Breeding 101:

[mikey]

Breeding
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Getting ready

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There is really more to breeding than putting two goats together and hoping for the best. We will try to offer just a few suggestions to help you optimize your breeding program. We will not be addressing purebred breeding programs, breeding for show animals, or breeding for sale.
THE BUCK:

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A few things to consider in the acquisition of your buck: Do his parents both come from families which are good milk producers? Was he successfully dehorned as a kid? Are both testicles large, firm and without lumps or other malformations? Are the penis and prepuce free of any sign of injury, infection and inflammation? Are his feet and legs sound and show signs of routine, proper care? If he is of breeding age, what is the history of his offspring? What is his general disposition? What is his overall health history? Are there written records to support this? Will this buck improve the quality of your herd?
Some sources indicate that a doe will not stand for a buck that has been descented, but we have not found this to be the case.

The buck needs a regular routine of vaccinations and wormings (see our "Routines" page). Prior to his introduction to any does, he should be thoroughly examined for any signs of disease or abnormalities (as above). He should be in good weight because he may tend to lose a little during the breeding season. Be sure to give him about one to two pounds of grain daily starting about three weeks before the first breeding.

Be sure he has plenty of shade. The extreme heat of the late summer months, when breeding begins, reduces fertility in breeding males. Most producers want to get the kids born as early in the season as possible to maximize growth and profits and this is hard to do if there are high temperatures at the time of breeding. Try to put the buck with the does for breeding in the cool evening or morning hours. (Our kids are being born later and later each spring and this must be proof of global warming!)

It seems that there are "on the other hand"s to everything. Early breeding gets the kids on the ground and growing as early in the spring as possible. Therefore, they will have more weight and produce more income than kids born later in the year. But, also be aware that multiple birhts tend to be more multiple when the does are bred in the middle or latter part of the normal breeding season. In our area kids prices tend to drop off after July 4th each year.


THE DOES

Likewise, make sure that the does have received the proper vaccinations and wormings. Have any of them had problems with uterine infections that have not been completely cleared up? Are they of good weight, solid and trim but gaining slightly?
We keep our buck in a pen separate from, but adjacent to, the does.

 
This is what it's like when several of the girls would like to go visiting at once.

This makes it very easy to tell when they are in heat and to have complete control over when breeding takes place. This way all heats and breedings can be recorded for future reference. We supervise all breedings (at close range) to make sure that there are no injuries to the does. The does are only in with the buck for the few minutes it takes to complete the breeding and then removed. Some say that having the buck nearby makes the does come into heat sooner.

There is no hard and fast rule about breeding does their first year. Some people prefer to wait until the second year, no matter what. Others breed the first year IF the doe has reached 90 pounds before being bred. We have done it both ways and there seems to be no real advantage to either. If you don't breed the first year, you are losing a year of productivity for the same cost of raising. On the other hand, you have to be somehat concerned about the doe not reaching her full potential. If so, make sure she is well fed without becoming fat.

Many people claim that if vinegar is added to the does' drinking water they will have more female offspring. We have never tried this.


Heat "cycles"

Little boy goats, some call them "bucklings," have been known to be sexually active (even if not fertile) only a few minutes after birth. We observed one little guy riding his newborn sister before we even got him dried off. They can become fully capable of causing pregnancies when only a few months of age. Therefore, they should either be castrated or separated from little females at an early age. An improperly banded little buck can also be fertile.
Little girl goats, call them "doelings," can easily become pregnant when they start having heats in the early part of their first autumn at about 6 months of age. It is okay to breed them the first year if: (1)they weigh at least 90 pounds (except for the dwarf or pygmy breeds which will be smaller, of course), (2) they are in excellent health, and preferably (3) they have had two or three uncomplicated heats before breeding is attempted.

It is commonly said that breeding takes place in the months ending with "R". Does generally start coming into heat in late August and the bucks start smelling, talking, and doing all sorts of nasty things in response to this. This will vary a little with the weather and lattitude. We like to get the babies delivered as soon as possible in early January, so we try to start breeding in early August; but in reality, things don’t really get going until September. Some say that there is a greater chance of multiple (as in 3 or 4) births if breeding is delayed until later in the fall.

