# Breeding a Mini Lamancha doe to a Lamancha buck



## Goatgirl47 (Aug 21, 2015)

I was wondering, would it be a bad idea to breed a Mini Lamancha doe to a full-sized Lamancha buck? It would be her first time, and, seeing how big Lamancha bucks are, I would think she would have a hard time giving birth to her kid(s). Would a Mini Lamancha buck be better? The doeling in question is in my avatar. I am planning on breeding her in a few months.  

Thank you!


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## OneFineAcre (Aug 21, 2015)

It would be better to breed her to a smaller buck like another mini instead of the full Lamancha.


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## Goat Whisperer (Aug 21, 2015)

I wouldn't do a full sized buck, especially for her first kidding.

Is she a 50/50 F-1?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 21, 2015)

Goat Whisperer said:


> I wouldn't do a full sized buck, especially for her first kidding.
> 
> Is she a 50/50 F-1?



She's 87% Lamancha and 13% Nigerian if that's what you mean.


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## Goat Whisperer (Aug 21, 2015)

How much does she weigh? How tall is she? Age? How old is she in the pic? 

You *might* me able to breed her to a full lamancha, I was thinking she was half dwarf and half lamancha.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 21, 2015)

Please don't do it.  You said this would be her first kidding.  Many first fresheners have a single kid for their first and if she is bred to a full size or very large buck, that single may be too big for her to deliver.  My son's favorite full size LaMancha was bred to a buck that produced nice large kids.  Most of our herd had no trouble, but Kiwi wasn't that large herself and the single buck kid inside was almost as big as she was.  After several hours of trying to get the kid out, we drove to a friend's house for help.  Finally, with Kiwi fading by the minute, we put her down and delivered the kid.  It had been sucking on my fingers about 5 minutes before but was dead when we cut him out.  After that we used another buck that had small birthweight kids for all our first fresheners.  My son had bred this doe, raised her, shown her, she was out of his favorite show doe with a terrific udder and out of a wonderful buck who threw beautiful bodies as well as udders, but the devastating thing for him was the pain she suffered during that horrific night.  There is a reason a lot of dairies use Angus bulls on their first freshening Holstein heifers.  Angus calves have a smaller birth rate.  Dairy farmers don't like losing cows to calving problems..


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## goatgurl (Aug 21, 2015)

have the same questions as @Goat Whisperer.  if she is 87% lamancha and if she grows out well before you breed her then maybe but i would feel more comfortable if you bred to a smaller buck at least for her first freshening.  first fresheners are famous for having one giant kid, for some reason they are usually bucks.  breeding to a smaller buck would sure make her life easier at kidding time.  she would probably be ok to bred to a full sized buck on her 2nd freshening.   aren't your other doelings full sized goats?   what do you plan to breed them to?


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## lkmartin1230 (Aug 22, 2015)

I say just breed to a smaller buck this time, and if she grows out then you may be able to bred her to the lamancha buck. Now if it was the other way around, where the buck was smaller and the doe was bigger that would be an ideal situation. But, definitely just wait and see if she gets any bigger before breeding her to your buck. Good luck.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 22, 2015)

Goat Whisperer said:


> How much does she weigh? How tall is she? Age? How old is she in the pic?
> 
> You *might* me able to breed her to a full lamancha, I was thinking she was half dwarf and half lamancha.



I tape measured her and she is about 67 pounds. I will measure her to see how tall she is. Right now she is 9 months old, but in my avatar she is about seven months.

Here are a few picture's I took of her yesterday.


You can see Magnolia and Penelope in the background.  The pictures make it look way darker outside then it actually is.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 22, 2015)

lkmartin1230 said:


> I say just breed to a smaller buck this time, and if she grows out then you may be able to bred her to the lamancha buck. Now if it was the other way around, where the buck was smaller and the doe was bigger that would be an ideal situation. But, definitely just wait and see if she gets any bigger before breeding her to your buck. Good luck.



 I actually don't have a buck yet, I am just considering getting one temporarily to breed my goats, and on craigslist in our area there are a lot more full-sized Lamancha's then there are Mini's.


