A Question About Goat Ages

[Patchesnposies]

On our local Freecycle someone was offering a Nubian milk goat, I contacted them and they offered her to me. She is 9 years old, currently dry and not bred. They didn't get heir bucks in time to breed her early when she came into heat. (Do Nubian's come into heat when around a buck?)

Is she too old to be bred again? Isn't 9 old for a goat? She is, I am told, a great milker and has won ribbons, etc.....but the reason I am interested in her is because she is a very calm, friendly and laid back goat. She is an experienced milker that the owner learned to milk on.

We have two Nigerian dwarf does, one recently kidded with twin doelings and the other is due in November. As Tassel's babies have gotten older I have attempted to milk her and she is not crazy about the idea. I hate getting her and the babies upset so I don't force it.

I am wondering if having an older calmer doe around who doesn't freak out when being milked might not help calm our girls down when I want to milk them. (I know this won't happen until a while down the road.)

At any rate, I am rambling! I will probably take this old gal, even if she is just a pet. I was just wondering what the chances are of her having another kid or two and our milking her.

Any thoughts?

Edited to delete an "o", so that no one thought I was asking if 90 was old for a goat. LOL

 

[username taken]

she's not a young or middle aged goat, yes, she is an old goat, but as to whether she is TOO old, that depends on the individual doe and the type of life she has led.

I would say in MOST cases you would expect at least one more litter out of her - generally speaking goats will breed easily until they are around 10 ish. In fact I am buying a champion show doe (dairy) who is 9, to breed from (and trust me, she's not going cheap).

I know of does who are 16 yrs and still breeding. I also know of does who stopped breeding at 8 yrs old, but in my experience they are rare.

Put it this way ... in my herd my two best angora does (they produce the best kids every year) are 10 and 8. My best dairy doe is 10 and soon I will add the 9 yr old. I have a 13 and a 8 yr old boer doe. My friend has the 16 yr old boer x dairy does who are still breeding, and throw triplets every year, and raise the heaviest kids at weaning time.

Be sure to check her teeth, if she has none left in the front (likely) she will need grain and hay, she wont be able to graze much but she will have no problems otherwise. If she has none left in the back (the molars), pass on her. Once they lose the teeth in the back, even grain and hay diets wont keep them going, they dont last long once those teeth are gone.

As for Tassel - tie her spoiled bum up and tell her that she is going to be milked, and she'd better learn to like it! In all seriousness, many FF dont behave when they are first milked, but firm discipline, patience and persistance will get her behaving better in the end.

 

[cmjust0]

I am wondering if having an older calmer doe around who doesn't freak out when being milked might not help calm our girls down when I want to milk them.

I'm fairly convinced that goats are only capable of learning bad behavior from one another.

Anyhow...something I'd be asking myself about this goat is "Why is she on freecycle?" I know she's old, but like UT said...old doesn't necessarily mean worthless.

Just make sure you're not bringing home a truckload of problems that someone else didn't have the heart to euthanize.

 

[Chirpy]

(Do Nubian's come into heat when around a buck?)

Nubians generally come into heat starting in August or September and every month from then until January. Occasionally, I've heard of them being in heat in February and even March but I believe that's rare.

Nigis come into heat all year round.

I also agree that she could be a pot of gold for you or.... a huge amount of health issues that someone is trying to unload.