# Nigerian Dwarf doe not in heat



## Wild Bug Ranch (Jul 23, 2020)

I have a one year old Nigerian Dwarf doe. And it has been over a month, coming into a month and a half that she has not gone into heat. We have no bucks around since we are not interested in breeding right now. How come she isn't in heat?


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## chickens really (Jul 24, 2020)

Seasonal heat cycle. Usually starts August through to March depending on your location. My Fainting Doe just started a heat yesterday. Last heat was in March.


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## animalmom (Jul 24, 2020)

Nigerians are year around breeders.  They also are notorious for having sneaky heats... she could very well cycle and not be bothered to mention it to you via noise or tail flagging.  

My Nigerian does are rather quiet about their cycles and I have bucks.


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## Ridgetop (Aug 1, 2020)

What makes you think she is not in heat?  Most does are rather quiet about it unless there is a buck nearby that they call to.  I can't always tell when my ewes are in heat, that is why I put a harness and crayon on the rams to see when they get bred.  Goats are just as hard to tell.


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## Wild Bug Ranch (Aug 1, 2020)

so she hasn't been calling, no tail wagging, no loud bleats, no discharge! Its just weird


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## Ridgetop (Aug 1, 2020)

They don't necessarily do that unless there is a smelly buck around.  If she is an annual breeder rather than an all year around breed, then she may not do that until September or later.  Most goats and sheep don't put on any show of heat at all.  That is why there are so many surprises in the barns!  LOL


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## Wild Bug Ranch (Aug 1, 2020)

Yeah so Nigerian Dwarfs are all year long breeders and Dixie normally shows her heat cycles. But this year she really hasn't shown any signs! Is she possibly pregnant and we don't know how? Or what?


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## Ridgetop (Aug 1, 2020)

Pregnant by whom?  You have no bucks on the property.  When did you buy her?


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## Wild Bug Ranch (Aug 1, 2020)

We bought her last year the day befor Thanksgiving. I don't know, our neighbors have bucks but they are about 10 mintues down


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## Ridgetop (Aug 1, 2020)

Here are the facts:
You have had Dixie confined on your property for 8 months.
The normal gestation period for goats is 5 months 5 days.
There are no bucks currently on your property, only wethers.  
You have not seen any stray bucks anywhere around (after breeding her they would have stayed around her).

Dixie is 1 year old now.  Probably she has just adjusted to coming into heat every couple weeks and is not letting you know about it anymore.  Don't worry about it.  In addition the 2 young bucks that were (hopefully) wethered are only 2-3 months old.  You just added them to Dixie's pen and haven't noticed any breeding activity.  Since she is 1 year old and you are not sure about the castration technique or that it was successful you need to remove those bucks/wethers from her pen *immediately.*

Your older LaMancha X wethers are definitely wethers right?   They have been trying to mount Dixie and she doesn't run out from under them.  She may be cycling and they recognize it.  How were they castrated?  Were they banded? Surgical castration?  Since they are LaManchas they should not be coming into rut until September and if they are bucks they would stink.  *Are you sure that they are wethered?

IF ALL THE MALE GOATS ON YOUR PREMISES ARE CASTRATED WETHERS, THEN DIXIE IS NOT PREGNANT.*

However, I imagine that Dixie is coming into season, the wethers realize it from her smell, and are mounting her for that reason.  Since you are not sure about their successful castration, I would immediately remove Dixie from all the other goats and make sure that the males are definitely castrated properly.


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## Wild Bug Ranch (Aug 1, 2020)

Yes the wethers are Nigerian Dwarf/La Mancha mixes and they were banded and they have no balls. The wethers are about 2 years old. I check Dixie everyday to make sure she isn't in heat because I record it. She hasn't had her heat cycle and still hasn't


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## Ridgetop (Aug 1, 2020)

Are you planning to breed her?  Is that why you are watching for a heat cycle?


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## Wild Bug Ranch (Aug 1, 2020)

yes, the breeder gave us Dixie for free and offered a stud service for free


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## Ridgetop (Aug 1, 2020)

So you want to get her bred to kid in 2021.  You will want to plan the breeding for September to kid after January 1, 2021.   

What are the age class break downs in the Nigerian Dwarf shows?  Since you want to show Dixie and her offspring, you need to know what the show classes consist of.  

Since Nigerians breed year round, do the class entries count ages from date of birth or from January of the calendar year?  In standard breeds the cut off date is December 31 of the calendar year.  Any goats born on December 31 or prior are considered to be 1 year old on January 1 of the next year.  In other words although the kid may be born on December 31, 2020, it cannot be entered in any kid classes in 2021 since only kids born after January 1 of 2021  would qualify as kids.  Then those kids born in 2021 would be divided into different age classes depending on their birth dates.  The number of kid class divisions in the show would depend on when in the year the show was to be held.  For instance in shows held in the spring there might be only one kid class sfor kids born January 1 through ?.  For summer shows, there might be 2 classes with the senior kids divided by ages Jan 1-February 28, and junior kids born March 1-May 30.  There will be dry yearling classes, yearlings in milk, and then does in milk. The size of the show will determine how many classes will be held.  Sometimes Aged Doe classes will be added, Dairy Herd, Get of Sire and Produce of Dam.  

You need to know how the classes are broken down since you don't want to breed Dixie and have her produce kids in December if the cut off is December 31.  Older kids show better than younger kids.  You can see how bad it would be to have a kid born in December that would have to show at a few months old in yearling classes!  You also want Dixie in milk by the time she enters shows since a 2 year old (which she would be considered) shown dry won't even be considered and might be DQed for not being in milk.  The udder counts for 50% of the judging points in milkers.  You might also want to consider pulling her kids and raising them on bottles to keep her udder in top shape for showing since kids butting against the mammary system has a tendency to break down and strain the udder suspensory ligaments.  You don't want anything to remove part of that 50% points on the udder.

Call the breeder and ask when the best time would be for Dixie to kid for her kids to have the best chance in the show ring.  Then breed for that birth date.  Gestation is 5 months and 5 days.   Breed no sooner than 5 months before the cut off date to make sure that the kids are born in the right time period.  4-4 1/2 months is better to aim for.  If she takes on the first breeding she has January kids.  If she misses then you have a chance to rebread and her kids are still a good age for competition.

Have to get off the computer and get dinner on.  Let me know what you decide.


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## JoyfulGoats (Aug 14, 2020)

Nigerian Dwarfs are year-round breeders potentially, but not always. Many do not have heats every 21 days year-round. They can tend to skip during the summer. Most of my does do not really have heats in the summer. They usually kid around May - June, and then come back in heat around September/October. Some still have heats in the summer, but not all. Usually those who do have summer heats are the younger ones who haven’t given birth, but not always. They can also skip cycles in the summer sometimes.


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## BellaM (Sep 18, 2020)

Wild Bug Ranch said:


> I have a one year old Nigerian Dwarf doe. And it has been over a month, coming into a month and a half that she has not gone into heat. We have no bucks around since we are not interested in breeding right now. How come she isn't in heat?


My ND doe is very chilled in general but also doesn't make a fuss when she's in heat. I have to rely on my buck to let me know. So she may very well be going about her business without drawing attention to herself ☺️.


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