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## Goat Whisperer (Aug 22, 2015)

I would definitely hold off on breeding her to a full lamancha. She is smaller then I thought she would be, but she does look great!  

Lamancha bucks can be 150-300lbs. I would breed your doe back to a dwarf or another MM. 

 Mini manchas!


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 22, 2015)

goatgurl said:


> have the same questions as @Goat Whisperer.  if she is 87% lamancha and if she grows out well before you breed her then maybe but i would feel more comfortable if you bred to a smaller buck at least for her first freshening.  first fresheners are famous for having one giant kid, for some reason they are usually bucks.  breeding to a smaller buck would sure make her life easier at kidding time.  she would probably be ok to bred to a full sized buck on her 2nd freshening.   aren't your other doelings full sized goats?   what do you plan to breed them to?


 
I actually don't know if Magnolia or Penelope are full-sized or not, I never asked the lady I bought them from. They are fourteen months old and just as tall as Kendall. I want to breed them to a Mini Lamancha as well.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 22, 2015)

@Goat Whisperer and @goatgurl Kendall is 23 inches tall at her shoulders. 

It's probably nothing, but I noticed that if I softly 'bump' the hollow spot on Kendalls right side I can feel something hard and round - kind of what our cows felt like when they were about seven months bred. Is this normal? When I do the same thing to Magnolia or Penelope, I can feel nothing.


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## lkmartin1230 (Aug 22, 2015)

Oh gottcha. Sorry. She is so cute. Maybe you can find a Nigerian Dwarf buck this year, or any of the mini breeds. I think she could be bred to full size lamancha next year if she gets bigger, and kids smoothly the first time. One of my ND's had twins back in March, and she was bred to a slight bigger buck, and she had them, and everything was good. If the buck isn't to much bigger than her I think it would be okay, but say she is 15" at the wither, and he is 25" at the wither, that might not be so good. What I am trying to say is big differences in size are not going to go well unless the Doe is bigger than the buck.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 22, 2015)

lkmartin1230 said:


> Oh gottcha. Sorry. She is so cute. Maybe you can find a Nigerian Dwarf buck this year, or any of the mini breeds. I think she could be bred to full size lamancha next year if she gets bigger, and kids smoothly the first time. One of my ND's had twins back in March, and she was bred to a slight bigger buck, and she had them, and everything was good. If the buck isn't to much bigger than her I think it would be okay, but say she is 15" at the wither, and he is 25" at the wither, that might not be so good. What I am trying to say is big differences in size are not going to go well unless the Doe is bigger than the buck.



Ok, thank you.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 22, 2015)

Goat Whisperer said:


> I would definitely hold off on breeding her to a full lamancha. She is smaller then I thought she would be, but she does look great!
> 
> Lamancha bucks can be 150-300lbs. I would breed your doe back to a dwarf or another MM.
> 
> Mini manchas!


 
The lady we got Kendall from had a huge Lamancha buck, who was Kendall's dad. I couldn't believe how big he was! I like smaller sized goats a little better than full-sized goats.  But I only have smaller goats, so that may be why.


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## alsea1 (Aug 22, 2015)

If it was me I would find a small buck for her. Why risk losing your doe.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 23, 2015)

Alsea 1 is right about this.  Use a mini LaMancha buck on them first.  Remember that even though they are tall, if they have large animals in their genetic backgrounds the kids may be large anyway.  Don't risk it.  Large doe to small buck okay, small doe to large buck nokay.  Not many vets can do C-sections on goats so if you choose to go the full size buck way, it may mean you lose her.  After hard deliveries or C-secioLook farther away for a mini-Mancha buck it will be worth it knowing she will be safe.  Maybe you can find a breeder that will board her and breed her for you. Although with all the diseases these days, not so many are boarding and breeding.  You might be better buying a good mini-mancha buck kid this spring for your 3 girls.

