Do I want January babies?

[CJBegins]

All my girls are coming into heat. The adult does kidded last November and 2 of those doelings are looking big and beautiful.....and they are starting to cycle also. What a zoo. Last year they were all pretty quite and subdued. Not this year!

I have a 5 month old buckling that I am going to use and I believe that he has already bred one doe. Thank goodness he converted from his affection toward pigs to goats.

I am kind of torn for kidding in the winter and waiting for a little better weather.

When do you bred and what influences your choice the most?

[hiddensprings]

I breed my girls beginning in October so I have babies in the early spring. Our weather can be so weird here in January. We've had 68 degree days or 3 degree days. I only tired kidding in winter once and ended up loosing kids that were born overnight when I wasn't there. This year I will most likely have some kids in December since my BIG romantic guy decided to get out one evening and a couple of my girls played "easy".
So, I guess my decision is based strictly on the unknown weather conditions during the winter months.

[Hollowdweller]

I'm not big on early kids. The times I've tried it the babies sometimes lost the tips of their ears if they were born when really cold.

I like the no sweating part though.

[Doug Hodges]

I have a 4 month old that my wife had to pull off a young doe today. It might of been to late. We put him in his own place today.

[Ford Zoo]

I'm in northern WI and had kids last January when it was minus 20. Seriously! At 9:30 am one morning, a FF was kidding and the fluids were freezing into icicles before the kid was born. We had heat lamps, kid jackets, and all did well. But never again. My boys are stinky and peeing all over themselves, their sacs are huge, but I;m making them wait till October at the earliest.

But you are a bit farther south and I do not know what your winters are like.

[Doug Hodges]

I have birthing stalls in the barn. I will have heat if they breed this early. Im trying to keep that from happening for a little while.

[punchiepal]

I have done a few in January but usually prefer to wait till just after Feb 14th. (Valentines Day cold snap) Seems to be one good COLD snap after that in early March but generally it is "tolerable." Kids grow well bc of less cocci & worm issues.

[mygoat]

A good number one killer is starvation/hypothermia. While a dry kid will probably be just fine in draft free housing in the cold, a damp newborn will not. If you are confident in your ability to NOT MISS a kidding and in your management, then I suppose the choice is yours. If your schedule is not such that you can guarantee presence in that barn for every kidding during the cold of January, I wouldn't do it. Unattended births are more likely to go well if the temperature is higher than Jan averages. The first week of a kid's life is absolutely crucial - it means making sure all the kids make it into the housing at night and making sure every kid is eating/moving normally. 'Round the clock in the cold weather.

Personally with me, I've in the past bred for May kids so the does would kid out after the school year - or does in heat that would kid out during my spring break would also get bred, lol - but that was due to chance only. Actually year before last, Dad was in charge of the breeding season and that was a disaster. Some does didn't get bred and they were due all over the board - he just 'didn't have time' to check them for heat. *sigh* Last year I used CIDRs to get them all to kid near the same time during my spring break. Besides from 2 doelings I waited to breed (but wish I hadn't waited), and one AI doe that didn't take via AI, I had 9 does kid within 5 days this spring. I was exhausted for practically 10 days straight - checking lots of does for labor signs and checking lots of kids to make sure they were doing well and were where they were supposed to be. It could've been a lot harder in Jan I think. I'd try it maybe with fewer does, or a different setup (safe heat lamps, individual kidding stalls) which we may have by this next kidding season.

All depends on your location, management, setup, and what YOU want to do... they'll all still be going into heat a month or two from now.

