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Barnyard Buddies:  goat breeding question  |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 14 2012 : 3:21:56 PM
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I had always been under the impression that dairy goats had a heat cycle from about August-January, depending on the goat. A couple weeks ago a friend (who has goats) said you can extend a goat's heat cycle (meaning more months) by increasing their available light (much like with a chicken laying eggs in the winter). I hadn't heard anything like that before. Have you?
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.amydingmann.com |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2012 : 3:36:09 PM
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I don't know how the breeding cycle works. Why some goats kid in summer and some in fall. But some do. I do controlled breeding so only breed in fall for early spring kids. I hope someone else can help you with this. Have you bred your doe yet? Or is she old enough?
Kris
Happiness is simple.
www.kris-outbackfarm.blogspot.com |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2012 : 3:42:28 PM
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She's old enough and big enough but the lady whose buck we were going to use says he hasn't "proven himself" yet and didn't want us to miss on on Luna being bred. So I have one more shot this year I think with a different buck...but then this other gal had told me that I could get yet another month out of Luna if I just left the light on for her longer. I don't see ANYTHING about that ANYWHERE so I was just wondering if anyone else had. Thanks for your answer, Kris! :)
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.amydingmann.com |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2012 : 5:27:44 PM
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I put the does in with the bucks the 1st of Sept. this year. I know for sure that Penelope is bred, but not so sure about the others. And the lamancha buck is in Tn. for awhile breeding some other does. I do still have the Boer buck, but don't want to breed the Lamanchas with him.
Anyway, I wanted to say that last Jan,-Feb. John Henry was at another farm with a bunch of does and none of them got pregnant. And that I had him with ALL my does after that til about July. Nothing ever happened. And his daughter was in there too. A good friend of mine who was raised on a dairy goat farm most of her life and still has dairy goats, told me that a buck will not breed a doe in spring and summer. It's too hot. And in later winter, it's too cold. And I do believe she's right. I think there is just that little 4 month window where a doe will become pregnant and the rest of the time, it's safe to keep bucks and does together. Anyway, it worked for me.
And a buck has to "prove" himself somehow, and sometime, right? Why not with your doe? That's strange.
Kris
Happiness is simple.
www.kris-outbackfarm.blogspot.com |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2012 : 5:32:03 PM
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Well the gal I was going to "borrow" the Lamancha buck from had him already with several other does the past few months and she said he hadn't done ANYTHING. Didn't show interest, nothing. So she didn't want me to have Luna there for a whole month and waste the chance for her to get bred if he already hadn't done anything with all the other does she'd put in with him. I think that's what her thinking was. :) Thanks for the info on the bucks not breeding when it is too cold, I had read that also and was wondering about that. I have a friend here who always does her does in January...this is MN and its COLD in Jan so I'm not sure what's up with that....
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.amydingmann.com |
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crittergranny
True Blue Farmgirl
1096 Posts
Laura
Lindrith
NM
USA
1096 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2012 : 8:09:29 PM
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Goats come into season in the fall when the light is decreasing. I don't see how increasing the light would make them come in season. I mean I don't know much about it except that I raised goats for 20 + years and I just go by what I see. They always seemed to me that the temperature decrease is what plays a factor in it. Some of my goats would sometimes breed in other times of the year but it was usually because there wasnt a buck available in the preceding fall. And sometimes they would breed in the spring but it didnt take. Most of them would start to dry up in the winter whether they were milked or not. Ive lived in TX and the goats would come into a strong heat in November when the weather would get cool, and here in NM at 8000 ft they would start to come in heat in August when the weather starts to cool off here. That is why I think the temps has something to do with it, and Ive been told that by big time breeders too. I have heard that horses cycle can be altered by exposing them to light, but then they come into stronger heats in the spring not fall like goats. Just my take on it, not that I really know.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
www.nmbarrelhorses.com |
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kysheeplady
True Blue Farmgirl
1291 Posts
Teri
KY
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - Dec 15 2012 : 04:28:13 AM
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Laura,
yes, sheep are the same way, as soon as the weather turns cool it signals the rams to start. And with sheep, the ram brings the ewe into her heat cycle. No ram, no heat.
I try to seperate the rams before cooler wearther sets in. Although this year it snuck up on me.
I keep rams and ewes together all year long until cooler temps. then I move them.
Teri
"There are black sheep in every flock"
White Sheep Farm
www.whitesheepfarm.com |
Edited by - kysheeplady on Dec 16 2012 04:05:54 AM |
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wincrestnubians
True Blue Farmgirl
76 Posts
Jennifer
Ohio
USA
76 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2012 : 4:20:45 PM
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Some of the smaller breeds like NDs or pigmies cycle all year long, but th elarge breed milkers usually will not. They cycle by the shortening of the days and the cooling of the temps. Other then chickens, horses are the only other animal to cause to cycle early in the year by using lights to lenghten the day light hours and trick the body into cycling earlier then normal. Been doing it for years. :)
Only those with an open mind can learn from ones own mistakes. |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2012 : 5:07:48 PM
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Amy, any luck finding another buck for you doe yet? If we lived closer, I would love to let John Henry come for a visit. He's been a busy boy so far this year. He's been up in Hillsboro, Tn for the past several weeks. He shouild be coming back home next weekend to get back in with my does who did not get pregnant yet. And for the new doe that's not bred yet either. I'm sure some of my does will be having plenty of Lamancha bucks. I always get more bucks than does. And for some reason, bucks were hard to come by this year. Mine has been around the block and up the road. I am making a little bit of money so it's not all bad.
But I was just wondering if you had found a buck or how that's going.
Kris
Happiness is simple.
www.kris-outbackfarm.blogspot.com |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
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YakLady
True Blue Farmgirl
652 Posts
Natalie
Montana
USA
652 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2012 : 8:16:30 PM
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Yep, it just depends on the breed as far as "season" goes. I raised Nigerians, and they are year-round breeders.
As far as I know, I've never heard of them needing more light to come into heat. That would be interesting if it worked, though!
If you're not sure, you can always draw blood and send it to a lab to be sure if the does are pregnant :)
~Hen 4316~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana.
Starting a family and raising up a small ranch using natural resources.
www.mydoterra.com/thurman |
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.Linz.
True Blue Farmgirl
118 Posts
Lindsey
Shippensburg
Pennsylvania
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2012 : 06:57:54 AM
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Temperature influences the breeding season more than light, I think. The standard for seasonal breeds is "any month with an R in it," so Sep.-April, (though it rarely lasts that long) but a cooler summer than normal will bring them into heat in August, and a cold winter will extend the season on through April. Bucks can breed even if they're not in rut, they just won't be as interested.
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." - Prov. 27:23 |
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Barnyard Buddies: goat breeding question |
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goat breeding question