Why are you looking on Craigslist for a good buck for your does?  Look up goat breeders on line who have registered stock.  Even though your girls are not registered, their kids out of a registered buck might be eligible for registration as grade mini manchas.  It is a personal preference for me to use pure stock (I have bred both registered and unregistered livestock) because you can tell the eventual size and look of the animal. If you are into milking too, many people keep milk records on weights produced.  Even if you don't care if your kids are able to be registered, using a good registered buck will at least tell you his size, and some of his background.  The difference in price would pay for replacing a dead doe, or a lot of vet bills.  Then look into buying a nice (not necessarily show winning) pure mini Mancha buck kid for next year.  If you keep the doe kids from breeding your adult does this year, then you would have a nice start on a mini-Mancha herd.

I love a soft spot for LaManchas - my 3rd boy raised them and showed them in 4-H and open.  She is lovely.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 23, 2015)

Thank you everyone for the advice! @Ridgetop I am going to ask the breeder we got Kendall from if she has any mini Lamancha bucks/bucklings available. The only problem is that she lives about six hours away from us.
 I don't really want to keep a buck, I would probably sell the one I get after my goats are bred. I was wondering, is there a certain age when bucks get stinky?


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## Hens and Roos (Aug 23, 2015)

Our buck was born in April 2015 and is starting to get an odor, he is a ND so not sure if other breeds are different.


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## goatgurl (Aug 23, 2015)

@Goatgirl47,  ask the breeder you got the doelings from if she has a small sized buck you can rent to breed them to.  since they came from her herd and you have no other goats she might not be opposed to letting you rent one and return him after his job is done.  in reality a 6hr trip is much cheaper than a big vet bill or the loss of a doe.   and expect a buck to start sprinkling on the cologne as he gets to sexual maturity.  some breeds are worse than others but they all get "the smell" at breeding season.  my full sized lamancha smells fine from late spring till about September but when he goes into rut he'll make your eyes water.  good thing i love him anyway


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## Ridgetop (Aug 24, 2015)

1.     Standard LaManchas (and all dairy breeds) have a rutting season when bucks get very stinky from the glands behind their knees and in their heads near their horn scars.  They also pee on themselves which gets it in their beards, etc.  The does love it, although they smell nasty to us during rut.  BUT rut only lasts from August to December or January.  We kept 3 LaMancha bucks, 2 Nubian bucks, and 2 Boer bucks together except when they were actively working.  The Boers would go in with the selected does wearing breeding harnesses.  The LaManchas and Nubians were brought out on halters to breed whichever doe was chosen for them since my sons were showing and would choose the bucks to complement the does.  They did not fight among themselves.  They had all been disbudded as kids.  They were kept in a half acre field that came up right below the pool deck on the side of the house where our patio and entertaining space is.  The breeze blows toward the house, but since it blows all the time we couldn't smell them that much.  We may have been used to the smell of goats though!  No one could smell anything when they were not in rut.

Here is why - in January we would choose a nice day and shampoo them with pig soap from Jeffers.  It removes pig odor and also buck odor.  Then we would clip them and remove all the nasty stinky hair from their heads, back of the knee, rear of their stomachs, and their beards where they put the most pee.  We had clean bucks until the next rut.  Since we also would show the dairy bucks occasionally, we would also wash and shave them for the shows which are in spring.  Now if you live in a very cold climate and wash your buck in January, you will need to put a blanket or goat coat on him.  You could also keep him in the barn under a heat lamp until he is totally dry.  We live in southern California and we often have weeks of warm (hot)weather during December and January.  We chose one of those times to wash the bucks.

2.    I don't know about mini Manchas since they have dwarf or pygmy blood in them.   If Dwarfs and Pygmies breed all year, then mini Manchas might stink all year.  You will want to check with the mini Mancha breeder about that.  If they have a rutting season, you can use the method above to take away a lot of the odor.  You won't want to bathe him during breeding season since the stink level seems to be proportionate to the testosterone level and the does like the stinkiest bucks best! 

3.  Stinky bucks are just the bad part of breeding goats.  They get stinkier as they age since their testosterone level rises with age.  Young bucks are not as smelly until they are about 3.  Bucks are affectionate and lovable, and relatively smell free, the rest of the time.  In rut however, they listen only to their hormones!

