going into heat

[sillystunt]

so i have had my nigerian female for over a month. i have yet to notice her go into heat. Am i missing something? Is it every 28 days or longer? I am totally confused.
I want to breed her and the lady said, it's usually for 36 hours they are in heat. So the window is small. Any help would be appriciated

Hope i didn't get an A sexual goat

 

[zatsenoughcritters4me]

do you have her in with a billy? maybe she is already bred? usually when we put our does are in with the billy they usually start flagging their tails within a few days, but we have 1 goat that always breeds the next month, like she is stubborn!! her babies are always born about 3 weeks after the others.

 

[lilhill]

Nigerians cycle every 18-21 days. Some have obvious heat cycles and others are barely noticeable. If she was here and I couldn't detect a heat cycle, I'd put her in with the buck for at least 45 days to cover two cycles. Then it would be a matter of waiting to see if she settled during that time. If you don't have a buck on site, then you can always use a buck rag to check for heat.

 

[username taken]

Okay:

- A doe needs to be a certain weight before she will begin to cycle. Young does, and older malnourished does will not cycle if they are below this critical weight. How old is your doe?

- Some breeds are seasonal breeders - they will not cycle at certain times of the year. Some breeds are not seasonal and will cycle all year round. And then some individuals do not like to stick to the rules. Some individuals which should be seasonal, are not, and some which shoud cycle all round, will only cycle within a season. Silly goats

- Cycles are 17 - 21 days. But again, some does do not like to follow that rule. I have had does that cycle every 10 days, and up to 31 days!

- Some does display strong signs of heat, some dont. For example, Chelsea is in raging heat this morning, and she is a terror. She is standing next to the shed and headbutting and charging it constantly. She has gone round the pen knocking all the feeders over, broken the water bucket and is a destructo-goat. She is also harrassing the poor togg doe, mounting her and acting bucky. Her tail is wiggling so much it is almost falling off. In contrast Anna shows no signs of heat whatsoever, no vocalisation, tail waggling etc. The only reason I know she is in heat is because she jumps out of her pen and into the buck pen.

- Length of time they are receptive is usually 1 - 2 days, during which time the buck will mate them several times. Again, there are exceptions to that rule - Levanna is only receptive for 30mins in the morning, and if the buck doesnt get to her then, I miss out on kids from her.

So basically, there are several reasons why you might miss her going into heat, and if it continues the best thing is to run her with the buck for 6 - 8 weeks.

Good luck with her!