[yarrow]

Our kidding barn is draft free.. so keeping the babies out of the the wind isn't an issue.. we use to always kid in Jan/Feb... BUT.. the last 3 years we've waited for mar/apr babies.. this year I need to go out of state in March..so the plan is to breed to kid out all the does from mid jan/feb.. I induce all the does, so I know within an hour or so.. when kids will arrive.. we have 8 cameras in the kidding barn.. so we never miss births (which means hot or cold, kids aren't out there long enough to chill.. no matter if it's winter or spring)... we got use to bringing newborns inside back when we kidded in Jan (continued to do it.. even with april kids).. So??? if I'm going to have them inside, where I can easily bottle every 4 hours.. day/night.. kidding a couple months earlier shouldn't be a big deal..(I remember years ago.. just running the buck with the does.. no real due dates.. no kidding barn.. no cameras ect.. up every hour of every night... all winter long..going out to the big barn to check on them..back in.. try to warm up and sleep.. times have changed and I've gotten soft LOL. ((main thing for us choosing to switch to spring kids.. the newborn pictures look nicer with the green grass))

susie, mo ozarks

[Dusky Beauty]

I want December thru feb babies... but I'm in Phoenix, so...

[Alice In TX/MO]

My goats kid in south Texas. I'm going to breed everyone at the first signs. That way, I have kids big enough to wean my my northern migration in May.

[Bret4207]

We don't even think of breeding till mid- Nov. I've had way, way too many frozen , dead kids to even think of January freshenings.

[wintrrwolf]

I did feb kidding last year and though those kids did great I did have a couple of close calls since I didnt even know Heidi was preggers till she dropped a kid outside thank goodness I found it before it froze.
This year I want to try for more march/april kidding since me madre blamed the heat lamps for the high electric bill.

[dozedotz]

Yes, well, I think that most of you remember this famous photo from last February??! We bring the kids inside...we have a small herd...few number of kids. It is still insane! As I write this the boys are tearing down the fences and looking really crazed, the girls are not interested in the least and I am thinking: "Do I want the advantage of fewer germs in the cold weather, the bigger kids by fall because they were born earlier with fewer parasite problems AND the joy of having the boys settle down to a low rumble right now OR do I want the gentle zephyrs of spring with all its attendant bugs?? and the boys continuing the BIG rumble right now??? Got about a couple of weeks to decide as I see it. That's when the girls will start going nuts, too. I will probably opt for the kids doing acrobatics inside the house in February....sigh....(we do keep them in large dog crates BUT mama thinks they need the exercise...sigh).

[CJBegins]

Dozedotz, I remember those cute pictures!

I am so torn on the kidding time. With my cows, I know when I want those births to be. I just have to see how it goes. My buck is very young and not overly determined to get with the girls. His biggest complaint is that he doesn't get to roam around the property eating browse. Such is life!

[ozark_jewels]

I have kids this year that were born starting in later January and running thru into June. I am now remembering why I DO NOT like late kids. For me, in Southern Missouri, early kids grow better, have no cocci or worm issues. Do not have to deal with crazy spring weather until they are a bit older......they just "do" better. Later kids do ok, but simply don't do as well. They will get there, but I have to do a little more to get them there.
I weigh these things and they beat out the inconvenience of kidding during winter. And I do HATE the cold, so these weigh pretty heavily with me.
I like kidding late January through March. That works for me. Any later and I'm not happy.

Now...all that said. I am unmarried, do not have children and am relatively young. If I had kids to take care of, a married life, or was twice my age........I might choose to do things differently.

[FunnyRiverFarm]

I had all January kids born this year. I only had one that needed to come into the house because she was born weak...and even she was only inside full-time for about 5 days. To be clear, I do make it a point to attend births and help with drying so the kids don't get chilled. I think it was a lot harder on me than it was on the goats to be honest

[Clovers_Clan]

Mine are bred for Christmas to New Years babies. I have off of work and the kids have off from school. So we'll be home for all arrivals.

I will be drying off end of October and begin milking again in March. I don't mind a few hours waiting in the cold for babies to arrive, because I get a break from milking twice a day for the whole winter! :-)

It really helps that I'm in a mild climate: Georgia. Got a good warm barn and I'll have the heat lamps and the sweaters ready.

Its been a far too mild winter followed by a lousy, wet summer here with Barberpole and Cocci. So I'm really looking forward to giving the babies (and Mammas) a good start before the nasties come out in the spring! Hoping for a long cold winter!

[Doug Hodges]

I think the advantages of January kids outweigh the disadvantages. I have the things to induce heat. Im going to decide pretty soon. It may be February kids by the time I decide.

[Doug Hodges]

I think we have decided on mid February babies.