It is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of having a good buck on your property.  Some questions to ask yourself are:
Can you pen him in an area away from the back porch.  If your breeder is 6 hours away and you get a good buck from her, is the smell worth the drive x the number of does you will be breeding?  Does your breeder board?  Goats are notorious for flagging a standing heat and going out as soon as you load them in the truck!  Don't forget to factor in the stud fees.  If your does recycle will you realize it in time to get to the breeder?  Is the breeding fee guaranteed to produce kids or will you have to pay a second fee for the second breeding?  Are you sure the breeder doesn't keep CAE or CL positive animals on premises or accept them for breeding?  If the breeder demands proof of blood testing for these diseases what will it cost you?  If there is a demand for mini Mancha bucks in your area, can you sell him when you need to replace him in a couple of years (to breed his daughters)? 

I would take one 6 hour round trip and a little stink in exchange for multiple breedings to a good buck that you know is clean of disease and right on your property.  Nothing is worse than loading a doe in standing heat, driving 4 hours to the buck, and finding that she has changed her mind.  I have lost track of the number of times it has happened to me and was one of the reasons we decided to get a good buck.  I was never sorry.  When my boys went to college and decided they didn't have time to show in open we had 7 or 8 bucks and were able to sell them for good prices because they had good bloodlines and produced winning kids and udders. 

Anyone else have opinions on this?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 24, 2015)

We asked the breeder (Her farm is called Lazy J Dairy) and she has a mini Lamancha buck and a Nigerian Dwarf buck for sale, but she said the ML would be a little to big for a FF, and I would rather have a ML than a ND buck. She also said that she has a friend in Madisonville who has a 50% Lamancha and 50% Nigerian Dwarf buck for sale. 

@Ridgetop I would like to have a buck, but we just don't have a place to keep one.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 24, 2015)

Well, I am confused.  If she is a small mini Mancha why not wait and breed her next year as a yearling.  She will be larger then.  If the other 2 are true mini Manchas, and 14 months old you should be able to breed them to a mini Mancha buck, right?  I am not really into the dwarf breeds so what is a mini Mancha and how true do they breed?  Isn't there a regulation size for them?  Why would a mini Mancha buck be too big unless he throws giant kids? and she is very small even for a mini Mancha.  I just think if she is very small, I would wait another year to breed her.  Not everyone freshens yearlings.  We used to hold half of them back to show as dry yearlings.  We only freshened the largest doe kids as yearlings.  Those were standard size breeds.  How much difference in size is there between individual mini Manchas?  I'm interested in learning about this.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 24, 2015)

Oh, sorry. Kendall is my only mini Lamancha, and she is 9 months old, and I want to breed her in a few months. My other two are Myotonic (Fainting) goats. They are 14 months old.

A Mini Lamancha is a cross between a Nigerian Dwarf and a full-sized Lamancha. Mature Mini Lamancha does must be a minimum of 23 inches tall and a maximum of 27 inches. The breeder said that her ML buck was just too big for first time does.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 24, 2015)

Oh, and I am going to breed Magnolia and Penelope (my fainting goats) to the same Mini Lamancha buck as Kendall.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 25, 2015)

Oh, ok.  I thought all 3 were miniManchas.  Are the other 2 large enough for breeding to a miniMancha?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 25, 2015)

Yes, but they are only about 2 inches taller than Kendall.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 25, 2015)

The breeder we got Kendall from has a friend who has a 3-month old Mini Lamancha buckling for sale. We are considering buying him, and he is so cute! He isn't Registered, but he can be. He is half Lamancha half Nigerian.

My Mom said we might be able to keep a buck after all, if we build another pasture for him next to our goats' pasture. 

Here are pictures of him:


  
And this is his dad,


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## lkmartin1230 (Aug 25, 2015)

Wow!! Pretty. GOOD LUCK!!!!


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 25, 2015)

Thanks! We are picking him up Sunday.


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## OneFineAcre (Aug 25, 2015)

Goatgirl47 said:


> The breeder we got Kendall from has a friend who has a 3-month old Mini Lamancha buckling for sale. We are considering buying him, and he is so cute! He isn't Registered, but he can be. He is half Lamancha half Nigerian.
> 
> My Mom said we might be able to keep a buck after all, if we build another pasture for him next to our goats' pasture.
> 
> ...



