# What Age Do You Breed?



## Calendula (Nov 28, 2014)

Ever since we got our goats, I've been looking around at what age to breed. I will admit, I was somewhat surprised to find out that you can breed them at about a year old.

So I was just wondering, what age do you breed your goats? What kind of qualifications do you have for them, and etc.?


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## goats&moregoats (Nov 28, 2014)

Age, size and health. Those are the three I try to go by. Sometimes we get an unexpected breeding. I have one now, younger and smaller than what I like. Now it is a wait and see what the outcome is.


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## Calendula (Nov 28, 2014)

What age usually?
I was reading somewhere that some people like to breed them around a year old because it increases milk yield for the rest of their lives or something. Just not sure how comfortable I would feel doing that. xD

I'm just curious because I have a seven month old doe that I'm considering breeding this year, but probably won't end up doing.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 28, 2014)

You breed by weight not age
I have Nigerians and I use 40 lbs as the guidelines
With that being said all of mine are large enough by a year old
We have bred at 8 months
All of my kids born this spring are large enough at 7-9 months
With that being said we breed most at around a year old but don't breed some until 18 months


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## Calendula (Nov 28, 2014)

Ah, ok. Thank you very much, OneFineAcre! I have Nigerians, too, and have been debating on this for a while. I'll have to get out the scale and keep tabs on her weight.


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 28, 2014)

I agree with all the above posters. 

It also helps to know your lines. I have a doe that comes from the larger side for the Nigerians, they are often over the height standard and weigh more then the average Nigi. The can be bred at a younger age then my other girls, but I wouldn't breed them at 40lbs as they are pretty young when they hit the 40lb mark. BUT I have other does that come from some of the smaller Nigerians, they are much older when they hit the 40lb mark. 

I hope that makes sense  

Could you email the breeder and ask their opinion? IMO that is best, they should know their goats pretty well  

How 'bout some pics of these gals


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## Calendula (Nov 28, 2014)

Oh, I'll definitely be asking the breeders soon, haha.  We were lucky to get our two from a breeder who demands to know exactly how they're doing, even now and loves to get updates. Couldn't have asked for better help through all of this turmoil or a better breeder. (We're actually taking them out to her place sometime in December for 4H practice.  Can't wait to see their mothers and all of the others!)

I think we're probably going to have to wait on her, though. She's a bit on the small side.

And I've been waiting for someone to ask for pictures! 
The black and white one is our wether, Stanley. He's my big baby and I just adore him so much and am thankful everyday that we got him and not another doe. <3 I couldn't ask for a better, more loving goat.
And then the goldish one is Daphne. She's not nearly as loving as Stanley, but I still adore her. She can be a bit stubborn and annoying sometimes, but oh well... I wouldn't trade her. (And I'm hoping that she produces some gorgeous babies.)


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 28, 2014)

Beautiful goats 
She doesn't look that small to me for 7 mos
Let us know what she weighs
I have a doe Ginger the same color as your doeling
I wish we could get a baby the same color she has never had a kid with her coloring
And she's stubborn too
She is 5 yo one the home page of my website 
She's a big girl too


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## Calendula (Nov 28, 2014)

Well, I'm kind of just basing it off of what size our neighbor's goats were... kind of hard since they are two months older.
She was about five months old in that pic, so this is good. 
And I just had to go look at your goats. They're all so gorgeous. Makes me kind of want one, haha.

I'll check her weight tomorrow. (Not sure how I'm going to do this, of course. xD)


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 28, 2014)

Get your bathroom scale weigh yourself first
Then hold her and get on the scale
Then do the math


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## Pearce Pastures (Nov 29, 2014)

I breed by age and weight here with our Nigerians.  Never before 8 months no matter the size just because that is what I do---just seems too soon, too young to put them through the physical and mental burden of pregnancy, and really, I have never even bred them at that young of an age either.  Looking over records, the youngest we have ever done is 10 months and most are a year.  We have one who was small framed still at a year who we waited to breed until last month, so around 18 months old.  

With our boer goats, we do the same but I am more inclined to breed them before one year old, still over 8 months of age though.


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## Calendula (Nov 29, 2014)

She's about 27 pounds and 17 inches tall.
I'm not sure, but I think that's pretty good for seven months.

Thanks, Pearce.  Yeah, 10 months would be the youngest I would breed her.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 30, 2014)

Like I said earlier, you will never go wrong waiting until they are a year old. But, you also have to consider when they turn a year old and if you breed them when they will kid.  If a kid is born in the spring, then it will be a year old in the spring and will have babies potentially in July or August.  We've had kids in July and August, but that is not my preference.  Even though Nigerians can breed year round, I prefer breeding in the fall for spring kids.
So, that will mean if you don't breed in the spring then you will wait til the fall when they are 18,19 or 20 months old.  If I do that most of mine will end up too fat. 

We show our goats and our biggest shows are in the fall the NC Mountain State Fair, and the NC State Fair.  Love to go to those shows with a nice 18 month old dry yearling or two to show as a Jr. Doe (that is of course if they aren't big fat slobs) 

So, you got me curious and we weighed all of our spring kids today.

Nutmeg just turned 7 months old 33 lbs.

Shea will be 7 months old tomorrow 46 lbs 

Molly will be 9 months old Dec 6th 47 lbs.

Opal will be 9 months old Dec 12th 41 lbs.

Don't be alarmed that mine are larger than yours, they are probably for 3 reasons.

