AI for goats??

[bluemoonluck]

When I move, I'm allowed to have 2 adult goats on my new property... and because I want goats for milk I obviously have to produce kids. I don't want any bucks, because keeping them separate from the girls would be a pain.

If I buy a doe already pregnant, after she freshens I would need to breed her again for the next year's kids. How do goat owners who only keep does get their girls bred? Is AI widely done? Will a buck owner bring him to your place to get the job done? I can't imagine transporting a doe with nursing kids to the buck owner, but then again I've never owned goats so maybe they handle it okay.....

What is commonly done??

[waygr00vy]

You will not need to worry about breeding her again until well after her kids are weaned. If she kids in spring you do not need to breed again until fall, 5 month gestation then she freshens in spring again. While you might find a buck that can come to you, more likely you would have to bring your doe to a buck. You can AI but you would have to have a vet or someone very experienced do it for you (and who owns all the equipment). Not something commonly done by someone with a couple backyard milk goats.

[Carolyn]

Put the kids on a bottle right away and advertise them so you have your milk, rebreed in the fall. I found it much much easier to have a buck than messing with taking the does off my property.

[Carolyn]

Also I wouldn't want other goats on my property unless I knew they were health certified and CAE and CL free and I would venture to say that other reputable goat owners wouldn't want your goats on their property unless they were CAE and CL free. Then when you take them to be bred, you have to be able to tell when they are in heat, if not you may have to leave them, the other people will have to milk them and I would guess be charged for "board and room" . Much easier to have a buck, then you also can have a close date for kidding. LOL

[shelleydar]

I used to just take mine to a breeder and drop them off for a couple of weeks. You run the risk of your goat picking up something but the risk should be low if you use a reputable breeder. I only have two goats and I'm planning on using AI (you can rent space in a take from someone else who has one). I've tried to do some research into the technique but haven't found a lot available on goats. However, I spoke to the woman who sold me my original does 10+ years ago and she said there is nothing to it. They used AI to improve their herd.

[PNP Katahdins]

Originally Posted by bluemoonluck

When I move, I'm allowed to have 2 adult goats on my new property...

Would a temporary buckling old enough to breed count as one of the two adults? I am thinking buy a healthy buckling, keep him just long enough, and move him out. Either sell him or have him butchered. I would also suggest having your goats the same color, like solid white.

Be sure to treat anyone who matters (meaning enforcing the 2-goat limit) with some goat cheese, sausage, or whatever, even if you didn't make it yourself. That way they will appreciate your desire for dairy goats.

Peg

[bluemoonluck]

Originally Posted by Carolyn

Put the kids on a bottle right away and advertise them so you have your milk, rebreed in the fall. I found it much much easier to have a buck than messing with taking the does off my property.

I've always heard that bucks smell terrible and that they can change the flavor of a doe's milk if they're kept in close quarters.... and I won't have enough space on my three-quarters of an acre to separate them very far.

[bluemoonluck]

Originally Posted by PNP Katahdins

Would a temporary buckling old enough to breed count as one of the two adults? I am thinking buy a healthy buckling, keep him just long enough, and move him out. Either sell him or have him butchered. I would also suggest having your goats the same color, like solid white.

Be sure to treat anyone who matters (meaning enforcing the 2-goat limit) with some goat cheese, sausage, or whatever, even if you didn't make it yourself. That way they will appreciate your desire for dairy goats.

Peg

I'm not above some (legal) bribery...

My feeling is that if the neighbors don't complain, I won't have any trouble. I'm putting a 6-foot tall privacy fence around the entire yard (good fences make good neighbors!) so the only way anyone will see the critters is if I let them (or they come with a warrant). I'm concerned about noise, smell, etc... and since I tend to be a law-abiding citizen, I try to toe the line so just in case someone comes out to enforce it I'll be in compliance.

I'm leaning very heavily toward Nigerians......

[Carolyn]

The bucks do smell, we dont' mind. But the only time I found them to smell when does are in heat, nce does are bred, they dont' smell. If you can find someone who AI's and is willing to help you, that would work, I'm not sure of the price of a straw, I think I seen them for as cheap as $25.--others could give you a better idea of the prices, but also you to pay to ship the straws and if by chance the doe doesn't take, you have lost the money. I would like to try it, but right now--the only person that I know that AI's is 200 miles away from me and then I would have to pay to have the straws shipped to them and rent the space in the tank. some bucks mature early and can breed the does young, others take a while to mature. I would check on a reputable breeder, buy a freah doe from them and see about taking them back to them for rebreeding--don't know how others do things. I would start reading about goats--the stickies here are good and join a forum about goats. Carolyn

[susanne]

it is not only the cost of shipping semen, but a tank to store the semen, nitrogen to fill the tank regularly, equipment to do A.I, taking classes to learn how to do it that will add and in my opinion way too expensive for only two does.
way to go would be with a young buck and sell the buck after the does are confirmed bred (two days before kidding )

it would be smart to find out if you are in city limit and/or allowed to have livestock before you get them. they will also tell you how many goats per acre are allowed. this will give you so much more options. you could get normal size goats (much easier to milk by hand) and get some does from a breeder that are selecting for long lactation. then you don't even need to breed every year but only every two or even three years.