So the sire was a Lamamcha and the dam was Nigerian ?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 25, 2015)

Correct.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 25, 2015)

So exciting!  His father is beautiful, and he is sooo cute.  It will be so nice for you not to have to travel to breed your girls, or worry about disease transmission.  He won't need too much space, but make the pen sturdy.  He is little now but will be big soon enough.  Although I didn't have a lot of trouble with my bucks, the rams seem to be more destructive and powerful.  One of ours actually bent the bars of the pipe corral he was in by butting it!  In a couple of years, you can sell him as a proven buck and buy another buck kid for breeding.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 26, 2015)

Thank you! He's actually about 5 hours away, but one of our friends said she would pick him up and meet us halfway. I can't wait to get him!


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## Ridgetop (Aug 26, 2015)

Bucklings have different personalities than does - they are soooo cute!  Make sure to train him to behave, no jumping on you or butting in play.  Train him to lead on a collar and leash right away too.  Get him used to the stanchion too since you will want to put him in it to trim his hooves, and clip off stinky hair occasionally.  He is cute and little but too many of my 4-H kids let their goats develop bad manners because they were so cute as babies.  Don't forget that he is your new breeding buck and will be big and strong as an adult.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 26, 2015)

Ok, thanks!

Just curious, what method do you use to halter/collar train your goats?


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## Ridgetop (Aug 26, 2015)

I use small children who think it is good fun to get dragged around the barnyard! LOL  Actually, you put a collar on the goat and lead it every day for a little while.  It is just like leash training a puppy.  I think you said you raised and trained dogs, it is the same thing.  Repetition.  You can lead them to the stanchion and teach them that if they jump up onto it and put their heads in they will get a tiny bit of grain.  They will learn to lead because you are spending time with them and they love you.  You don't have to give them treats.  You can brush them a bit, etc.  Just lead them calmly, if they struggle and scream, stand calmly and wait for them to calm down before walking again.  It is the same with any baby animal.  Your does are older, but they will learn the same way if you have not already taught them to walk on a collar.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 27, 2015)

I raise and train calves, anywhere between 2 days old to 14 months old. I found it a lot easier to halter train Magnolia and Penelope then our calves. Magnolia and Penelope are halter trained, but I am still working on Kendall, she is super hyper and always try's to run ahead of me when I'm leading her, unless I'm far away from their pasture. She used to freak out/butt me if I touched her teats, shoulder, or back legs, but I've worked with her every day and now she's fine with me touching her anywhere.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 27, 2015)

Oh, and I have a couple questions. 

1. Would we be able to keep Romeo (that's what we are naming him) with our goats up until they kid?
2. Would Romeo be fine alone in a pasture right next to our goats?
3. Even though he's only three months old, will he still be stinky because it's (almost) breeding season?

Thanks!


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## Ridgetop (Aug 27, 2015)

1.  After they are bred, you can keep them together BUT if you are milking and drinking the milk, the milk will take on the taste of the buck odor.  If the does recycle (come back in season after being bred the first time), Romeo will rebreed the does without you realizing that they recycled and rebred.  This means you will not have a definite kidding date for the does.
2.  Romeo will be fine alone in a pasture next to the does.  When they are cycling he will call for them and they will call to him.  They can see each other and talk through the fence so he will be happy.  If you want to put them together when rutting season is over, he will live comfortably with the does and kids.  The does will protect their kids, and he won't be big enough to do any damage this year.  Just watch them and if he gets aggressive with the kids or does as he gets older, move him back to his own pen. 
3.  At 3 months old his rutting smell will hardly be noticeable.  Every year the smell will get worse (as he gets older).  By 3 or 4 years, in his prime, he will be the smelliest.  The smell can be controlled after rutting by bathing him after rutting season ends and clipping the hair that he pees on.  That is usually the back of his forelegs, his belly, and his beard.
You didn't ask, but at 3 months he might not be sexually mature to breed.  By 5 months he should be mature but might not be able to breed more than 1 doe every few days.  He should certainly be able to produce kids by November.  I would pen him next to the girls and watch him interact through the fence.  When he starts getting excited about them, and they will be seducing him too LOL, then you can try putting them together on lead ropes.  That way, you can control their interaction if the doe isn't ready and butts him, etc.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 27, 2015)