On average, does will come into heat ("cycle") every 21 days. This can vary greatly, especially with younger does and early in the season. Usually, however, it will fall into the 19 - 22 day range. Occasionally a doe will miss alternate heats. I have suspected that this may have something to do with a malfunctioning ovary, but I really have no scientific proof of this. There are a variety of disorders that can lead to problems in either direction. Ovarian cysts, for example, can lead to frequently repetitive or nearly constant heats that do not result in breeding. Some of the infectious reproductive diseases can lead to matings that do not result in pregnancy or abortions that occur shortly after breeding. Normal heats can occur even after a successful breeding; this occurs more frequently in goats than most other species. Severe stress, such as in a doe who is producing an extremely large amount of milk or has been ill for some time, can cause the doe to completely fail to come into heat. Too much alfalfa in the diet can result in high levels of estrogen, which tends to suppress heats. Another common cause of "missed" heats is that the owner just failed to observe the sometimes subtle clues that can occur in the doe, especially if there is no buck nearby to help point it out. A single missed heat or a single failed breeding should not be cause for alarm. But if you can see a pattern of failure developing you need to consider a consultation with your vet for some basic tests which may (or may not) reveal the cause. There are so many reasons for reproductive failure that they cannot all be covered here and most of them require specific lab testing in order to confirm. While these are not terribly expensive, your vet can greatly benefit from an accurate history so that a lot of tests are not run needlessly.

The individual heats last from 12 - 36 hours, with quite a bit of variation among the individual animals. Further, even though the signs of active heat may have passed, breeding can be succesful a few hours afterwards. Some does just aren’t very demonstative in showing their desires. It may take some careful observations to spot a heat. The usual signs of estrus may include: nervousness, tail twitching, varying amounts of "pinkness" and swelling around the vulva, small amounts of discharge in or from the vagina or on the tail , erect hair on the spine, talking, decrease of appetite, decrease in amount of milk produced, allowing other does to mount her, rubbing other does or objects, fighting. A doe in heat may respond to your rubbing your hand down her back by twitching her tail or raising the hairs on her lower spine.


The action
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This is where your kids can learn about the birds and the bees. It is really hard to predict how the doe will respond to the advances of the eager buck. Some just stand there quietly and let him get on with it. Others will take off running and never stop. If you have observed strong heat activity (this is why it is nice to have the buck penned next to the does) it is okay to intervene and hold her if you have little desire to stand there and wait forever. If you really want to make this a family affair, it is helpful to have someone else observe whether or not actual contact was made, because if you are holding her, you cannot tell. Of course, if the neighbors see you, they will be sure that you are a bunch of perverts. But if you have nothing better to do, you can just sit there and watch...and wait.
The first thing to do after the breeding is completed is to make a record of it and make a note on your calendar 21 days from now to watch for the next heat. She may need to be bred again at that time. However, she may come into heat at another date, especially if she is a yearling or it is early in the season. We have bred the same doe up to five times in one season and it is pretty impossible to tell which one will "take." They can have heats after a successful breeding.

You will also want to mark down a date 151 days after this on your calendar, for that is when the delivery is most likely to take place. Each doe has a little bit different average gestation length and it helps to keep track of these as well. You will want to plan her pre-natal vaccinations (about 3 weeks before delivery) based on this information.


Inbreeding and other confusing terms
This page could be written with greater accuracy by any of the many breeders who aim to develop the very best in purebred blood lines for the specific breeds of goats. Although we generally try to use purebred bucks in our breeding and seek overall improvement of our herd with each breeding season, we do not try to maintain a line of purebred animals. The intricacies of breeding, with all the confusing terminology thereof, have not been a real important part of our operation. Therefore, to the expert the following may appear a little amateurish. Mostly, we will just try to define most of the words commonly used.

Purebred

Best described as the offspring of two purebred parents of the same distinctive breed. The degree or percentage of breed (e.g. 15/16) is determined by the breed association.
Registered
Pedigree for individual animal is recorded and accepted by the specific breed association.
Crossbred
Each parent is of a different, distinct breed.
Upgrading
Use of a purebred buck and keeping accurate breeding records with the goal of improving specific traits of the herd.
Grade
The result of the breeding of purebred (buck) and "ordinary" (doe).
Mongrel
The result of a breeding using parents of unknown, unimproved or "grade" ancestry.
Backcross
A daughter is bred back to her father or a son back to his mother.
Inbreeding
A doe is bred to a buck that is more closely related to her than the average buck. Also refers to the same buck being kept to breed successive generations of female descendants or doe to succeeding male descendants.
This, of course, is where so many questions arise for the amateur goat raiser. It is generally stated that inbreeding results in:


