependent on the depth of seasonal anestrus and associated with a first ovulation in two to three days after the introduction of the buck. The first ovulation is usually silent and of low fertility. The second ovulation five days later is accompanied by a fertile estrus. The response to the male effect is influenced by the sexual aggressiveness of the buck, the intensity of the stimulation and the body condition of the does.

Immediate contact results in a greater response than fence-line contact or intermittent contact. The pheromones responsible to induce estrus are present in buck hair, but not in urine, and are not associated with buck odor during the breeding season. During the breeding season, goats come into heat or estrus approximately every 18 to 22 days. A transitional period occurs at the beginning and end of the breeding season during which short heat cycles without ovulation have been documented.

Short estrous cycles of less than 12 days and very often of 5 to 7 days may occur, especially in young does. Mature does that have shortened estrous cycles in the middle of the breeding season should be considered abnormal.

For successful breeding, does and bucks should be joined for 40 to 45 days, which is the length of time necessary for does to complete two estrous cycles. A ratio of 20 to 30 does per buck is recommended for best breeding results.

Stress can interfere with the corpus luteum, leading to miscarriage of the pregnancy; common doe stressors include being harassed by dogs, proximity to strange animals or poor nutrition. During the final month of pregnancy, the doe should receive increased crude protein and decreased calcium to prevent milk fever following the birth.

Female goats produce colostrum, which contains antibodies, vitamins and minerals that are important to kid nutrition. The antibodies in colostrum protect the kids from infection -- including infection that can be created from its mother's dirty teats.

Kids born in late winter and early spring will be strongest due to prime grazing conditions. The breeding cycle begins again as kids begin to mount other kids at just 7 days old -- and male and female goats should be separated beginning around 3 months old.