Our goats have just started to come into heat yesterday and the day before, with the exception of a young doeling who came in even earlier and got bred as a result. I knew it was time to separate that buck!!! I did our first A.I. of the year last night. It's definitely time to finish looking at all the pedigrees and planning the breedings.
How about you, are the goats in yet where you live?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 27, 2001

Answers

What breed of goats do you have? My Nubians cycled all year in Texas; I have noticed only two of them have since we got the buck, about a month ago.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 27, 2001.

Mine keep pretending to be in heat. As soon as I put them in with the buck they become shy and demure and run away from him. I left one in with him all day as he is really gentle and was probably more likely to get butted hard by her! I guess I will know in a few weeks whether or not she was truly in heat.

Let us know how the AI turns out!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), September 27, 2001.

I'm in NH, and mine (Nubians) haven't started yet, with the possible exception of one doe who I thought was in heat about a month ago -- but the bucks, all this years kids, weren't interested! I think it was still too hot. I sure wish they'd start because I really, really want to get the three dry does bred right away, and then wait on the milkers until later so we don't have too much of a dearth of milk this winter.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 27, 2001.

OK, this is going to sound so stupid, but how do you tell when the doe is interested? I got a buck this summer and he seems ready to go but the does want to butt heads with him whenever they get together.

Please have patience with me, this is my first crack at this, the one doe has been bred before but not when I owned her. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), September 27, 2001.

Mary- I have Alpines. Ours usually stop cycling in the early spring and then it's pretty much safe to let the bucks run with them until a couple weeks ago. I have a friend on the Oregon coast though and her Alpines cycle all the time, she has kids being born all year round.

Doreen- Yep, some of mine are acting that way too. Just wait till they get jealous!!! I don't know how the A.I. will turn out. Last night it seemed she had just gone out of heat, no flagging, could care less about the bucks. So I AI'd her. This morning, the same thing, Magellan and Burgundy did not exist for all she cared. Then I brought in Reflex to see if anyone was in heat, and Delilah made a beeline for him, flagging and talking as though she'd missed him all along!! It's best to AI right after they're out, so I don't know if she'll take or not. It was not cheap semen so I hope she does, the kids would be really nice.

Kathleen- Maybe you should borrow or take your yearling does to another buck. At least get a buck rag, that will both help to bring your does into heat and inspire the young bucks as to their purpose in life! ;) Sometimes it takes young bucks a while to get with the program.

Kathy- Not a stupid question, every goatkeeper had to ask it at some point. If you have a buck it is easy to tell. They will stand by the buck pen and look at him longingly, flagging their tail a lot. Sometimes there is discharge sometimes not. Some make noise, mine are pretty quiet. When you let the buck out, h will do all kinds of outrageous things, including snorting explosively at the doe. If she runs in alarm, she's probably not in yet. If she runs a little, wags her tail, and comes back, she might be in and was just a little surprised. If she stands like a statue while he's acting this way, wagging her tail all the while and looking at him expectantly, she is in heat. The breeding does not take very long, maybe ten or fifteen seconds. If they are penned together, it is very easy for them to get bred and have kids five months later, when you never even saw anything happen!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 28, 2001.

Rebekah, I think I will see if I can get a buck rag -- some of my does have freshened before, but the bucks are all this years kids and I suspect don't quite know what's what yet! (Though I have seen some 'acting out' in the buck pen!)

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 28, 2001.

UPDATE!!!!!!!

2 down, 2 to go! The guy finally figured it out and the girls have finally become serious about it as well! The one I left in with him the other day is really interested in him tonight, so in the morning she can go and spend the day with him.

It's kind of weird, they all came into heat at once. Has anyone ever had them all freshen on the same day? That could be terrifically exhausting, huh?

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), October 01, 2001.

Doreen, yes they do tend to synchronize to some extent. Humans do that too. I like to breed the does as soon as they come into heat. The theory is that X (female)sperm are slower moving but have a lot of stamina, while the Y (male) sperm are speedy but don't hold out as long. The doe doesn't ovulate until after she goes out of heat, so if you breed early in the heat, the Y sperm are fewer in number by that time, having died out, while the long suffering X sperm have made it by then and are there waiting for the eggs. I tried this last year, bred the does once or twice as soon as they came into heat and not again. We got doe kids from nearly every doe, there were a lot more doe kids than bucks. When I let the buck run with the does and breed as often as he pleases, we got a lot more bucks.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), October 01, 2001.