When to breed?.......

[monarchcmj]

Both of my does will be a year old next week. One of them just had a heat cycle a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't noticed a cycle in the other one recently.
I was told it is best to breed them in the fall, but I am not looking forward to them kidding in the middle of next winter! If they go into heat next month, I'm thinking it would be fine to have them bred then and plan for babies in July.
Is fall breeding recommended because the goats' heat cycles are more predictable then?
I haven't even looked into finding a buck they can be bred to, so this could all be academic, but I've been thinking about it so I wanted to ask.
Thanks!

[DQ]

one thing to think about is that parasites can be a much bigger problem in warm weather kids. most people report better growth in kids born in cool weather. I have only had 1 june baby that I kept and she definitely grew slower, but it may not have been related to birth timing seh was an orpan and maybe a little premie.

[LittleRedHen]

I met a woman who had some kids who were born in June/July and this was late fall. I thought they were only a month or so old but they were more like 5-6 months old. Much smaller than they would have been had they been born in a colder month. Apparently they are just better born in cold

BUT with that being said, size isn't important to me and I actually like goats on the smaller side. I am getting a Buck tomorrow and hope that my two will do the tango really soon!

[Backfourty,MI.]

I try to breed my goats so they kid in April & May. The earliest I have ever had kids here is end of March & I think it's still way to cold usually this part of the country. That year I had heat lamp on for them all night & some days too I thought it too cold.
I have never had summer babies so I can't say about the growing, etc.
Maybe hold off & breed them this coming November?

[RiverPines]

We breed for May kids. I like weaning onto pasture. I like well grown and weaned kids when that cold weather comes back.
I hate the high electric bill that goes with keeping kids warm in winter!
I like the does birthing out in the field or in their pens with the herd.

As for worms, we worm every month all through the warm season and kids start getting their wormers at 4 weeks. We havent had any probs.
Cocci is something people worry about in warm weather but we never had a prob.

Also it size that matters too as to when to breed! You want that doe a good size. We raise Boers and wont breed the does till they are 100 pounds. We also wont breed them unless they are at least 1 1/2 when they first kid.
So even if a doe is 100 but her age is to young, we wait.

We also breed angoras but they are slower growing and not as hardy as the meat goats so no doe's get bred until age 2.

So for when to breed you have to look at breed, age and size.

[catdance62]

I like Spring kids so we breed in the Fall. I dont' like to have the does kidding when it is too cold or too hot. The cold is hard on the kids, and the heat is hard on the does.

[goatkid]

I breed most of my older does in the fall. The younger does are bred in winter (Dec. and Jan). The only time I really notice much of a size difference is in twins out of a yearling. They generally catch up in size. I had one older doe who was at my friend's place and didn't get bred until Feb. Her kids were born July 10. She had a buck and a doe. Both kids have grown out very well, but the doeling had problems with scours, which was likely cocci. I've been told that is because she was born in summer. She's responded well to the cocci treatment and followup prevention. She weighs enough to be bred in Feb. however, I've elected to wait until next fall because I don't want July kids this year. If you do breed your does to kid in summer, I'd suggest the kids receive cocci prevention and regular worming.

[Madfarmer]

Breeding some of your does for Summer kids has the advantage of giving you more of a year-round milk supply, so that's one cosideration. In nature, the breeding season is linked to hours of daylight. Most ruminants breed to have their young close to the Vernal Equinox, when food is becoming more abundant.

Madfarmer

[hoofinitnorth]

OK I don't know what is going on with HT, but this is the third post I've found missing from HT that I sent yesterday. This one I KNOW showed up after I posted it because I edited it afterward! And I just found a fourth... ARGH...

Anyway, I posted a link to some past posts on this but now I can't find it. Hope HT didn't eat that too, it was a good thread!

[Madfarmer]

There WAS something goofy going on yesterday. I couldn't open the site at all. Started having withdrawal pangs.

Madfarmer