The Breeding of the Goat - A Farming Post

Now, perhaps some of you are quite familiar with farm animal breeding & can't quite understand my fascination.  You knew all of this by the time you were 4 years old.  And perhaps some of you can not possibly imagine desiring to have dairy animals & be committed to twice/day milking & all that goes with keeping & caring for farm animals.

Oh how I wish I had paid even the slightest bit of attention to the specifics of things while growing up in a lot carved out of a pasture, with a grandpa who was a farmer.  I was surrounded by cows & even got to see a calf birthed once.  But I didn't carry anything away from that other than
sweet memories
and that fencing needs a lot of fixing
and that cows still get out
and that we say "Come Boss!" to get them to come to the barn.

A few months ago I didn't have a clue what to do with broody hens.  I read about it & asked a lot of questions, but until I could experience it I just couldn't know.  Now I can spot a broody hen within a day of her going broody & I know what to do & what to expect.  In fact, this past week we've hatched out 5 more adorable chicks from 2 broodies.

It was necessary to go through the learning process & make some mistakes.  Before having broody hens I couldn't parrot back much/retain a lot of what I had read.  And now I can speak from experience & not need to refer back to sources.

I imagine that I will eventually feel this way about detecting estrous in does & getting the breeding done, and even the milking & kidding & whatnot.  However, I am still in the "figuring this out" part of the journey!  

Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats is an excellent resource & I have read & re-read much of it.  I also asked a lot of questions at the Common Ground Fair.  I've read a lot online & I've inquired & observed at the Hanson's Farm, where Clara came from.

So- here is what I know!  Or at least think I know!

Some people breed their does so that they will freshen when they turn one year old.

(freshen - when milk production begins, after kids are born.)

The farm where Clara came from- they freshen at 2 years of age.  The book says one year.  Today the Amish farmer said either, but he thinks 2 years is better.  Clara will be about 2 when, Lord willing, she freshens.  When you are a farmer, or in my case, a wanna-be farmer, you don't want to be putting money into an animal that isn't giving back.  You don't keep chickens that aren't laying eggs.  You don't want to feed a dairy animal that isn't giving milk.  With that reasoning, the sooner the better makes sense.  My doe, Clara, can't give any milk until she kids.  So the sooner the kids the more productive she is.  Even so, I decided to wait for a 2 year kidding, maybe because of some of the trauma we went through when she was so sick.

So- we needed a buck.  

(FYI - goat owners typically do not like the terms "billy goat" and "nanny".  "Buck" & "Doe" are better.)

I originally wanted a Nubian, because that is what Clara is.

I inquired at several farms.  Treworgy's will offer buck service for $50 plus the necessary paperwork to prove your goat is disease-free.  I even asked my vet about artificial insemination, as that is the route some goat owners go.  This isn't something Dr. Alexander offers!  

Even at Treworgy's, they don't have a full Nubian for using.  Also, using them would have meant another vet bill & I wanted to avoid that.

My dad has established good relationships with the Amish community in Hodgdon.  I asked him & he found out that we could use a buck which belongs to the Wolf family.  Still not a full-blooded Nubian, but similarly sized & partially Nubian.  

Finding a buck was the easy part for me.  Step two was to learn to detect the signs of estrous.  Oh dear!  It is harder to detect when the doe is in heat if there is not a buck around.  Also, having a buck nearby can help bring the doe into heat.  Obviously we don't have a buck around & we would need to transport Clara to the buck, which in this case was over 130 miles away.  

(From Storey's:)

"Goats & most other animals 'cycle':  that is, they are fertile only for relatively short periods at more or less regular intervals.  Unlike cows, hogs, or rabbits, which come into heat year-round, goats generally come into heat only in the fall and early winter.  A doe will usually accept service from a buck only when she is in standing heat.  If she is not in heat, copulation won't result in pregnancy anyway, because the sperm and the ova aren't in the right place at the right time....

... The usual signs are increased tail wagging; nervous bleating; a slightly swollen vulva, sometimes accompanied with a discharge..."  (we'll stop there!)

Does come into heat during the fall/winter about every 18-22 days.  So about 3 weeks.  However, they can be in standing heat for as little as 12 hours and as long as 48 hours.  

So- about 3 weeks ago was the very first time I thought that perhaps Clara was in heat.  I called my dad & I was ready to rush her right up!  I want babies!  And milk!  He wisely said, "Mark your calendar for just under 3 weeks.  Bring her up then for a few days."  

This was my plan, but of course life kinda got away from me and for some reason I was thinking I would be going up early next week.  Yesterday I noticed that Clara was doing a lot of flagging & she was kinda different.  (No, I did not examine her vulva.  Kevin & I tried that a few weeks ago and it wasn't very productive!)  Anyway, so I notice this is possibly going on yesterday & I look at my calendar & sure enough- I had marked to take Clara up to Hodgdon around the 7th.  Yesterday was the 9th.  Oops.  Again, because their time of heat is so short, this could be a critical mistake.  

So at 9:00 last night I called my mom to tell her that I would like to come tomorrow & of all things, my dad happens to be away for the night and all day today!  Oh great!  This morning I get up early to try to ascertain whether or not Clara is in estrous.  Or at least my best guess.  I think that I'm a day or so later than I want to be, but I decide to take her up anyway, just in case.  

