# What age can you breed a goat?



## goat lady

I was wondering at what age would it be safe for breeding goats? How old should the female be and then the little Billy?
Thank you.


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## wynedot55

id say you can breed the nanny goat at 16 to 18 months old.but only if she is big enough to breed.now the billy can breed as young as 4 months old.but i prolly wouldnt let him breed till he was 12 or 16 months old.but thats just me.


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## helmstead

It really depends on the type of goat.  Miniatures should wait until they're at least a yearling.  Large breeds, the general rule of thumb is 8 months or 80 lbs.

You have to use common sense.  If they look too small or immature to breed, than they probably ARE.

Bucks are sexually mature, generally, at 2 months of age.  The youngest you're likely to have a buckling actually do the deed is about 5-6 months.


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## Chirpy

I'm with them both on this.  I would much rather wait an extra year than to breed too young.   It can only help a doe to wait until she's older and more physically mature before breeding her.

I have Nigi's who I won't be breeding until they are 16 to 18 months old.


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## ()relics

I breed my does,full blood and percentage boers, to kid late january/early febuary.  The doelings that I intend to keep for breeding purposes are weaned 60-90 days and fed a show goat meat builder pelleted feed, 16% protein.  They are kept seperate from the other older does and on the better pasture with the better feed ration.  I expose them to a billy starting late july to follow the schedule of Jan/Feb kidding.  They have their first kid before they are 1 year old...Keep in mind they are fed and cared for better than the older does to give them an above average body condition score...My goal is show animals and meat market animals so waiting an extra year isn't an option...The increased cost of the feed ration and care is offset by them  producing a kid inside their first year.  My young billies are only exposed to does after they have been covered by my older bucks...they serve only to service does that are missed by the other bucks...they see their first real action in the summer after they are 1 year old....If I have a buckling that I want to keep, I leave it with his mother when she goes back to the pasture with the other does...He acts as a teaser to the does but is too small in size to fertilize them.  He stays with them until he is nearly 5 months old before he is weaned...Then re-exposed to the does after they have been with the billy all summer....

IMO...no telling if I do things the right way...But so far it seems to be working....


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## D Bar J Acres

I won't even breed my nigerians to until they are 12-15 months, where some breeders have theirs kidding by 12-13 months.  They are just "babies" themselves yet!


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## goat lady

So I should have my wonderful husband build a separate pen for the boys and keep them away from the girls till they are all old enough?   We have two goats now and are looking at getting two dwarf nigerians. I am thinking of breeding those two if I find two that we like.  I am still looking.  Thanks for the advice so far.


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## ksalvagno

I just bought 2 Nigerian Dwarf doelings and the advice from all the farms that I talked to is to wait until they are at least 18 months old before you breed them. It is better for the dwarfs to be more mature.


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## goatkeeper

I have purebred boers and I breed my nannies no sooner than 10-11 months. I agree with wynedot55 that the bucks can start breeding around 4 months.


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## mully

I would wait at least 1 year... give her a chance to develop and be healthy. This way you can see how she is growing.


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## Roll farms

I go by how the goat grows / acts.  
I have a black boer doe who didn't get bred her first year b/c she's very small, another who's a month younger who kidded twins fine.  If I JUST went by the 80# / 8 mos. rule, I'd have bred them both...and probably regretted it.
I tend to let the finer-boned dairy breeds wait it out more often than the boers, and I have one BoKi doe who's only 3, who's had 8 kids and milks 1.5 gallons a day.  She's definitely a keeper.


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## username taken

traditionally you breed them to kid down at 2 yrs old

if they are well grown, and you have a good nutrition and management plan to keep them growing, you can breed them to kid down at 12 - 13 months no problems, but your management and nutrition needs to be better


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## Chaty

I breed my Nigerians at 15 to 18 mths of age and the larger type goat usually its 9 mths or 80 lbs and depending on if she was a multiple makes a big difference also. If she was a triplet or quad I wait longer as they dont seem to grow as fast. 
Nigerians if multiples I wait till they are 2 if they seem old enough. I have a doeling from a set of quads and she is 2 now but her weight is still a little off so she might wait longer. You have to determine the mentallity of the goat and her size. JMO


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