# What age for first breeding on a Nubian or other dairy doe?



## RedWolfeFarm (May 9, 2013)

I have two dairy does, one Nubian who at 4.5 months is at 69 pounds and a little Saanen/Alpine doe who at about 3 months is about 39 pounds by tape measure chart. I know that alot go by weight which is about 80 pounds suggested on a few forums which would be 11 more pounds for my Nubian but that brings to mind the question of minimum age? I don't want to breed
too young but definitely want her bred this year and the little Saanen as well if she gets up there in weight. Everything I read points to weight and not age so any help would be appreciated. 

Also along the lines of teats. I went into this very blind(first mistake I know) and my Nubian girl has a very sloped rump(will post pic when I get there) and I have been reading that the sloped rump is an undesired thing so now I get to look at correcting that with her but her teats are lovely and long, the little Saanen girl however has teeny tiny teats but from what I can see she has big orfaces   as does the Nubian(really looking forward to milking her) Some places I read descriptions on Nubians say they have the sloped rump due to higher hips but then talks about straight back and rump which leaves me confused what I indeed need to look for. I am not showing, I am just building a herd for personal milk but I don't want to build on bad goats and defeat the purpose. I want good healthy and fit goats.


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## sprocket (May 9, 2013)

RedWolfeFarm said:
			
		

> I have two dairy does, one Nubian who at 4.5 months is at 69 pounds and a little Saanen/Alpine doe who at about 3 months is about 39 pounds by tape measure chart. I know that alot go by weight which is about 80 pounds suggested on a few forums which would be 11 more pounds for my Nubian but that brings to mind the question of minimum age? I don't want to breed
> too young but definitely want her bred this year and the little Saanen as well if she gets up there in weight. Everything I read points to weight and not age so any help would be appreciated.
> 
> Also along the lines of teats. I went into this very blind(first mistake I know) and my Nubian girl has a very sloped rump(will post pic when I get there) and I have been reading that the sloped rump is an undesired thing so now I get to look at correcting that with her but her teats are lovely and long, the little Saanen girl however has teeny tiny teats but from what I can see she has big orfaces   as does the Nubian(really looking forward to milking her) Some places I read descriptions on Nubians say they have the sloped rump due to higher hips but then talks about straight back and rump which leaves me confused what I indeed need to look for. I am not showing, I am just building a herd for personal milk but I don't want to build on bad goats and defeat the purpose. I want good healthy and fit goats.


I also prefer to do it on weight as opposed to age.  I have found that different goats (either from breed or genetics) will gain weight at different rates, and going strictly by age can have you breeding a goat that's not big enough yet.

I personally don't pay much attention to breed standards - I breed for production, so I can't comment on the sloped rump.  If she produces well, and is easy to milk (in terms of udder and teat shape), that's what matters most to me.


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## RedWolfeFarm (May 9, 2013)

So she could very well breed by 6 months old then if her weight keeps going as it is (roughly 6-10 pounds a month so far)? Every doe in the lady's herd I bought her and Nick from had excellent udders and produced very well. I loved what I saw, all were well behaved goats and the few I milked out when I went to visit each put out 2 quarts or a little better when I milked them.


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## OneFineAcre (May 9, 2013)

You definitely breed on size/weight, not age.  But, for standard goats born in the spring, you definitely "hope" to breed them in the fall of their first year, 6,7,8 or 9 mos old.  Many would likely sell a goat who they could not breed their first year because they were too small, because you would have to carry them to a year and a half.

So, really no exact age.

I don't raise standards, I raise Nigerians, and since they breed year round, we have the luxury of just waiting until they are a year old.  Some could be bred earlier, but it's just easier for us that way.  Spring kids get bred the following spring, fall kids are bred the following fall.  That way we can spread out.

This year we had our first "accidentall" breeding, and an 8 month old got bred.  She kidded fine with a single, large, healthy doeling.

As far as the slope on the rump, the angle is a factor they are scored on.  No animal is perfect.  I would recommend you look at the animal in it's entirety as opposed to focusing on it's biggest fault, if that makes sense.  Does her strenghts out weigh her faults?

I would love to see pictures of them though.

I have a variety of rump angles.


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## RedWolfeFarm (May 9, 2013)

I love her but I also will be needing to sell babies at some point and I don't want to have goats that are undesirable if that makes sense. Nothing would make me sell this girl I would just love to strive for a good goat to have out. To my untrained self I love everything else about her, I am looking extremely forward to breeding and milking this girl and have been working with her since she was 2 months old getting her used to getting her little udder touched so its not a huge shock when she does come into milk. She has such an adorable personality it is just like one of my kids. When I work my long weekend hours she will pout because I have not been out several times a day like I normally am an will make a point to ignore me until I act like I am leaving the pen then she runs up in a panic because I just might have believed her act LOL...Pics will come as soon as I hit that darn number 10 post LOL


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## Little bits n' pieces (May 17, 2013)

I breed at 7 months and 80lbs. I raise American and French Alpines. And I also raise Boers.


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