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07/17/11, 02:44 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 147
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Breeding
I posted a question last month about weaning my (now) three month old nubian does. Just an update, they are getting huge, and seem to be doing quite all right since the weaning. Anyway, that's beside the point... Back to my question- I'll be breeding them this fall, if all goes according to plan, and need some input. Do you guys prefer to put them with a buck, or A.I.? They are both registered but I'm not really worried about champion bloodlines, just want some fresh milk from my gals. I'd like to keep it all as simple as possible. Any ideas, personal experience, thoughts, etc?
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07/17/11, 02:55 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Monroe Ga
Posts: 4,637
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why not worry about getting the best you can afford? It brings better kids to keep and better prices for the kids to sell, and better udders and higher production??
Buck is a more certain way for them to be bred, you can buy a straw of semen but it may take several straws and several attempts and that is a headache mostly undertaken by those who are serous about breeding the best and need to pull in outside lines or those with hefty bio security ways.
With breeding to a buck you may pay a fee but normally if the doe does not take you can rebreed at no additional cost rather than buying more straws, so in short for you I would try and find a good buck. Be sure hes CAE- and that whomever hes bred is as well, and the dams udder is one that you would want to have in your herd and would be an improvement.
Example, Im breeding my does live cover to a Grand Champion buck who has thrown some kids that are amazing and have obtained their championships its costing me $75 per doe, to buy semen from a similar buck its about $25-45 per straw, need a minimum of two typically plus you also have the insemination fee so really no cheaper but with higher fertility results. Man cant triumph nature but we can have fun trying.
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I'm a goat person, not a people person,
De @ Udderly Southern Dairy Goats
we will be adding a new breed in the spring 
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07/17/11, 04:00 PM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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We keep our own bucks.
AI requires equipment and expertise.
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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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07/17/11, 04:03 PM
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Rookie
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Northern California
Posts: 478
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If you just want milk, I wouldn't bother with A.I. What do you plan on doing with the kids? I'd find a local, disease free buck that has desirable conformation
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07/17/11, 05:06 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 147
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I plan on selling the kids. Not out to make a fortune, or to build a herd. I'm strictly after milk. I don't care to show my goats or anything of that nature, I just want to have two happy, healthy girls that will keep me in good supply. I thought about keeping a buckling if they produce one and send him to the freezer. Other than that, they'll all be sold. I figured A.I. would be quite a headache for an inexperienced person such as myself. I think I'll definitely go with the buck route. Do I need to watch for them to go in heat? Or should I borrow a buck or take them to one and let them spend a week or so together? I don't have any idea how finicky goats are when it comes to breeding....
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07/17/11, 05:48 PM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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For newbie breeders and doelings, you might need to borrow an experienced buck for six weeks or so. 
What part of Mississippi are you in? I'm in Southern Missouri, and I've got excess bucks just now.
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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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07/17/11, 06:32 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 147
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I'm on the gulf coast. I might have to make a road trip and take you up on that Alice. I read a lot of your posts here, would love to come pick your brain sometime! I'll be honest, I wasn't planning on getting goats till next spring, but I came across an offer I couldn't refuse. The breeder was headed to Disneyworld that weekend, and these were the only two he hadn't sold in advance. He told me if I'd come pick them up the next day, I could have them both for the price of one. I have plenty of property but it's all wooded and unfenced, so I've been scrambling around with a chainsaw and post-hole diggers putting up a fence the last two months. Some days I wonder what was I thinking? hahaha... but I wouldn't trade it! I like the idea of keeping a buck for several weeks. Nice and simple, that's more my style right there. Do you loan yours out? What kind of cost am I looking at to get that done?
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07/17/11, 07:06 PM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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I sent you a message.
__________________
Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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07/17/11, 09:38 PM
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: outside of Huntsville, Alabama
Posts: 908
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MatthewB
Some days I wonder what was I thinking? hahaha... but I wouldn't trade it!
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That about sums up my goat experience right there.  And chickens, and ducks, and rabbits, and horses. And humans kids to a lesser extent, come to think of it...
-Sonja
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Wingnut Farms
Nubian Dairy Goats
New Market, Alabama
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