How do I get a doe bred?

[whinnyninny]

I found a buck for my Oberhasli, but not my Nubian. Still looking.

I've been watching them for signs of heat. One doe had a pinkish rear-end the other day, the other doe had a bit of mucous discharge today. The one with the pinkish rear-end is always wagging her tail and yelling for no apparent reason, so I don't think the latter 2 things are signs of heat for her.

Someone today told me about "silent heat"... when the does go into heat and you never know it!

I also don't know how long my does heat cycles are. If I think they are going into heat, do I try and schedule for them to be serviced by a buck 3 weeks later, and see if the doe is interested in breeding, or if the buck is interested in her?

So confused...

[cjb]

Don't Ask Me

[jill.costello]

Originally Posted by cjb

Don't Ask Me

Most of us just borrow the buck or drop the doe off for the full 3 weeks. Job usually gets done.....unless, of course, you're related to cjb..........

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

It's why my advice is always the same. Buy a young buck in the spring, use him, bloodtest confirm pregnancy and then if you don't want to keep bucks, sell him/eat him and get another buckling in the spring.

The idea that a new person is going to be able to track heats, get the doe to the breeder to get bred during the heat (99% of the does who get here are out of heat). Or the much older buck does breed the doe, she doesn't ovulate then the person goes home with a doe who doesn't kid in 5 months. It happens every year. By the 3rd year nearly all of my customers have it down pat, and they also know that as you move through breeding season when you notice your doe is in heat you can't wait until a reasonable hour to call or worse, wait until morning. They can be in heat for hours in the fall.

Most nubians are very vocal when in heat, it's alot more than their normal noise, mine are the standing on the cattle panel fence screaming, they can't see the boys but they know they are somewhere. Without a doubt my neighbors know when I have does in heat.

If you check your does everyday some will not only flag but will hunch for you and pull their tail over with some pressure (leaning) on their rump, others have obvious swelling of the vulva and others have discharge. All have discharge in their vuvla that moves from thin and see through to opaque as they are in standing heat.

CJB's story is typical and in the spring many will be in this same perdiciment, the difference his does are due to kid now, the heighth of breeding season the does who are open he can simply rebreed. No way of doing this in Feb and March when your does don't kid. Vicki

[whinnyninny]

Our neighbor had a nasty, smelly Heinz 57 buck at their property earlier this year... if they still had him, I guess it'd make it more obvious if/when my does were in heat. Only problem is, they had him kept in a paddock full of junk cars and fenced with barbed wire, so he got out ALL the TIME and kept getting into my pasture (our 4-strand, 1 1/2" electric tape fence was woefully inadequate for keeping him out). Gads, I could smell him from 200' away...

I saw a website of someone a few months back who said they offered breeding services and would keep the doe there for 3-4 weeks to make sure they'd been bred. I wondered about the milking of the does during that time... did the owner of the buck milk them, or did the does have to be dried out first? I dunno.

[Starsmom]

You can always use a "buck rag" to help determine heat cycles. You find a buck and rub a rag all over his head and neck, then place it into a zip lock baggie. Take the rag out and show it to the does, if they respond favorably, then they are most likely in heat. Then take a moment to observe their physical signs so you can learn what that particular goat looks like in heat. Next take them immediately to the breeder. Heat cycles can last from hours to a couple days. This method helps with getting does over to our bucks for breeding. I have several friends that we breed for and this works every time.

[whinnyninny]

My black-skinned Oberhasli has a very obviously pink rear-end this morning. She's not showing any other "symptoms".

[southerngurl]

Yea, one of my does was swollen when she was in heat. It was so much so that it caught my eye, out of the corner of my eye. Put her in with the buck, yea definate heat. Often I don't see the actual discharge, just that the hair on the tail is dried in little spikes to the side. Not all of my does were over by the buck when in heat trying to get in or anything either. Mine don't always seem to wag their tails a lot either. One came in heat the other day, saw the goo, and was tail wagging furiously and talking a little more than usual (my others don't do this), but woulnd't stand for the buck. The next morning she thought he was just fine though. So I'm finding you definately have to keep an eye out for a range of things to catch the heats. Thankfully I have a buck here, so if I'm wrong it's not a wasted trip.

But I recomment to us newbies, check behinds daily, you get used to whats normal and what's different. You have to check often or you could miss it! If you see goo or wet/spiked hair on the tail you can bet she's in or coming in.

[jill.costello]

Not that I would breed her, but my little Coffee flirts with my husband when she's in heat. Wags her tail and bleats at him, mounts his knee, anything to be near him. When he's had enough of her attention and wants to leave the pen, she starts galloping around him and threatening him with her horns (in a flirty way), all the while, wagging that little tail.

[whinnyninny]

My Oberhasli is very stand-offish, I can't imagine her doing something like that. And my Nubian is a bit fruity already!

The breeder I'll be taking my Oberhasli to actually used to own her (she actually kidded there back in February), the lady said I'll know when the Oberhasli is in heat because she'll wag her tail a lot. I don't know if she meant this specific animal or if she watches for that as a sign in general, in all her does.

[whinnyninny]

Okay, today BOTH does are swollen and pink around their vulva with a teensy bit of discharge, and the hair on the sides of their tail has that wet, spikey look to it (it's not wet, just looks that way). My Nubi has been hollering like mad all day, and normally she only does that around milking time.

So... the lady I'll take my Ober to said to drop her off there for a few days. I am assuming that the best time to drop her off would be about 2-2.5 weeks from now, or about 2-3 days before I expect her to go into heat when I want her bred? If we breed her in October or so, I'll have a chance to figure out how long her cycles are.

Now if I can just convince DH that it'll be easier to have our un-registered (Native On Appearance) Nubi bred to one of this woman's Saanen or Alpine (or even Ober) bucks instead of trying to find someone with a Nubian buck! Closest we've found so far is an hour away, in the exact opposite direction.

[jBlaze]

Keep in mind the 5 day heat as well. I had a couple does so that last fall. They kidded from the second one. (the heat that happened 5 days after the first.) Most of them didn't do this though, just something to watch for.