By the way, some people used to try to control the odor by burning the scent glands out with a disbudding iron.  THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND A TERRIBLE THING TO DO TO THE BUCK!  I don't think it is practiced much any more, thank goodness.  If anyone suggests it to you ignore them!  The buck needs his scent glands to be attractive to the does.  That buck smell is like the most expensive cologne to does.  It makes their cycles stronger and them more receptive to breeding.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 27, 2015)

I read somewhere that when rutting season is over and if you put the buck in with the does, then sometimes the bucks presence can stimulate the does and so they come into heat, is this true?

The breeder said that Romeo won't be able to breed until he is about five months, maybe a little older, but I am a little glad because Kendall is still a little too young to breed.

How soon do you breed your does back after they kid?


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## Ridgetop (Aug 27, 2015)

Dairy does are seasonal breeders so they only breed once a year.  The breeding season is August until January (this is the longest).  Nigerian Dwarfs may have different seasons - I am not familiar with that breed.  I would still only breed her once a year.  I know Pygmy goats will sometimes breed all year.  If your myotonic does (another breed I am not familiar with) and Nigerians breed all year, I would definitely NOT let him run with the girls.  Your does are young and you don't want to wear them out by kidding too often or too soon.
    Any Nigerian or myotonic breeders - what is the breeding season for your breeds?  Are they seasonal or all year breeders?


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## babsbag (Aug 27, 2015)

The nigis are all year breeders, not sure about the myotonics.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 28, 2015)

If nigis breed all year, I would definitely keep Romeo separate from the does!  With cross breds you never know which side they will favor in which area, right?  Although whether or not the does come into heat is another matter.  But if mini Manchas are part Nigerian or Pygmy, the does might cycle all year too.  Is that right?  I let my Dorset sheep breed all year round and they will breed back when the nursing lambs are 2 months old, but would you want to do it with the goats?  I only had standard dairy animals so minis are new to me.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 28, 2015)

Here is a website that says a little bit about Fainting goats http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/tennfaint. It said Fainting goats have an extended breeding season (it didn't say exactly how long) and that they sometimes have kids every 6 months.  I won't do that, because than they only get 1 month of rest before they are bred again. @Ridgetop do you think I should breed Magnolia and Penelope once a year too? Thank you so much!


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## Ridgetop (Aug 29, 2015)