1. Molly, Shea, and Opal were big singles when born.  All of them were pushing 6lbs and little Nutmeg a triplet was 2lbs.
2. Molly, Shea, and Opal all come from a larger, faster growing line.
3. We left all of them with their mama's.  We had 4 does with buck kids that we sold and we milked them.  We were keeping these does and since we show them in the fall we just let them nurse their mama's to keep them in milk without milking them. That's what you get when you let one nurse for 6 months. And, Shea's mom is one of those high butterfat producers 

So what are we doing?
If Molly comes in heat in the next week to 10 days we are going to go ahead and breed her at 9 months old.  If we can't catch her, then we will wait.
We have a big show Memorial Day weekend.  If we can breed her in time to kid before that show we will.  If not, we wouldn't breed her her next cycle because she would be kidding about that time.  So, we would just wait and breed her in the spring.

Shea, probably in 3 months (with Molly depending upon the above)  If we wait until the following fall, these girls will be fat.  So, July or August kids.

Nutmeg, I think will be the one we hold to 18 months to have as a dry yearling for the fall fairs.
Opal, we will look and see what she looks like in the spring.

Shea with her mom who is 4 years old.


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## Calendula (Nov 30, 2014)

Big babies, haha.  I’m too worried about their sizes. I know Daphne was a quad and I think Stanley was a triplet… plus they were bottle raised. I wasn’t aware that any of that had to do with their size and how they grew. I guess it makes since, though. I’m (hoping, anyway) that Daphne is just kind of petite… we’ll probably wait until the fall after she turns a year old to breed her just because we’ll have a bit more experience and I’ll be more confident because of her size. I think her mom was a bit on the small side, so I guess we’ll see how she goes…. We’ll be visiting her breeder sometime this month (hopefully!) and ask her about it as well.

Wait, do you go to actual shows? Like, ones that aren't 4-H? I would love to be able to do that since I'm almost too old to be showing at our fair, but I don't think we have any around this area.

Shea's mother is gorgeous. I love her coloring.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 30, 2014)

Calendula said:


> Big babies, haha.  I’m too worried about their sizes. I know Daphne was a quad and I think Stanley was a triplet… plus they were bottle raised. I wasn’t aware that any of that had to do with their size and how they grew. I guess it makes since, though. I’m (hoping, anyway) that Daphne is just kind of petite… we’ll probably wait until the fall after she turns a year old to breed her just because we’ll have a bit more experience and I’ll be more confident because of her size. I think her mom was a bit on the small side, so I guess we’ll see how she goes…. We’ll be visiting her breeder sometime this month (hopefully!) and ask her about it as well.
> 
> Wait, do you go to actual shows? Like, ones that aren't 4-H? I would love to be able to do that since I'm almost too old to be showing at our fair, but I don't think we have any around this area.
> 
> Shea's mother is gorgeous. I love her coloring.



I guess I have giant Nigerian Dwarfs.  Kind of like jumbo shrimp. 

Where are you located?  We do ADGA sanctioned shows.  I would be very surprised if there aren't some where you are located.  We do 4 or 5 per year here in NC.  A couple of club shows (NCDGBA and PDGBA) and then the fairs in the fall.  We really enjoy it.

I've got some threads under "Showing Your Herd" and this years Mt State Fair, and NC State Fair under my journal under BYH Journal.(Starting on about the 8th page)  You might enjoy them.

Yes, the number born does make a difference at least until they are a year or 18 months old.  And if they were bottle raise and weaned at 8-12 weeks old like normal people (we are lazy ) of course that makes a difference compared to letting one nurse for 6 months.  They are eating feed, hay and drinking milk.

Edited: I saw on your new member introduction you are from Michigan.  Lots of ADGA shows up there.


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## Calendula (Dec 1, 2014)

I just read over all of it. Good job at the fair. 
Anyway, I have a couple questions about showing (I'm hoping you don't mind answering them!). So, is there a place at the show to keep your goats while there? Also, I heard about some show called - I think - Best Herd? Do you know anything about that?

Yeah, then their size does make sense. My mom didn't want to buy more milk replacer, so they were weaned at around three months old.  Oh well. It'll probably be better to wait another year, anyway, so I can keep learning and know more about how to breed them.

The MDGA (who knew we had our own dairy goat association?) apparently hosts two, as well, that are only about three hours away. So excited.  Maybe one day I'll actually be able to attend.


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## OneFineAcre (Dec 1, 2014)

Some shows have an event Dairy Herd where you show your animals as a group.
In the youth show it is 3 animals, in the open show it is 4.
We showed 2 dairy herds in the open show at NC State Fair.  Mostly because it is a well paying show.
Some shows have an event called "Get of Sire" where you show 3 does with the same sire but all from different dams.  Some shows have and event "dam and daughter", etc.


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## Calendula (Dec 1, 2014)

So, is it one person showing them and walking them around the ring, or multiple handlers? Also, for the dairy herd, do they all have to be related?
Sorry for so many questions. We don't have a ton of help around here and searching for this on the Internet was not very helpful.


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## OneFineAcre (Dec 1, 2014)

You don't walk your dairy herd around the ring.  For ADGA shows, to show in dairy herd they had to have been shown in their age group in the show. So, the judge has already seen them.  You just set them up with their udders facing the center of the ring. 3 in a youth show, 4 in an open show.
No, they don't have to be related.  But, ideally you want your herd to be similar animals, similar confirmation, similar udder, and it's better if they are close to the same age.
You can have help.  People usually help each other out at shows.  I showed more Sannens this year at the fair than I did my own goats.
This is my daughter Rachel (on Left) and her friend who helped her with her dairy herd at the fair.


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