[bluemoonluck]

Susanne,

I've considered bigger goats... but I don't have a whole lot of pasture (the property is three quarters of an acre, 0.76 acres total) and I figured smaller goats for the smaller property was a good idea (?).

The property is zoned for "two large animals" and was sold as horse property. I need to find out exactly who to ask to find out what that translates to as far as goats go... the next door neighbors have chickens and I already have rabbits (looking to add a few egg layers too), and the property backs up to a field, so its fairly rural.

The property is out of state, and the regulations there are sooo different from where I live now! Here you have to have at least five acres before you can keep a horse, but where I'm moving you can have a horse as long as you have at least half an acre! So much to learn.......

[susanne]

although it would be nice to have a pasture, it is not so important as goats do well on dry lot. makes parasite control easy too.
you would need to feed more hay, but what a small price for good milk.

[billooo2]

From my experience......and friends who do AI, the technique is not difficult. For me, the difficult part would be trying to detect the "standing heat" without a buck around. Some does will "flag" to a "buck rag," but I have had some does that will not.
The most expensive part of getting involved in AI is the tank. If you could find someone (e.g. most dairy farmers will have a semen tank) that would "rent" space, then that would seem to be a great option. But it would mean that you would need to take the doe to their place to do the insemination. The insemination needs to be done within minutes from the time the semen is removed from the tank.
I love the options that I have with AI. I have semen from dozens of bucks. (I have more semen than I will ever use.)
cost of semen..........From what I can tell, the vast majority of goat semen is in private owners tanks. And semen, as long as it is not fom a "big name buck," can be had for a lot less than $25/straw. Most people llike to sell it in "units" of 5 straws/cane. For example, last year the Ohio Dairy Goat Convention had a Silent Auction of goat semen. It was a great success!!! There was a lot of semen donated, and there were a lot of great "bargain prices" for quite a bit of the semen. (Of course, a couple "big name bucks" brought some pretty hefty bids.)
Having said all of that about AI.......for your situation, another option might be to buy or lease a "baby' buck that was born early in the spring (so that he will be old enough to do the job). Bucks that young, from my experience, do not have much smell to them. That way, the smell should not be an issue. And you can either .......if you bought him, buthcher him, or sell him.....or if you lease him, then just send him back home.
I have 2 baby bucks that I am thinking about keeping, and letting 4H families use them this fall. I may not even charge any stud fees. But it will allow me to see what their babies would look like......and out of different lines of breeding.

[dosthouhavemilk]

billoo,
You were at the ODGA Conference last year? KimM and I were there as well, along with another friend. Are you likely to attend this year?
I ended up with 5 units of the Boer buck for $10, I think it ended up being. I had already dished out $100 for 10 units of him because I thought I would never have a chance with the Silent Auction.
Came home with two different Alpine bucks as well (5 units of a Dixie Does buck and 10 units of uh....an older buck). There is also 5 units of a Togg buck, but only one of those is mine (in trade for storage).
I try my first AI this summer. I'm worried.....

[shelleydar]

Roseanna, I hope you keep us posted on how your first AI goes. I don't have enough does to justify the cost of my own equipment but plan to find someone to do it for us this year. As time goes on I want to get my own equipment and maybe do some AI for other breeders. Just starting to learn and anxious to hear how it works out for you.

[shiandpete.1]

Originally Posted by bluemoonluck

When I move, I'm allowed to have 2 adult goats on my new property... and because I want goats for milk I obviously have to produce kids. I don't want any bucks, because keeping them separate from the girls would be a pain.

If I buy a doe already pregnant, after she freshens I would need to breed her again for the next year's kids. How do goat owners who only keep does get their girls bred? Is AI widely done? Will a buck owner bring him to your place to get the job done? I can't imagine transporting a doe with nursing kids to the buck owner, but then again I've never owned goats so maybe they handle it okay.....

What is commonly done??

I would suggest leasing a buck or buying a young buck from a clean and tested herd and then after he has done his business sell him. AI is done on goats although not sure if you can find a vet or experienced goat person in your area to do it. Also hauling your does to another place to be bred stresses them out and you may end up with none of them bred and a disappointing year the next spring. JMO.

[dosthouhavemilk]

I am lucky in that we already had the tank and are a regular stop on an AI studs rounds. I've been AIing the cows for the past 3 years or so, so have some idea of how it all works. I was also given a goat AI set in trade for finding a buyer for the goat people moving back to California. I had to replace the light but that was pretty inexpensive.
It also helps to have a teaser buck. He is a Fullblood Boer buck I bought for breeding but ended up with a genetic defect known as Persistant Penile Frenulum...meaning he is incapable of unsheathing. He is all buck and does all the bucky things including bringing does into heat.
I also have 8 bucks as back up if the AI fails.

Just starting out I would encourage people to buy a buckling in the spring and use them that Fall/Winter. They don't smell much that first year, especially if they don't have other bucks to compete against...lol
Or lease a buck. I have leased out my polled Nubian to a local 4-Her a couple years in a row until they got their own buck.