What age to breed

[Rechellef]

I have two doelings that I am thinking of breeding this year. They will both be 10 months old December 3rd. I know some people tend to wait until 1-1/2 years and some breed before they are a year old. The Fiasco Farm website stated that they saw no benefit in their herd to waiting until they were 1-1/2 years and that it did not have an effect on their growth. If my does are healthy and at the right weight, can I breed them at 10 months?

I will need two additonal fresheners next year as I am considering selling one doe who is a sweetheart, but difficult to milk due to teat size.

[luvzmybabz]

The main thing to wait for is weight and growth. I used a buck last year that threw slow growing kids I purchased some other kids and raised all on the exact same feed, vacs, worming, etc and I held off all of the doelings from this bucks one accidentally got bred and I choose to end the pregnancy rather then stunt her growth. The buck I used this year I have no doubt these doelings would be at weight by 10 months however most got bred late, so we will hold them over. I also worry about difficulties during delivery with the smaller girls.

[saanengirl]

Breeding for May kids shouldn't be a problem with your does as long as they are in good body condition. I don't like to freshen yearlings before May, because in this region yearlings tend to have a growth spurt in April and I like for them to kid after their growth spurt. They tend to hold weight better and do better in general if they kid in May/June than if they kid in Feb/March.