Others that I know who have goats know exactly when their does are in heat. I have always had trouble with this. It seems that my does do not show obvious signs. I turned Cooter in with five does last winter and when spring rolled around I only had three does who looked bred, the other two were questionable. Two of the does had twins and the other was carrying triplets when I lost her and all three babies.
The other two does never produced any kids and I never seen them show signs of heat. I also never seen Cooter breed any of them. After the babies were all born and I was ready to put their mothers back into the goat lot, I took Cooter to the pen up the hill. Then tied him out every day to eat grass and weeds.
One day in October, Collette who was always a trouble maker and tried to be the herd Queen started acting submissive and quiet. She also showed an interest in going to visit Cooter, so we took her and she stood quietly while he bred her. I sold her not long afterward and also sold Cinder as a doe in milk. I was milking Calico at the time so I kept her in the barn stall and put Cooter back in with Paris.
So, this is where we are today, Paris looks bred but I have been fooled before. On Saturday, she had a long string of goo and so I thought that she must have gotten out sometime this summer while I had Cooter tied out eating grass and went to visit him.
When I seen the goo, I assumed that she was getting ready to kid, so I put her in the barn stall with Calico. She doesn't have any sign of an udder but that is not too unusual. On Sunday morning she had blood all over her tail. But she didn't act strange other than she was crying continually and wanting to go back to Cooter.
Yesterday she had more fresh blood and today she doesn't seem to have any new blood. I have asked the powers that be if this could be a heat cycle and have gotten conflicting reports, some think that she is getting ready to kid in the next few weeks and some think that it is just a weird heat. She has quit crying now and acts fine, her temperature has been normal through all of this, so I am just stumped and don't know what to expect.
If you have wondered why I haven't been blogging lately this is part of the reason, along with a new Grandson, who is just too handsome. Also there have been Christmas programs to go to and the usual fun things to do around the farm this time of year, like breaking ice and carrying water. I have also been trying to do some Christmas shopping and catching up on my rope halter orders.
6 comments:
I wish I could help you, I'm a novice at goats myself! Congrats on the new grandbaby!!! I adore babies! I wish I could stuff my two children in the dryer and shrink them back to being a baby! Of course this wouldnt happen so I'll just pout and be envious of you holding a new little one!
(*no children were harmed in the making of this comment, nor has said writer ever tried this method of shrinking children into babies!*)
Guess we'er in the same boat. I never seen any of my three does bred so I have no idea when they were in heat or when to expect kids. I'm new to all this, this is the first time we have bred our does. I guess we will just have to wait and see as they say around here about just about everything. haha!! Our little pygmy had some goo about 3 or 4 days ago and I thought she may be getting ready. No dice. Maybe soon. Good luck and keep us up to date on the situation, I'm trying to learn.
Chris
Kyfarmlife, that sounds like a plan to me. This one could very well be my last one, but then again, you never know, things happen.
Chris, I have found out that the more I learn about goats, the less I know.
In my experience the easiest way to tell when a doe is in heat is to have a buck around. I like to keep mine in a sturdy pen near the does so when one of them starts hanging around the fence at the buck pen flagging her tail, I know she is in heat.
Other signs are calling or yelling for no reason, flagging (wagging her tail quickly back and forth). She may mount other does or allow them to mount her. Less interest in feed, Mucus discharge, swollen, pink backend. This can really vary from doe to do though. Our Emma tells the whole world about it when she is heat with her yelling, others don't make a sound. The most reliable signs at our farm has been does that are flagging and hanging around the buck pen.
We keep our does in their own pen away from the bucks. When ours come in heat their vulva is swollen and pink they are very loving and rubbing allover you. I mark this down as Nubian goats come in heat every 21 to 23 days. This way I will know when she will be coming back in and can plan to put her and a buck together. Sure helps knowing the kidding date within a few days. We put them in the maternity pen the last month with a baby monitor. I try to always be there when they kid. Most of the time they don't need me but I want to be there incase. The bleeding sounds like she aborted. If she did she would come back in heat again. Its also possible to abort one kid and still have one or more still alive inside her. Good luck with your goats. they sure are beautiful!
It would be nice if she just slipped one kid and is carrying another one or two. I guess I will know eventually.
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