My beautiful girl begging for love!
Why?
Goats have to be bred in order to have kids. As a goat shepherdess, I like to know exactly when my goats will be kidding so I can be sure to have everything ready for a safe and happy delivery. In order to know birthing dates, I must know when my goats are bred. Because of this, we keep our bucks separated from our does until we are ready to breed.
My handsome bucks just waiting for their opportunity to procreate!
So, how do I know when they are able to be bred? First of all, it's important to know if your goats are seasonal breeders. Both my Nubians and my Alpines are seasonal breeders. What this means is that they are most likely to come into heat and be fertile in the fall. There is always exceptions of course. For instance, my Fancy Too (Nubian) always has a heat cycle in spring. We take advantage of this by letting her breed then so that when the rest of the herd is drying off for the last two months of pregnancy, we still have her milk.
10 Signs of Heat
Notice the middle doe has her tail high in the air!
The no-nonsense, quick way to tell if your doe is in heat!
- Tail pointing up - straight up in the air like a light post!
- Wagging tail - often called flagging for obvious reasons!
- Swollen vulva - this isn't always noticed unless you are looking!
- Goo dripping - a sure sign she is ready to be randy!
- Bucky behavior - seriously making buck snorts and humping on other goats!
- Personality changes - extreme frisky behavior and ornery in my experience!
- Lower milk output - almost all of mine drop in half at the peak of heat!
- More talkative - baa baa maaaa, constantly sometimes!
- Buck acts interested around her - even through a fence a buck will know, he can smell it!
- Frequent urination - just teasing that buck some more!
When?
I'm hoping to breed at least half of these girls!
Goats have a 21-day heat cycle on average. So, when I see one of my does in heat I mark my Google calendar and set it to repeat every 3 weeks. This way I know when to expect the next heat cycle and I can plan my breeding. I will put a doe in heat in with the chosen buck and hope that breeding takes place if I don't witness it right away. It depends on the bucks mood also, lol. Then I wait 21 days and see if she comes into heat again. If she does, back into buck pen. If she doesn't I mark my calendar for 150 days from the breeding date. Goats gestation is 5 months, 150 days give or take a few days.
I could get a blood sample and send it in to test for pregnancy but I am not in a hurry at this point in my farm career. I will just try again at next heat cycle.
So now you know how to tell if your doe is on heat and what to expect!
Here is a recent vlog about heat in goats.
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