getting does to breed...?

[MandersGoaters]

:baby04: I have 7boer nannies that didn't have babies this year and the other 7 had babies already,(still waiting on 2 of them) i put my two boer bucks in there with them(a week ago) they are especially nice with the babies! thought i'd try to breed them before they end of may so they wouldn't have babies in the cold, but "Earl" my year old buck doesn't seem to do anything but follow "houdini" the older (about 4)buck around and houdini the older buck is trying to do something,(he does a lot of spitting and sputtering but just seems to loose intrest and contiues to eat grass my girls are proably not in heat yet, i thought about giving lutalyse to the 7 that doesn't have babies to make them come into heat. they are very healthy girls have all been wormed a week ago with cydectin. has anyone ever done this before? or should i just wait for them to come in, i was just thinking i could have babies at a certian time instead of them being scattered out over a months time, oh also, I hate to give grain to any of the goats cause they are so mean to each other(they run over their own babies and are so dang hateful)and they have pleanty of bunk space to eat(and they have 40 acres of lush pasture for 17 boer goats) but will graining them help them come into heat better? if it will i'll just have to seperate the babies from the nannies for a bit until they finish eating(the babies are only a week old some a couple days)...just need a little help on this one! thanks
Amanda

[Jessies Nubians]

Yes grain can help does "take." For the two weeks or so before I bring my does to the stud, I increase their grain ration by perhaps one-third to one-half. My milking does I normally feed one pound for the doe, and one pound for every two pounds of milk produced. Giving more grain flushes eggs from the ovaries when a doe is in heat, increasing both the chance of pregnancy and the chance of multiples. I saw this manifest when both of my does had triplets after "flushing" them versus a non prego and one singleton the year before when I hadn't flushed. Hope this helps!

[trnubian]

Graining the does for 2 weeks to a month before breeding flushes (causes them to drop more eggs while in heat)them. It won't necessarily BRING them in heat unless of course they are undernourished., are not getting enough to meet their needs.

One thing I would be looking at at this point is possible mineral def. Do you have free choice goat minerals out? NOT sheep and goat minerals. Goats need adequate ammounts of copper to be fertile. Selenium is also a major contributor to wether or not a doe and a buck are about to settle.

[MandersGoaters]

I have been using purina goat mineral free choice. I can't find sweetlix anywhere around here and most of the feed store sell "sheep and goat" mineral which isn't good for the goats, all of them say "goats and sheep are alike" well we all know a goat is a goat and sheep are sheep. the purina is very expensive and they eat a lot of it, but ahh well! we have started to grain them again, i have to tie my two bucks up and pen the babies, but it's working...will lutalyse help as well...thanks!! oh and i have been feeding a corn, oat, and barley mix..it has very small amount of corn in it, more oats than anything.is that okay?
Amanda