# Rebreeding, how long do I have to wait?



## RareBreedFancier (Oct 4, 2011)

Hi all,

Originally I wanted to get dairy goats to kid off season so I'd have winter milk when the lady I buy milk from has her does dried off. Then I found they won't cooperate because they are seasonal breeders. So I have Boer x dairy does who should breed off season but have a short lactation. 

I originally planned to buy open does to breed in spring but the does I've got are already bred and should kid in the next month or so. It's spring here now and I wondered if I could rebreed them for fall/winter babies? I know dairy does are usually only bred once a year but I don't really want to wait nearly 18 months to get them on the schedule where I want them. I'm quite happy to not milk them and just let them raise their babies and dry off so as not to tax them even more.

The breeder where they came from just leaves the bucks in year round and said it's fine to let them kid twice a year. :/ I would only be looking at re-breeding close like this once and then breeding them every 12 months after that.

What would you do?


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## kstaven (Oct 5, 2011)

You could separate the kids from the does at 10 weeks and then dry them off. Problem you face is that breeding with Boer is not an absolute guarantee of breaking the seasonal cycle.

We have done this with some DAIRY does(Sable) that will cycle outside the common season, so we have no dry period here. If there condition is good and they do cycle I wouldn't hesitate to rebreed.


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## RareBreedFancier (Oct 5, 2011)

Thank you! 

I'm glad to know some dairy does will cycle outside the usual season, I'm wanting to get higher % of dairy blood in my herd. Hopefully a few pure does too.

Now I just have to hope my girls cooperate.


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## kstaven (Oct 5, 2011)

RareBreedFancier said:
			
		

> Now I just have to hope my girls cooperate.


That is the hard part of the exercise.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 5, 2011)

I would rebreed them as long as they aren't looking run down and too thin.   We wean all of ours at 8 to 10 weeks, so getting the kids off sooner will help the doe stay in better shape for the next breeding.  Also, we creep feed the babies so they are on a lot of grain when we go to wean them.  

We have 50% boer/nubians and they cycle just fine any time of year. I am not sure how long they will stay in milk, we don't milk ours, but I do know they take a lot longer to dry-up than the fuller blood boers do after weaning the kids.


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## RareBreedFancier (Oct 5, 2011)

Thank you. 

I will defiantly be creep feeding them. I am disappointed in the size of my original boys. The advise I got from the breeder was "Don't feed them anything, just let them eat grass." Now I realize I was right when I thought they should be growing faster and be bigger than they are.  I can see a huge improvement since I started them on grain. I want to make sure these kids get better care now I know better so they can grow out too their full potential. Their sire is a good quality Boer buck so they should grow out to be nice big goats. 

I'll be interested to see how long their lactation is. I bought them hoping they will fill the 4 month gap the lady gives her does off. I figure that's pretty reasonable if I can get the timing right. Of course the does may have other plans...  

I sure hope they don't know the 'Doe Code' I'm impatiently waiting for these kids already.


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## Roll farms (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm of the opinion that any time there is 'dairy' in the goat, they *need* grain to reach full potential quickly.  Boers also, to a degree.  
Yes, they will grow up....eventually...but if the point is max. growth fast, grain is needed.

Boers and Nubians are both easy (for us, anyway) to get to breed off-cycle.  I can have Nub kids about any time of year if I want to.  Sometimes when I DON'T want to....
Dazzle, one of our better milking Nubs, is a fence-hopping hootchie-mama.  She kidded 3x in 18 mos last year.


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## RareBreedFancier (Oct 6, 2011)

Sounds like Dazzle one naughty girl! 

Breeding year round is one of the reasons I'd prefer to introduce Nubian rather than other dairy blood into my little herd. These does are part Alpine probably or a small possibility Toggenburg so I'm hoping the Boer wins out and they breed off season. 

Guess I'll just have to wait and see, my buck is sure happy to oblige whenever the the ladies are ready.  Oh and good news on him, I'd wondered for a while if he really was pure Boer because he just didn't look chunky enough. Since starting him on grain, literally only 2 - 3 weeks he's looking great! I really wish I'd gone with my instinct and grained both the boys when they were younger.


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## kstaven (Oct 7, 2011)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> I'm of the opinion that any time there is 'dairy' in the goat, they *need* grain to reach full potential quickly.  Boers also, to a degree.
> Yes, they will grow up....eventually...but if the point is max. growth fast, grain is needed.
> 
> Boers and Nubians are both easy (for us, anyway) to get to breed off-cycle.  I can have Nub kids about any time of year if I want to.  Sometimes when I DON'T want to....
> Dazzle, one of our better milking Nubs, is a fence-hopping hootchie-mama.  She kidded 3x in 18 mos last year.


It can be done without grain. Not as convenient to take a no grain approach, but still doable without compromising a does health, milk output or the potential of the kids. And not a route I would recommend without doing a lot of research.


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## that's*satyrical (Oct 7, 2011)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> I'm of the opinion that any time there is 'dairy' in the goat, they *need* grain to reach full potential quickly.  Boers also, to a degree.
> Yes, they will grow up....eventually...but if the point is max. growth fast, grain is needed.
> 
> Boers and Nubians are both easy (for us, anyway) to get to breed off-cycle.  I can have Nub kids about any time of year if I want to.  Sometimes when I DON'T want to....
> Dazzle, one of our better milking Nubs, is a fence-hopping hootchie-mama.  She kidded 3x in 18 mos last year.


LOL, fence hopping hootchie-mama......


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