Are You Feeling Randy?! 10 Ways to Tell if Your Goat is in Heat!
My beautiful girl begging for love!
Why?
Goats have to be bred in order to have kids. As a goat shepherdess, I like to know exactly when my goats will be kidding so I can be sure to have everything ready for a safe and happy delivery. In order to know birthing dates, I must know when my goats are bred. Because of this, we keep our bucks separated from our does until we are ready to breed.
My handsome bucks just waiting for their opportunity to procreate!
So, how do I know when they are able to be bred? First of all, it's important to know if your goats are seasonal breeders. Both my Nubians and my Alpines are seasonal breeders. What this means is that they are most likely to come into heat and be fertile in the fall. There is always exceptions of course. For instance, my Fancy Too (Nubian) always has a heat cycle in spring. We take advantage of this by letting her breed then so that when the rest of the herd is drying off for the last two months of pregnancy, we still have her milk.
10 Signs of Heat
Notice the middle doe has her tail high in the air!
The no-nonsense, quick way to tell if your doe is in heat!
- Tail pointing up - straight up in the air like a light post!
- Wagging tail - often called flagging for obvious reasons!
- Swollen vulva - this isn't always noticed unless you are looking!
- Goo dripping - a sure sign she is ready to be randy!
- Bucky behavior - seriously making buck snorts and humping on other goats!
- Personality changes - extreme frisky behavior and ornery in my experience!
- Lower milk output - almost all of mine drop in half at the peak of heat!
- More talkative - baa baa maaaa, constantly sometimes!
- Buck acts interested around her - even through a fence a buck will know, he can smell it!
- Frequent urination - just teasing that buck some more!
When?
I'm hoping to breed at least half of these girls!
Goats have a 21-day heat cycle on average. So, when I see one of my does in heat I mark my Google calendar and set it to repeat every 3 weeks. This way I know when to expect the next heat cycle and I can plan my breeding. I will put a doe in heat in with the chosen buck and hope that breeding takes place if I don't witness it right away. It depends on the bucks mood also, lol. Then I wait 21 days and see if she comes into heat again. If she does, back into buck pen. If she doesn't I mark my calendar for 150 days from the breeding date. Goats gestation is 5 months, 150 days give or take a few days.
I could get a blood sample and send it in to test for pregnancy but I am not in a hurry at this point in my farm career. I will just try again at next heat cycle.
So now you know how to tell if your doe is on heat and what to expect!
Here is a recent vlog about heat in goats.
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I have a grin on my face just looking at those photos! They're just adorable. Still remember your birthing YouTube - man, so intense and amazing.
Thanks for all the tips. When I finally get goats you're basically going to be might goat guru. ;D
I love them so much it's ridiculous, lol! The births are truly magical every time! The Goat Lady is always here to help anyone! Thank you!
Mine were just frolicking with the buck the last few days ...ours may be born around the same time! I never tire of the babies either! So special! You have all Nubians, I used to have nubians but now just have mutts. Mine were not too hardy so I kept the crosses!
Happy Day!
Melissa
That would be cool! I have 3 Alpines and 2 mini alpines!
Great information! We have a Nubian female we hope to breed, I think only 6 months old, so we have a while to wait til we can. Still, I was wondering what signs we would be looking for. Everyone has been warning us away from getting a male...too stinky? What are your thoughts, if you just had one or two females would it be worth it to keep a male?
if you have someone nearby with a clean herd that will let you use their buck that would be great for small herd!
Fingers crossed for lots of healthy doe babies next year.
Thank you! Does would be ideal! We are so excited to see what we get!
bucks = wether which equals dinner...or a tidy sum at the market...they are going for $250. per whether down here due to Miami Cuban Market! :)
wow! lucky to get $75 for a buck or whether here!
It really is the amazing! Did not used to be that way!
playground for goat
https://steemit.com/indonesia/@gayocoffeefarm/playground-untuk-kambing
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I will watch my new girls with bated breath... Thanks for the tips! Upvoted and followed
thank you! it can be interesting how different each girl acts!
Wow so detailed thanks for sharing
Thank you!
I love goats! They are the epitome of happiness and joy, for real!
Great info :)
Thank you! They really are! They make me very happy!
Nice post, and great pics!
I am not too sure when exactly I will ever need the info, but that's beside the point - it was fun to read!
Cheers
And that makes writing it even more awesome! Thank you!