If you want to have a successful kidding season, planning and preparation for breeding your does should start well in advance of exposing them to a buck. Provided here is a checklist of calendar items for the care for your does in the months before and after being bred. An example management calendar is provided to help ensure a healthy pregnancy and healthy kids.
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Breeding goats can be a fun and rewarding experience for your family or farm. There is something special about goat kids that you nurture in the womb, help enter the world, and watch grow up.
However, breeding animals of any kind is not something to be taken lightly. In my opinion, this endeavor warrants careful consideration and planning.
Pre-breeding Questionnaire
Before you decide to breed your goats, you need to ask yourself a few important questions:
- Is my goat worth breeding?
Your goat doesn’t have to be registered to be worthy of breeding, but it should not have any major flaws to be a candidate for reproduction. Goats with poor conformation, low parasite resistance, dental alignment issues, poor teat structure, or physical deformities should not be bred.
On my farm, my goal is to constantly improve my herd. I have registered Boer, Nubian, and Angora goats. When breeding my registered stock, I select and cull animals based on breed standards. I also have a herd of goats that I raise for meat and use for clearing brush. I make breeding decisions for these animals based on mothering instincts, foraging ability, thriftiness, and temperament.
- Is my goat the appropriate age and size for breeding?
You don’t want to breed a goat that is too young or too old. Breeding a doeling that is less than 7 months old or that hasn’t reached 80% of its estimated mature weight is not advised. Doing so can stunt the growth of the doeling and lead to kidding issues. On the other hand, the breeding of does that are over 8 years old should be carefully considered because they can have a harder time chewing food, getting around, and maintaining their body condition.
On my farm, I breed most of my doelings for the first time after they turn 1 and stop breeding on a case-by-case basis. I have had does as old as 10 kid with success, but some others I retire earlier.
- Do I have the infrastructure and financial resources to support this goat and her offspring?
It’s important to make sure you have the room and facilities needed for more goats before you breed. Your pregnant doe will need a clean, safe place to kid. You may need to provide a separate area if her herdmates are a threat, she has trouble bonding with the kids, or you want to strictly bottle-feed.
You will want to make sure you are financially prepared to feed the pregnant doe and her kids once they arrive. In addition, budgeting for vaccinations, castration, disbudding, and emergency veterinary care is a good idea.
If you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, you are ready to implement a breeding program. Here is the management calendar I use for my breeding does.
Example Management Calendar for Breeding Goats
I am a planner, in every aspect of life, and like to be as organized as possible. Keeping a detailed calendar helps me stay on task and adequately prepare for what is to come. When it comes to breeding goats, I like to lay out my timeline by month so that I don’t forget anything!
The schedule provided here is an example of how you can care for your breeding does. Use these calendar items as a template or checklist for the management of your goats in the months before and after being bred to ensure a healthy pregnancy and healthy kids.
The example calendar shows the management of my registered 2-year-old Angora does, Myrtle and Mesa, that I wanted to breed for March kidding. Customize the dates to fit your own needs.
You will notice it is an “academic style” calendar that runs from July to June of the following year, aligning nicely with the customary fall breeding and spring kidding of goats.
The document is a free PDF download.
Here are the 14 things you need to put on your calendar for kidding success!
1. Monthly Body Condition Score and Anemia Checks for Breeding Does
The first calendar item you should schedule for goats that you plan on breeding is monthly wellness checks. During these monthly exams, monitor each animal’s body condition score (BSC) and anemia status.
To accurately body score, you should not only look at the goat, but put your hands on them as well. Feel for fat coverage on the spine and over the ribs. Goats that are too fat or too thin have a harder time getting bred. Make the necessary nutritional adjustments prior to exposing your does to the buck to increase the chances of conception and kidding on time.
You can check your goat’s anemia status with an official FAMACHA card. I took an online class and obtained my certification through the University of Rhode Island’s program. Comparing your goat’s inner eyelid to the FAMACHA scale, you can determine how anemic they are and use that information to help decide who needs to be dewormed.
As you can see on my management calendar, I do BSC and FAMACHA checks on the first of every month.
2. As Needed Deworming for Breeding Does
You wont find scheduled dewormings on my management calendar. If I have an anemic goat, prior to breeding I will use a conventional dewormer on them. If you administer any medication, including dewormers, you will want to note those on your calendar to help keep track.
If you need to deworm a goat that is confirmed or even possibly bred, please seek veterinary advice. There are several dewormers that are NOT safe to give to pregnant goats!
3. Regular Hoof Trimming for Breeding Does
As you can see on my calendar, I trim my goat’s hooves every 6 weeks. During pregnancy a doe’s hooves grow faster than normal and regular trimming can help prevent mobility issues as she gains weight.
For more information on how to trim a goat’s hooves, you can click here to read my step-by-step instructional post.
4. Heat Cycle Tracking of Breeding Does
Another calendar item you will want to mark is the heat cycle of your does. Goats go into heat every 21 days on average. There are a few ways to know if your doe is in heat. Does in heat are often vocal or noisy, have some swelling or discharge from their vulva, and flag or wag their tags a lot. If you have a buck on site, the does will hang out closest to his enclosure and call to him. If you don’t have a buck, you may see your does mounting each other. The doe being mounted is the one in estrus.
Tracking your does’ heat cycle will help you know when they are most likely to be receptive to the buck. This is especially helpful if you are relying on a driveway breeding or using someone else’s buck to service your does. If you have your own buck, tracking their cycle is less important but still something you can monitor.
