Now is the time to start looking ahead to breeding season for my two older goats, Ginger and Clover. They are both large enough and old enough to breed, and August through January are supposed to be a dairy goat's natural time to go into "estrus". I plan to take Ginger back to the breeder where we bought her; they have 10 bucks for me to choose from. I can take her there, and board her until the deed is done. Can you believe that it's $2.50 a day to board her?! Each doe bought from them gets one free breeding! So the only cost involved really is boarding. I'm hoping that it'll be clear to me when she begins to go into heat, and Scott says that I can just drop her by at any time. Clover will most likely be sent to her original home as well. This is the only place at all that I know of with Toggenburgs. Her breeder has only one buck... Clover's own dad. While this sort of mating doesn't go over well in the human mind, this practice is safe and quite common in the goat world. The Nubians are only three months old now, and are nowhere near being ready to breed, so they may likely be bred next fall. I am glad that by then I will have a greater understanding of what I'm doing; so I am thankful for that.
2 comments:
You'll know when they are in heat! Most of the time anyway. They wag their tails, bawl a lot & may have a mucus discharge. We love our goats-and I love my toggenburgs. Good luck!
Have you decided on AI or will you be taking your ladies to their awaiting bucks? Have you seen your first heat signs yet? just curious on what you have decided.
~T
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