Poor reproductive fitness
General lack of vigor

Reduced performance


When two animals carrying recessive genes for a deleterious trait are bred, then there is an increased chance for that trait to appear in some of the offspring. There is no getting around this fact. But, if a line is free of harmful recessives, then inbreeding will do no harm. The $64,000 question is: How do you know? Answer: you don't... until problems start occurring.
"Lack of vigor." "Poor performance." These may be hard to define. If these symptoms show up to the point where they are noticeable, then you have probably reached the point where it's time to stop. There is some evidence that the offspring of inbreeding will become smaller with each successive generation. One should also be on guard against this. What if you are trying to increase milk output and inbreeding accomplishes that goal. Then it is a good thing.

The crossing of different inbred lines results in vigorous hybrids. Some of the great advances in livestock breeding have been created this way.

So what does one do? If you have a tried and true buck that produces excellent offspring year after year, should you trade him in on "new blood?" As with most things in life, there is no simple answer. Generally, we would recommend against excessive inbreeding. However, this is not as rigorous a situation as used to be thought. One can go ahead and breed through successive generations until such time as improvements no longer occur or, on the other hand, until problems first appear IF one is also aware of the risks involved.


Line breeding
Line breeding is the mating of animals which are both related to an ancestor with an outstanding trait (sometimes with the fiat that they not be related to each other). It has been stated that line breeding is inbreeding with a purpose or socially acceptable inbreeding. It should be pointed out that bad traits as well as good ones will be emphasized.
Marking the Buck

If you run the buck with the does and are not there for 24 hour observation, it is sometimes difficult to know when a breeding takes place. You may then have "surprise" deliveries; and I really don't like surprises. Buy two or more colors of crayon-type [not chalk] marking stick. Remove the outer "skin" from one color and then slice it into little pieces into a small jar. Add a small amount of vegetable oil to it, Set the jar in a pan of water and heat it over the stove while mixing it all together. You will eventually learn the right proportions. When you let it cool you will have a nice waterproof paste that you can paint onto the brisket-chest area of the buck every day. At breeding the buck will leave a mark on the does. Change colors every 21 days so you can check second breedings. You may want to select colors that will be most visible on the does which you have.



Iowa State

[mikey]

Could Cross Breeding
Increase Goat Kid Value?
Different breeders offer differing viewpoints

By John Hibma 


Is there any value in breeding dairy does with a Boer or other meat goat buck to produce crossbred kids? This is a question with as many different answers as there are breeders. A management style appropriate for one goat herd might be completely unacceptable to another and vice-versa. For those who have dairy goat herds and focus on maximizing milk production and genetics, the idea of crossbreeding with a meat breed just seems to make little or no sense at all. But for others, crossbreeding can be used as a management tool with a variety of purposes.

Pat Hendrickson, Napavine, Washington, sells raw goat milk year-round from her Rocky Run Dairy. She uses crossbreeding as a management tool for her herd of Saanens, utilizing a Boer buck to keep her herd small in numbers.


Newborn Kids
 
"I breed my yearling dairy does to a Boer buck largely to evaluate what kind of producers they're going to be," she said. "If the doe turns out to be a good milker, I'll breed her back the second year with a Saanen buck. If she's not, I sell her."

In recent years, Hendrickson and her husband, Don, have decided to keep the herd size smaller. Producing some crossbreds eliminates the temptation to keep all the kids. They strive to keep their milking herd at about 18 does and sell off anything not meeting their expectations.

"There's a good meat market for crossbred kids where we live and I have no problem selling them," she said. "And a crossbred brings more money than a pure Saanen kid. Since we have no desire to grow the herd, it simply adds more value to the kids we sell."

A second major benefit to crossbreeding with Boer goats, according to Hendrickson, is that Boer bucks will breed throughout the year as opposed to the dairy breeds that tend to be much more seasonal. This allows her to freshen does through the winter to meet the year-round demand for her milk. Hendrickson understands that she's passing up an opportunity to improve purebred genetics by crossbreeding and that's where she has to make another management decision.