What is your goal with your herd?  With dairy animals you breed and milk for 10 months after the goats kid in order to get the milk to use or sell. With meat animals you breed for babies that you will raise to eat or sell for others to eat.  The thing you need to ask yourself is:  What is your goal with breeding goats?  What are you going to do with the goat kids? 
     Are you breeding to get the does in milk so you can have milk for your household?  If this is your goal, you only breed once a year.  Goats will milk for 10 months before you dry them up so they can have 2 months rest before kidding and milking again.  With a dairy, kids are only important to make milk.  To a dairy farmer doe kids are worth money, buck kids are not, and milk is the important product.  You only breed as often as you need to produce the largest volume of milk. 
     Are you breeding the kids for meat or sale?  If you are breeding for meat that is good because meat buyers consume and buy more kids.  Pet buyers do not usually come back as repeat buyers.  Now you have a steady market for the kids you produce.  The number of kids you produce is important because each kid is worth money as a product for sale.  When selling meat, buck kids (that you turn into wethers by castrating them) become more valuable.  They are the end product and the more you produce, the more money the rancher (you) earns. 
     If you are breeding kids for fun and to sell for pets, things change again.  There are only so many pet buyers.  They do not consume the goats which live for many years.  They may want another goat as a buddy for the first, but if they are keeping their goats as pets, you can sell wethers or does and they will each have a similar value.  In this case, since you are breeding your goats for fun, and selling the babies for pets, or keeping them as pets, you will only want to breed your goats once a year.  There is no need to breed any more often, and it will be easier on your does not to be continually pregnant or nursing kids.  In fact, since your goats are not year round breeders, you could breed each one to kid at a different time of year.  That way you have the fun of kids, and are able to sell the kids for pets if you want, all year round.  If you breed all 3 does at one time, you have 6 kids (or more) to feed, take care of, muck out, and find homes for all at once.   With seasonal breeders, this all at once kidding season is normal, but for you if your goats are year round breeders, you can stagger the breedings and enjoy kids all year. 
     I hope this helps you decide how often and when to breed your goats.  Since the fainting goats are older, I would breed them first - as soon as your buck is mature.  The mini Mancha can be bred when she is older and larger.  There is no rush, although I hear that does past 3 that have never been bred can sometimes have a hard time settling when finally bred. 
     If you do not have a ready market to sell your goat kids, I would not breed more than once a year.  If they will breed all year, you could breed one doe every 3 months and enjoy the kidding process, and the kids.  Once they are born the feed costs will multiply rapidly until you sell the kids.  Try to get them sold by 3 months when they can be weaned,  You will need to keep accurate breeding records, vaccinate the kids with 2 doses of CDT 1 month apart, disbud ass the kids, and castrate any buck kids.  Raising kids is a lot of fun and very educational - the part your parents will appreciate! LOL  Have fun with your girls and Romeo.  Did you pick him up yet?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 29, 2015)

We originally got our two fainting goats because we were getting a LGD for our chickens, and she would settle in better if she had some goats as her friends. The person we got Ayla (our LGD) from had a herd of fainting goats (about 40 I think and so Ayla was used to them) and so we bought two. When we got Magnolia and Penelope, they were three months old and Me and my younger brother fell in love with them and later bought them ourselves. We weren't planning on breeding them, let alone getting another goat, but we want to make money on selling the kids, and it would be fun (and as you said educational) to raise them. Because Magnolia and Penelope are meat goats we would probably castrate and sell all the bucklings, or eat them ourselves. The doelings we would also sell, even though I would love to keep a few! 

We are picking up Romeo until tomorrow, I can't wait!  The reason we are getting a Mini Lamancha buck is because I LOVE Lamancha's (their personality and their ears), and I would love it if Magnolia and Penelope's babies have little ears!

What kind of ears do your Lamancha's have, elf or gopher?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 29, 2015)

@Ridgetop actually we aren't getting Romeo tomorrow. The dairy we are getting him from is five and a half hours away from us. Originally one of our friends was going to pick him up and bring him almost half of the way here, but now she is sick and we can't drive all the way to get him tomorrow because we are getting two new cows and a calf dropped off.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 29, 2015)

They all had elf ears.  We also had Nubians and if they were annoyed with one of the Nubians they would sneakily reach over and nip her ear!  Then pretend as if it wasn't them! LOL  I miss them. The babies were so adorable with out any ears.  If you examine a LaMancha ear you will see that they have a lot of stiff bristle hairs inside to protect the ear canal from bugs.  Other goats have no bristles in the canal because they have ears.  When the kids showed at the fair and people asked why they didn't have ears the boys would say that we harvested them and sold them to make the "Fresh Roasted Ears" being sold on the fairgrounds.  LOL  they thought it was hysterical.  We had all kinds of educational displays on our stalls talking about LaMancha ears but the people would still ask!  My favorite LaMancha color is the black with tan markings.  What is yours?


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 30, 2015)

I really love tri-colored goats.  And I LOVE the Lamancha's that are tan with a black dorsal stripe, and black legs. 

We just got three new cows!    Sasha, who is a four year old 1/2 Normande 1/2 Jersey cow, Ruby, who is a two year old 3/4 Jersey 1/4 Normande cow, and Ruby's unnamed heifer, who is five months old, but is smaller than our two and half month old bull calf. She is TINY! I will post pictures of them when I have time.


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## Goatgirl47 (Aug 31, 2015)

We are going to pick up Romeo tomorrow.


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