Just got some skinny goats

[Southern by choice]

I love my bucks! I have 15 of them.
Fencing and either wire or separated on different ends of property etc works.

For most people the first few years with bucks can be hard especially when they rut because of the smell. Some bucks smell is horrid, others not so bad. I think diet may have something to do with it...
Anyway, after the first few years you tend to have a different opinion of that deep rut smell. For us it is
.. LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

Many people do lease bucks or take does for a visit.
Keep in mind it is a very serious bio-security risk.
We do not stud any of our bucks out, with one exception. If a person bought does from us and ONLY have our goats on their farm we do give them a breeding the first year after that they need to buy their own buck.

Our bucks are lovey doveys! Especially the Nigerian boys.

 

[Southern by choice]

Although I do disagree with Fiasco Farms about the age you should breed. A year or year and a half is a better breeding age IMO.

I agree! Fiasco farms is a valuable resource however there are many many things that goat breeders would take issue with. This is one.
Some things are very outdated so be careful.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

Some things are very outdated so be careful.

Yes!!! Get a second opinion on medicine dosages especially...

 

[JenniferDuBay]

Yes!!! Get a second opinion on medicine dosages especially...

I saw their opinions on homeopathic care, so I was taking the information with a grain of salt, thank you. If all of you tend to agree on a subject, I feel pretty confident that it's probably right.

 

[Southern by choice]

The breeding thing is difficult.
We never go by weight or age alone... we look at rump width, overall condition, age and weight. I have a six month old Lamancha doe that is 80 lbs.... NO WAY I would breed her. She may or may not be ready in 4 months... The last thing I want is a complicated delivery, a dead doe, or a doe that struggles with production.


Nigerians can really be all over the map as far as being ready.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

When I'm ready for it, can I post pictures here and get opinions and have you tell me what to look for? This sounds like something I'd need some experience to see

The breeding thing is difficult.
We never go by weight or age alone... we look at rump width, overall condition, age and weight. I have a six month old Lamancha doe that is 80 lbs.... NO WAY I would breed her. She may or may not be ready in 4 months... The last thing I want is a complicated delivery, a dead doe, or a doe that struggles with production.


Nigerians can really be all over the map as far as being ready.

 

[chiques chicks]

You may always post pictures. People here love that.

 

[babsbag]

Back to the question of Myrtle being bred...yes she could be if she was with a buck and she is a mature doe. Nigis are not seasonal breeders so she can get pregnant year round. In a month from now you could have some blood drawn and send it in for testing. They have to be more than one month bred.

I used someone else's buck for the first three years I owned goats. I would take my doe to their house for a "driveway" breeding and then come home. The thing with that is that you need to be able to transport and they need to be ready to receive, you get about a 24 hour window if you are lucky. I got tired of breeding in the rain, on Thanksgiving, on a Sunday, etc. so I finally bought mine own. My bucks have always been penned adjacent to the does with a fence and a hot wire in between and no problems. Mine are not noisy BTW; the does make more noise than my bucks. (I have 5 right now and another on its way next weekend). The bucks are about 5' away from the barn I milk in and it doesn't bother the milk. I don't love on the bucks and then milk, I don't let the bucks in the barn, and I don't leave my does with the bucks.

I did borrow a buck for a season once, but the owner didn't need him at her house so it worked out well. It was someone I knew and I knew the status of her herd. I had an Alpine buck at the time and need a LaMancha so she leased me one of hers. I now have me own.

I am very particular about where my does go to get bred for more than a hour or two. Too many unknowns and not just biosecurity but also the doe getting out of a pen or getting hurt (dogs or other predators). Sometimes the farm just isn't set up for another goat and they don't have good physical security in the area they might put your doe in.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

So it started raining here- The goats are screaming at me like it's my fault. Apparently in the face of their arch nemesis, the rain, all unfamiliarities and disagreements are being forgotten. Myrtle is letting the kids in the shed and giving me the stink eye. Clearly this is my fault. I will never speak to her, or her (newly adopted) daughters again. I had been considering getting a milk cow before, but I am so, so, so glad I got these accidental goats. As heartbreaking a start as it's been, it's going to be great.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I'm glad Myrtle likes them!
I have a doe who had a son, but she let the doeling I bought nurse on her and kind of adopted her, too.

Another one of the Nigerian Dwarf bucklings would sneak up on any of the lactating does and get a good suck before they kicked him away. He was fat.