"For me the value of the milk I can sell during the winter is greater than the value of a purebred Saanen kid. I use a Boer buck on my yearling does because it makes economic sense," she said.

Also citing economic value is Nancy Eales, Hutchinson, Kansas, who raises, breeds, and milks crossbred meat/dairy goats exclusively.

"To me the 50-50 Boer cross is an excellent milking goat," she said. "They're more filled out and they milk well, too. They average between a gallon and a half-gallon of milk per day. I've experimented with breeding more Boer into the crosses but unless they are at least 50 percent dairy, they just don't work out for milking, especially over an extended time."

Eales also said her Boer/dairy cross kids grow faster and are bigger than the pure dairy kids and they sell for more, especially the bucklings and wethers she sells to the local ethnic population.

"I have people coming to my farm looking for day-old crossbreds and they are willing to pay from $50 to $75 per head, live weight," she said. "The going price for a dairy buckling is around $15. Cross breeding is a good way to get extra value out of the males that you're not going to keep, anyway."

Chris Glynos, Bethlehem, Connecticut, breeds both Boer and Savannah meat goats at his ranch and is also in complete agreement that cross breeding meat goats with dairy goats produces a better kid.

"The outcrosses are better in that they grow faster and command a better price at markets in New England," he said. "They tend to be a heartier animal."

Glynos said the market for goat meat in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts is growing rapidly as the ethnic population increases. In the Eastern region of the United States the demand for goat meat is growing faster than the demand for goat dairy products.

"You get the best of both meat and dairy with a cross bred goat and you're better able to utilize marginal pastures-pastures that you wouldn't be inclined to use for pure dairy breeds," he said. "You have to remember that goat meat is still the number-one meat consumed in the world. Many people in the United States still consider goats as the 'poor man's cow' and consider goat meat and goat dairy products as inferior to cow milk and beef. Goats fit a need in many parts of the world because they are easier to raise and have less of an impact on the environment. That's something that needs to be considered as more good land is taken away from agriculture, especially in New England. If you're close to a large population center with a diverse ethnic population like we are here in Connecticut, raising a few crossbreds on your goat dairy is definitely worth your time."

Randi Hoskins, Moscow, Ohio, has used Boer bucks to breed her Breeze Fields Dairy yearlings in the past, but found time and labor constraints trying to manage the two different types not worth the end result. She said the main reason she got into crossbreeding with a Boer buck was to see how the udders would turn out on the first-freshening dairy does.

"The kids of this cross were very nice," Hoskins said. "Mixing the Boer with the dairy gave the kids more height and milking capacity. But I only did this for a few years, ending last year. I discontinued because I decided just to focus on my dairy goats. Having two completely different types of goats was difficult in the overall care, genetics, etc. Now my herd consists of 10 Alpines (seven does and three bucks) and one LaMancha doe."

Hoskins said the dairy goats were easier to care for and not as hard on fences and feeders as the Boer goats were. Plus she enjoyed working with the pedigrees and genetics of her dairy goats more.

Carolyn Hillman, Colrain, Massachusetts, also said she had no interest in combining meat and dairy breeds in her herd of about 40 Alpines and Nubians.

"My whole business is focused on producing milk and making my cheeses. Last year (2006) I produced and marketed 6,000 pounds of goat milk cheese," she said. "I'm not opposed to people breeding a cross but I don't have the time to spend that's necessary to raise the crossed kids and then market them."

Hillman also said she wasn't convinced using a Boer buck on dairy does was a good idea, in terms of size of kids and influence on future milk production. For her, selling surplus dairy kids at the local markets or sales in Massachusetts has always been profitable and price was not dependent on the color or type of kid sold.

"I make my living with cheese production," she said. "Perhaps those folks with smaller herds who don't depend completely on their goats for their livelihood are in a better position to take advantage of the extra income that crossbreds might provide."

In conclusion, the use of a Boer buck to breed dairy does depends entirely on the focus, market, and goals of each individual goat breeder. Those looking to concentrate strictly on milk and cheese production and improving dairy genetics, don't have much use for crossbreeding meat and dairy goats. But for those who have all the milk and animals they need, using the crossbreeding option might make economic sense. For Hendrickson, Eales, Glynos, Hoskins, and Hillman, having differing views on the same subject doesn't mean that one preference is better than another. It just means that each must make a management decision based on their own goals and management plans. Could cross breeding increase goat kid value?