So this morning, Micah & I load Clara up into the van and start heading north.

For about the first 5 miles she was rather unhappy!  However, she settled in and hardly needed to be held.  Then she started getting restless again.  We stopped at the scenic view of Mt. Katahdin & she had a good pee & poop break!

My book says that "if she's lying down, she will not 'disgrace herself'.  However we couldn't get her to lie down.  We were doing so well in that department, until the detour into Oakfield.  Sure enough, she peed & pooped in the van.  Thankfully, that was the only time, as we stopped at a rest area on the way back home, as well as one or two more bathroom breaks!

SO- we arrived at the Wolf's home in Hodgdon.  Merica, (spelling?) called her husband in from the fields.  The school-aged children were at school, but there were several teenagers about as well as little ones.  I told Mr. Wolf, (I can't remember his name), that I am inexperienced at this, we don't have other goats around, and that I am unsure if Clara is actually in heat.

It was encouraging to me, that when he looked at her he thought she was.

It turns out that the Wolfs have 2 bucks.  One is a yearling & has never bred before.  One is old and Mr. Wolf is wondering if it's no longer fertile, because it is in with 4 does & they are not in heat, which is a little unusual.  

So- Clara has just had a long van ride that she didn't terribly like.

And she is not used to being around other goats.

So we put her in an empty pen.  First we try the older buck.  He should at least know what he is doing.

He may know what he is doing, but Clara is new to this, and he wasn't a "for-sure" thing anyway.  Mr. Wolf gave him very little time & he took Old Buck out & put Young Buck in.

He offered to let Clara stay there for a couple of days & that is really what I had planned on.  I am giving him some moose meat as a "thank you" so we talked about that.  I asked him some questions about the process.  I told him that if he didn't mind, Micah & I would like to hang out for awhile & see what happens & decide whether to take Clara or leave her.  He didn't mind so that is what we did.  We ended up staying over an hour and a half.  

Again, from Storey's:

"When it comes right down to the act of breeding, some bucks tend to woo their ladies and can take up to half an hour of sniffing and dithering to finally get the job done... In short, the doe urinates, the buck sticks his face in the urine stream and rolls back his lip, the doe murmurs sweet nothings in his ear in goat language and presents her rear to him....(skipping part of the explanation!).... If the doe is really in standing heat, one service is sufficient... If the doe is serviced and still comes back in heat, there could be several causes.  She might not have been bred at the most opportune time.  Wait 21 days; if she comes into heat again, another visit to the buck may do the trick."

At first Clara just basically ran away from the buck!

Young Buck had never bred before, so this was a first for him too.  They did some sniffing & checking things out.

And basically a lot of the buck approaching & Clara running away.  I was, and still remain, fairly uncertain because I am very new at detecting estrous.  I had read that if the doe will stand for breeding, it's a very good sign.  But Clara was not standing for breeding.

Micah and I enjoyed ourselves, which checking on Clara every little bit.  We looked at the other animals & I had a good talk with Merica.

 2 of the does.  So pretty!

 The Wolfs are trying to start a dairy farm.  They are selling some milk to the makers of Cabot cheese.  They had 3 calves in the barn & they were SO cute!

 Merica brought Micah & I out 2 steaming hot pieces of fresh-out-of-the-oven bread w/ homemade butter.  Yum!

After some time, I decided to do something I had read about.  Holding Clara by the collar, through a gate, I held her in place.  This way, when Young Buck came over she couldn't get away.  This, and giving them some time to check each other out, seemed to do the trick.  Young Buck became much more vocal & more aggressive & did mount Clara.  And eventually I didn't need to hold her, she stood for it.  

I went from expecting to leave her to deciding that I could probably take her home.  I wanted to avoid another trip up, if possible.  

Even though Young Buck mounted Clara, I let it go on for awhile, because he did a lot of fumbling around and I can't be sure if what needed to happen actually happened, in spite of the appearance that it did.  I came home and read that "she will tuck her tail under and scoot away."  I wish I had read that this morning, because I didn't look for that.

I decided that I had seen enough to be reasonably sure that breeding had occurred.  Mr. Wolf had told me that once, done rightly, is enough.  However, he suggested that I bring Clara up again in 3 weeks, just to be sure.  I wanted to do that anyway.  This time I will pay attention to my calendar & I will leave her at the farm for 2 days.  

Now, hopefully, she will not come into heat.  Which will mean she is pregnant.  It's not going to hurt things to breed her if she is pregnant.  But if she is not pregnant, it will give me another cycle to better understand the signs of estrous and she will have longer with the buck to conceive.  

SO-

Micah got Clara out of the pen for me and we climbed back into the van to drive the 130+ miles home again!  We had a quick visit with my niece.  

Clara was not so restless this time & was actually exhausted (!!)

 She kind of stood with her head wedged between the seat and the door, not very curious.
Then, eventually she fell asleep standing up.

So- I have learned a lot today!  It was exciting & fun!  In 3 weeks we'll make another visit & I'll be keeping a close eye on her.  Lord willing, in 5 months we will be delivering 2-4 kids, as that is what is normal.  For Clara's mom's first pregnancy she gave birth to 2 stillborns.  Does will still give milk if this happens.  My hope is for Clara to be pregnant & for early March to be a pretty fun & exciting time around here!