You can see on my calendar that I started paying attention to Myrtle and Mesa’s heat cycles a month before I wanted to breed them. This way I knew when the best time to initiate breeding was.
5. Flushing Breeding Does
Flushing refers to increasing the feed input for does 2-4 weeks before breeding as well as during the first week or two of exposure to the buck. According to research from Michigan State University, this practice has shown to increase kidding rates. They note that increased fertility is only observed in those animals that start with an acceptable BSC. The same effect is not seen in under and overweight animals.
Since my Angoras were a little leaner than I wanted, I started flushing 1 month prior to when I planned to expose them to the buck.
6. Exposing Breeding Does to a Buck
To set my exposure date, I work backward from the earliest I would like to kid. It is possible, and likely if you are tracking heat cycles, that your does could be covered on the first day that they are exposed.
You will want to note the dates that your does are covered on your calendar. A marking harness is helpful if you have a large herd or if you aren’t around to monitor their activities. I use a marking harness for my Boer buck who typically has more than 15 does to service on pasture. Since I only have 3 Angoras, I don’t use a harness. I just put them in a pen closest to the house so I can keep an eye on them.
7. Pregnancy and Disease Testing for Breeding Does
Ultrasound and blood testing are two options for verifying whether or not your does are pregnant. I choose the blood testing route because I don’t have the skills or equipment to preform an ultrasound. I do, however, feel confident drawing blood from my goats, which I send to a lab. In addition to testing for pregnancy, which can be done as early as 30 days post breeding, I also have my goat’s blood tested for diseases such as CAE.
For instructions on drawing blood on goats for pregnancy and herd health testing, click here to read my other article.
8. Calculating Due Dates for Breeding Does
Once you know your goats are pregnant, you can mark their anticipated due date on your calendar. For standard breed goats, their gestation period is 150 days. The American Goat Society has an online goat pregnancy calculator that I use so I don’t have to count the days myself. You just plug in their exposure date, and it gives you the kidding date which is pretty cool!
9. Copper Bolusing Breeding Does
I live in a copper deficient area and give copper boluses to all of my goats twice a year, in June and December. Since copper is safe to give during pregnancy, I administer it as usual to my bred does. Consult with your veterinarian to find out if copper bolusing is a good idea for your herd. Not only does it prevent copper deficiency, but it also helps combat intestinal parasites.
For information on how I give my goats a copper bolus in a Fig Newton or with a balling gun, click here to read my article.
10. Vaccinating Breeding Does
All of my goats get an annual CD+T vaccine to protect against clostridium perfringins type C and D (overeating disease) and clostridium tetani (tetanus). I give my pregnant does their annual vaccine 1 month before their due date. Doing so provides passive immunity to the kids. The kids will get their own series of vaccines at 4-6 weeks of age and then 1 month after the initial vaccination for full protection.
For more on why and how to give a CD+T vaccination to your goats, click here to read my other article.
11. Selenium Injections for Breeding Does
I have had past issues on my farm with kids born with White Muscle Disease, which is caused by a selenium and vitamin E deficiency. To prevent further occurrence, I obtained, through a prescription from my veterinarian, a bottle of BoSe to administer to my pregnant does. I give the dose recommended by my vet 1 month prior to kidding. To determine the necessity for and dosing of BoSe, you should consult with your veterinarian.
Another option for providing a selenium and vitamin E supplement is an oral gel that can be purchased over the counter at most farm stores or online.
In addition to making sure your goats have enough selenium and vitamin E, you should provide free-choice loose minerals and salt to your herd at all times.
12. Preparing a Kidding Kit for Breeding Does
I like to get my kidding kit stocked and around 1 month before my first doe is due. Making sure I have everything ready a few weeks early prevents me from having to run out and purchase items last minute or wait on shipping.
For more on what I keep in my kidding kit, click here to read my other article.
13. Moving Breeding Does to a Kidding Pen
About 10 days before their due date, I move my pregnant does to a kidding pen. This gives them time to adjust and become comfortable in their new enclosure before the stress of delivery. I use our 12×12 foot horse stalls, divided in half with a hog panel, as kidding jugs. Each doe has their own personal space for nesting, kidding, and eating, but they can still see and hang out with their herdmate through the fence.
Our kidding pens each have a warming box with a heat lamp that only the kids can access and straw bedding, hay, and fresh water for the doe. A compact, clean space for kidding will help you monitor your doe for signs of labor and then provide an intimate area for her to bond with her kids.
14. Monitoring Breeding Does for Signs of Labor
Once your does are in their kidding pens, check on them frequently and note any physical or behavioral changes. The doe’s ligaments will soften, her udder will fill, and the kids will “drop” lower in her body cavity. Right before delivery, you will see some thick, clear discharge from her vulva. You may also observe your doe talking to her belly or building a nest in the straw.
In a normal delivery, the doe will lay down to push and the first visible sign of the kid will be the two front hooves, toes up. The kid’s head should be resting on the front legs, it usually slips right out after the shoulders have cleared the birth canal. Make sure the kid’s nose is cleared of any mucous right away. The doe should clean and dry him off and he should be working on standing up within minutes. The next task is latching on for his first feeding.
Congratulations! You successfully cared for your doe before, during, and after her pregnancy and now have a cute, new addition (or two) to show for it.
Mother, farmer, author, and teacher by trade… She loves tending to things and watching them grow!
I do not have plans to breed goats or any other animal for that matter!😁. But I read your blog and found it very informative and interesting! Great job Sam for sharing your knowledge to help others in the business.
Thanks, Aunt Beth. I appreciate your kind words!