Breeding questions..

[lupinfarm]

I'm planning on breeding Cissy in the spring, I will likely have to buy a buck for them. I am almost certain I know when Cissy is in heat, she gets very flirty and louder than normal, etc. I'm worried about Mione though, she won't be big enough to breed and both her and Cissy really fret when they are seperated, I'm sure they think they're momma and baby lol

How early should I start seperating them, should I consider sending Cissy away to meet some boys instead? Or should I have a man in? She has had one kidding before, and produced a single baby just a buckling.

Shots and tests she should have done beforehand? I'm planning on having the vet take blood and test her conclusively for CAE/CL no one seems to test for it here, but she doesn't show any symptoms of either and both are nice healthy ladies.

I'm looking to breed to another pygmy, She was kind of underweight when we got her and she has totally filled out and certainly looks pygmy to me now. She's also more of a very light caramel, has some black markings as well as does Mione.


Anything i'm missing?

 

[Roll farms]

Not all goats will cycle when you want. Sometimes being around a buck is enough to bring it on, but not always. If your smaller doe is in heat, he (and she) will try their darndest to get together, whether you want them to or not.
Ours (dairy and meat goats) tend to breed in the 'ber' months, but I've seen pygmies kid in summer at the local petting zoo so it may work out for you.
5 weeks from their due date I vaccinate ours w/ CD and T and BoSe, then 2 weeks before they kid I hit them w/ BoSe again, but you may not need to do the BoSe in your area.

 

[lupinfarm]

Well I know Pygmies are year round breeders. I'm probably looking at getting a buck right now, I have a small chain link pen I can use to house him but I won't have a house for him until the chickens get a new coop and the ladies are moved to the chicken house. I can use the chainlink pen as a breeding pen. I just don't want Mione to be bred, she'll be just over a year when Cissy is bred so perhaps if she is at 60lbs and has a nice build and gets the a-okay from the vet she could be bred too?

If at over a year Mione gets the a-okay from the vet and is at 60lbs, would it then perhaps be ideal for them to be sent off to meet a nice smelly man at a breeders? What checks/shots should they have if I go for this option, or if I can find a rent-a-buck (unlikely).

 

[Roll farms]

Those are questions best answered by you...would you prefer to bring a man home, or send them off.
As far as breeding the younger one, if the vet says she's ok, I see no reason not to. I prefer to have "buddy" goats kid at the same time, for many reasons, but again, to ea. his own.
*I* prefer to have a buck here, so my girl's routine doesn't get altered...but ea. person should do what works best for their set-up.

 

[freemotion]

I ended up buying a buck because of the trouble I had finding one here, and the expense when I did find one to bring my girls to....and the difficulty of transporting. I built a FORTRESS for him, in a paddock that I can see from the house, and that the girls can hang out just outside his fence. This way I can observe who is in heat. Then I toss the doe in with him, and everyone can still see everyone else, so it is not too traumatic for their best buddy. I used lots of electric wire to contain him so he doesn't get out and breed the older pet doe. So far, so good. I put three strands of electric above the four foot fence, and another strand at his shoulder height inside the fence, so he gets zapped if he tries to get friendly through the fence. Also if the does push against the fence, they will push the welded wire against the electric strand on the other side and get zapped, too. Which they all have.

I let everyone go through one heat, which I wrote on my calendar, when he first got here. Now they are going in for a date on the next heat, two does down, one to go. Then in about 10 days I should start to see if they come into heat again. I suspect the first one might, at least, as this young virgin buck had more enthusiasm than aim.....he may have figured it out when I wasn't looking, though. We will see!