MATING DECISIONS: WHY, HOW, WHERE, WHO, WHEN?

You've purchased your first goats, and now you need to make decisions regarding their breeding. There are a lot of questions to be answered before putting a buck in with the does.

The first question to be answered is WHY are you breeding goats. You really should have asked yourself this question before you got goats, but if you didn't, now is definitely the time to figure out the answer. Your next step depends upon it.

What is your goal? Are you raising offspring for meat? for breeding stock? for show stock? . Each of these types of offspring is a different animal, with 'show' stock being significantly different from production stock. Evaluate your area to determine supply and demand and make your decision based upon what you learn.

HOW are you going to breed your animals? There are several choices to be made. If you have your own buck . . . one with sound genetics and no physical defects . . . .you can use live coverage. You can rent a good buck from producers who specialize in raising and leasing quality breeding stock. You can put the buck in with does and let nature take its course, relying on the buck to bring the does into heat. You can 'hand' breed by bringing the buck to a doe in heat, much as racehorses are bred; in this manner, exact breeding and kidding dates are known. Or, if you are experienced in doing artificial insemination, you can purchase semen from proven bucks (if available) and try your hand at a task that is much more difficult than performing A.I. in cattle. A reputable dairy-goat breeder might assist you in locating a course that would teach you how to do artificial insemination; many dairy-goat producers are well versed in A.I.

How often will you breed your does? Breeding-stock producers tend to mate their does once a year, while some commercial operators run bucks with their does year around. There are definite down-sides to constant uncontrolled breeding: (1) Does that are bred back while still nursing kids have a harder time producing quality offspring, and (2) Their productive lives are shortened to about five years maximum as they age and wear out early. One of the first things to fail is the udder, which gets a huge amount of wear and tear from nursing kids. This writer suggests that the producer at least allow the kids to be weaned at three months of age before re-breeding the dam. A doe that is trying to feed herself, nurse multiple kids, and nourish her unborn kids all at the same time has a too-heavy load on her.

Are you going to linebreed, or will you select a specific buck to breed certain does that are unrelated to him?

Linebreeding (breeding related animals) brings out both the best and the very worst in the offspring, resulting in a much higher *cull* rate. This writer never linebreeds; experience has proven that linebred animals in my breeds lose muscling and are therefore less meaty. Each producer must make this decision based upon his goats and his goals.

WHERE you will be mating them depends upon your facilities. While some producers have the ability to pasture breed, others must confine breeding animals to pens. Remember that goats do not *crowd* well; they stress easily, get sick, and die under such conditions. . This writer's experience has been that any more than 15 goats (one buck and 14 does) in a five-acre pasture for 42 days of breeding is "pushing the envelope" health-wise. Under some circumstances, this scenario may be too crowded, i.e. poor shelter, wet/windy/cold conditions, inadequate fencing.

WHO are you going to breed to whom? Virgin does in particular (and all does as a matter of practice) should be bred to smaller-framed bucks to avoid dystocia (kidding difficulties). Cattle breeders learned this lesson long ago when breeding heifers (first-freshening cows). Do not breed larger-framed breeds of males to smaller-framed breeds of females -- ever! If cross-breeding, use a buck from a smaller-framed breed to mate with larger-framed breeds of does. Wait until the doe is at least ten to twelve months old before mating her. A doe can breed much earlier, but her body will not be sufficiently developed to carry quality kids to term. Avoid unnecessary problems and wait until the doe has had a chance to get some growth on her own body before putting a pregnancy load on her. If twinning is the producer's goal, then this is another reason to let the doe grow out before breeding her -- very young does generally have only one kid.

Bucks in some breeds are fertile as early as three months of age. It is advisable, however, to let a buck reach at least six months of age before expecting him to perform. A very young buck will not be able to 'settle' a large number of does without wearing himself out. An older experienced buck will approach breeding at a less-than-frantic-and-exhausting pace. A mature buck should easily be able to bring into heat and successfully breed 40-50 does within a 42-day timeframe (two heat cycles). A young breeding buck should be placed with no more than 20 to 25 does. NOTE: Unless does come into heat, a buck cannot breed them. Some breeds of does in certain climatic conditions do not cycle into heat year around, regardless of stimulation from a buck. This is particularly true of the dairy breeds but can also be true in some meat breeds. As a general rule, does of all breeds are most likely to cycle into heat as daylight shortens. In the continental United States, that timeframe is mid-July through mid-December.

Remember that a mature buck can easily lose 50-75 pounds during a breeding round. These are his 'days in the sun,' so he is going to give it his all, to the exclusion of eating and resting It is easy for a buck to become run down and ragged during breeding season. His nutritional level is as important as what the does eat. He also needs to be current on deworming, de-licing, CD/T vaccinations, and any other routine care that is part of your management regimen. This same health care plan is applicable to all breeding does.

WHEN are you going to breed? Commercial breeders should determine when they will receive the best price per pound and calculate backwards from those dates, allowing five months for gestation, three months until weaning, and time for breeding activities. If you are selling pre-weaned kids, adjust breeding times accordingly. Historically the best times to sell slaughter kids are Thanksgiving-Christmas and around Easter, but the timeframes may vary in your market area. Goat meat is primarily an ethnic market. Find out the ethnic market(s) in your area and produce a product that they wish to purchase.

Goats produced for the show-goat market usually need to be a certain age during a specific timeframe.

Figure out the shows that you want to breed for and back into the appropriate breeding schedule. Find out what these shows expect and prepare to provide goats that meet those criteria (disbudded? wethered? milk teeth still intact?). You cannot successfully breed for multiple shows unless you have a big goat-ranching operation, because rules and time frames vary greatly from show to show.

Breeding stock producers should target purchasers of breeding bucks and does based on time of the year that buyers are interested in obtaining these animals. This usually means having bucks old enough to breed by late summer/early fall, as some producers do not like to carry bucks year-around. Does are often in demand twelve months of the year. Again, this may vary from area to area.

The common thread through this article is that producers should approach raising goats as a business. Breeders who research their market and produce animals that meet the existing demand should sell all they want right off the farm and seldom have to use auctions to move their product.

The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. Acknowledgement must also be made that the articles were first published in GOAT RANCHER Magazine, for which Suzanne Gasparotto writes exclusively. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)

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