Do twins/triplets repeat usually? dumb question maybe??

[cjb]

Sorry, I posted this question and got no response so maybe its a real dumb one!

I wondered what factors influence "litter" size? My does have the same Mom. Their Mom had one set of twins, then several sets of triplets. Last year, one doe had one and the other had two. Are people typically seeing this repeat? This was each of their first so could i get twins our of the one that had a single and maybe trips from the one that had twins?

Just curious. They look bigger this time to me but then again, they've had babies before now so they're prob stretched out

[cmharris6002]

I have read a few different ideas about this.

1. If your doe was from a large multiple you have a better chance that she will have larger litters.

2. A young buck is said to produce more babies.

3.As your doe ages her chance for greater multiples increases.

I have seen these theories prove true in my small herd.

Flower, number of siblings in birth unknown has had 2-3-3-3-4
Clover, from triplets has had 2-4
DC from twins had 3

This year I used a young (little less than a year) buck and my does had quads and triplets. I also had a lot of bucks, said to be common when using a young buck.

However, the breeder I use said he had a lot of singles and twins this year and not any larger multiples. He has does of every age and number of litter mates but used an older buck.

None of this is fact but it is fun to speculate.

[jnap31]

My DW's mom had 16 kids if her husband had not died young no telling how many she would have had. She had two sets of perfectly natural twins, now My wife and i have 2 year old identical boys LOL My wif ewas the first of her daughters to have twins she had said she was waiting to see who it would be first LOL

[mpillow]

I have a mother and daughter that seem to follow a pattern...no matter the buck

Mother...1st freshening single buck
2nd one doe(Cleo)
3rd twin bucks
4th twin bucks
5th one doe (Faith)
Daughter*Cleo*
1st single buck
2nd one doe(Hope)
3rd twin bucks
Cleo should have twin bucks come next Spring if she continues to follow her mom

My girl that had trips never had them before she was 9yo and 10yo...then she died. I have two of her daughters ..one was a twin one was a triplet....both daughters have only had twins to this point.

I got all doelings except one buckling(a couple years ago) and my friend got all bucks except one doeling same year using same buck

[Ken in Maine]

We have been all over the map on this. We have had first time mom's have trips and quads and we have had moms who have had singles have twins and trips the next year and then those who have regularly kidded with multiples suddenly have singles.

I don't know if there is any rhyme or reason for this... The only thing we noticed is that in the past we have cut back on grain over the summer and went back into their regular ration a month before we bred. We did not do that this year and had several experience moms have only singles.

Personally I think it's all a crap shoot... You get what the good Lord wants you to have and that's it... Just when you think you have it all firgured out it changes.

Just my experience... we kidded over 40 kids so far (have 4 does still due) this year and we have no firm pattern to number of kids or buck and doe ratio.

[6e]

Our first time mom's usually have just one. This year our doe that always had trips for the previous owner had quads for us this year and a doe that always had singles for her had twins for us. It could have been the previous owners buck. We do practice the "flushing" technique which I've heard will cause the doe to produce more eggs. I figure can't hurt. One doe had all does and the other one all bucks. There are some people down the road from us and their goats never have more than 2. They have an older buck.

[Goat Freak]

What is the "flushing" technique, and how do you do it?

[cmharris6002]

We practice flushing too. Maybe thats why we had quads and trips


Flushing is feeding a lb or so of grain (14-16% crude protein) daily for 21-30 days prior to expected breeding date, plus good forage, will improve ovulation and conception rates. Continue the flushing regime for 2-3 weeks post-breeding for best results.

[Hank - Narita]

Our older doe had triplets 2 years in a row. Her daughter has had twins and granddaughter had twins.

[dosthouhavemilk]

From what I understand, twins and triplets are nutritional. Quads and higher tend to run in family (better chance if the doe herself is a quad or quint). Also the miniature and dwarf breeds tend towards higher multiples as well.

Velvet ("pygmy") had 2 singletons (first kid and last kid); 3 sets of twins and a set of triplets before we lost her last year at 8 years old.
The interesting thing is what her two daughters in the herd have done. Her first singleton was a doe-Utopia- out of a LaMancha/Alpine buck. Utopia has had 2 sets of twins (first and fourth) and 4 sets of triplets. She was a singleton. She is now 7 years old. She is also our escape artist and was almost always on a higher gaining nutritional plain than the rest of the does being bred. She ate whatever she wanted and as much as she wanted.
Her full younger sister-Baby (born the following year to the same buck twin to a buck)- has had 5 sets of twins so far.
Utopia has had 5 does and 11 bucks. Baby has had 7 does and 3 bucks.
Go figure. It's all basically a crap shoot, though nutrition at breeding time does play a big role.
We bred our does earlier in the year last year and we had higher multiples. We've had 5 singletons, 16 sets of twins and 5 sets of triplets with 11 first fresheners this year so far. I have a doe due today in the barn and she has at least two but three won't surprise me. I brought her home in November. She's 6 this year and had a singleton last year but will have multiples this year for me. She was in a gaining state when she was bred and the nutritional level was kept up (she was underweight when she was bred).

I have two sisters out of a set of quads I bought last February. They kidded for the first time with twins each. Now that they have adjusted to this area (they were from TN) I'm hoping I can get them up to triplets are quads this coming year! They will be 3. Age also plays a buit of a role in it. 3-8 seems to be the prime years for higher multiples.

[moonspinner]

From my own experience flushing does seem to produce more multiples. But I have found if you do flush you pretty much have to keep up the graining from the getgo. If your doe is developing multiples she requires a lot of nutrition to support each one. Otherwise some fetuses may get absorbed.

[6e]

We do grain our goats all the time. We cut way back after the babies are weaned and carry that on through until it starts getting close to breeding time and then we start uping the grain to about a pound per goat and keep that up straight through pregnancy and into milking. If during nursing they look like they're starting to lose condition we up the grain some more. Our doe that had quads, we did have to give one a bottle and eventually we were supplementing two with a bottle, but Boer's don't tend to make a whole lot of milk. As soon as these babies are taken away we'll start dropping off on the grain again.
We give our bucks grain too, but the only reason I do is that it seems to really help his condition, hair coat and body mass. He seems to stay in better condition on grain than off especially since he does not have access to pasture like the girls. Probably not real wise since bucks tend to get urinary calculi, but I can't stand for them to look less than beautiful! LOL JMO