Very very very late breeding... can I induce heat?

[cjb]

The last few months have been nuts and, between that and some real indecision on my part, I did not get ANY of the girls bred. I have two does that are still in milk but only giving 1 quart each per day, at this point. We live in Oregon so our weather is mild but it is starting to feel "spring-ish" outside.

Any possibility that they will still come into heat? There are 3 standard dairy goats that I want to breed this year and one Nigerian Dwarf. I know the ND will cycle all year.

I got hair from a friend's buck and have been showing it to the girls and am not seeing any sign of heat. Could they be done for the year? or maybe just cycling very lightly? of course, my girls never really act like it anyway so hard to tell. I thought the hair would help.

Also, can I induce heat? A local vet has a product called "Lutalyse" that is used to induce heat in cattle - would this work on goats? if so, how much to use? How soon would they cycle afterwards?

Thanks in advance

[ozark_jewels]

I am not familiar with using Lute to induce heat, only to abort unwanted pregnancies. So I don't know what to advise there.
You certainly will need a buck running with the does to induce them to cycle this time of year. If they were mine, I'd give them a good dose of Bose and run my stinkiest buck with them and see what happened. I've had does bred in March before, its not at all impossible.

[cjb]

Thanks OJ. Have him run with them for how long?

Dumb ? but is there a pregnancy test than that I can administer to see if they took?

Also, if I breed now, I'm going to have August babies. Will I be able to breed back this Winter - maybe January or is that too soon? It would prob be better to milk them through and re-breed in September but I hate to miss an entire year.

[TSYORK]

Most folks say let the buck run with the does 60 days. The presence of a buck will help bring the does into heat; I saw if for my own two eyes this year. I purchased a new buck, and once I put him into the pasture, he bred them all within 10 days. If you are wanting to track for pregnancy, you can use www.biotracking.com. All you have to do is draw the blood, then send it off for the test. They will email you the results within I think 48-hours. They charge $7.50 her sample.

Hope this helps.

[Cara]

I let them run a month...that would be most likely two heat cycles, if they still will. My thinking would be they would probably come in if they haven't been with a buck and suddenly were with him. I had a doe abort in December and rebred her in February for June-ish kids.

[debitaber]

I usually let him run with them 2 months, but not always . but 2 months is usually all it will take. if they like him. most will come right into heat, but not always, you might have one that just cycled so 2 months is the sure number.

[ozark_jewels]

I'd keep them together for a couple months just to cover all bases.
As already said, use biotracking if you want to be sure they took.
What breeds are they?? The breed has a lot to do with if you can get them to cycle this late.
If they have August kids, you'll need to watch closely for worms and cocci. Summer kids are always more susceptable to these and can easily get stunted.
If they kid out in August, you could easily rebreed them for early or late spring kids. Just be sure to give them two months of break time dried off before they kid.

[susanne]

lutalyse can be used to induce heat in a doe if she is still cycling. you give lutalyse 2cc im, wait 10 days and give another 2cc. she should be in standing heat in about 36 hours.