Goat breeding through kidding

1. Pre-breeding health: Before breeding check the health of your bucks and does. They
need to be checked from head to toe. You can start with a check of the lower eyelids to
see if they are anemic by checking the color against the FAMACHA color chart.

If they appear to be anemic you’ll need to do a fecal. If they have worms you’ll need to
medicate with the appropriate wormer. Check their skin for any bumps or to see if they
have lice or any other type of bugs and treat for that if necessary. You’ll need to check
their hooves and trim them. You’ll need to check all areas of the hoof for hoof rot and
medicate for that. If you are in a copper deficient area you need to give copper bolus. We
are in a deficient area. I give copper bolus with an animal cracker. I hold their heads up
so they can’t spit it back out. This is also a good time to give BoSe if you are in a
Selenium deficient area. You also need to check the udder and make sure there aren’t bug
bites which need to be taken care of. Bug bites can allow bacteria into the teat or udder,
which can cause mastitis. Most important, prior to breeding, make sure they are disease-
free. You don’t want to use a doe for breeding that has Caprine arthritis encephalitis
(CAE), since it is a contagious viral disease of goats. The disease is typically spread from
mother to kid through the ingestion of colostrum or milk. It is best to cull a diseased doe.
CL and Johne’s (pronounced “YO-nees”) disease are other diseases which are beneficial
to test your herd to see if any are diseased. It is best to only make purchases from herds
that perform testing and that have tested clean. It can save you a lot of heartache (and
money) in the long run. Bucks should be checked also from head to toe for the same
things as the does. You will also need to check their scrotum for any type of fungi, scales,
etc. as these could cause short term (or long term) infertility in the buck.
 You need to check both the does and bucks condition to make sure they aren’t
underweight or overweight since either of these can cause pregnancy complications.

2. Heat cycle: Nigerian Dwarf doelings go into heat as young as three months but should
not be bred until they are about a year old or 75% of their full-grown size. They go into
heat about every 19-21 days. ND go into heat year round, unlike a lot of breeds who only
go into heat when the days get shorter. Sometimes it is easy to tell if a doe is in heat. If
there is a buck nearby, they will back up to the fence where the buck is housed and wag
their tail at the bucks. Many does are quite vocal when they are in heat. Others will
mount other does and make breeding sounds and flap their tongues. It’s quite funny to
watch.

3. The buck: If you decide to buy a buck you’ll want to have the best quality buck you can
afford since the buck is “half the herd”. The reason this is true is because he will be
breeding with all your does. I personally have five bucks. I do this so I can sell unrelated
stock to people that they can use in their breeding programs. You should make sure the
buck has the traits you are trying to acquire for your herd. Of particular importance is the
buck’s dam’s udder, as this is the udder he will pass on to his female offspring. Bucklings
are able to impregnate does at 12 weeks of age, as soon as they are able to fully extend
their penis. This means you’ll need to separate them from their mom (or sell them) at
that time or you run the risk of them impregnating their dam or their siblings.

4. Buck mannerisms: Bucks stink… a lot! Bucks smell really bad to us, but the smell is
extremely attractive to does. If a buck isn’t smelly enough the doe may reject the buck.
What make them so smelly? Well, they urinate on their face, their legs, just about
everywhere so they will smell just wonderful. The photo below shows a fully extended
penis and the buckling spraying the urine in his mouth / face.

(Picture courtesy of GTB Farm in DeQuincy, LA).

 They also like to establish dominance by mounting each other – boys will be boys. They
play with each other by butting heads against each other. Doing this keeps them in good
shape. It looks rough, but normally there’s nothing to worry about – it’s just like children
rough-housing. Some bucks are more aggressive when they are in rut (ready for breeding
with the does). Spraying them with a squirt bottle when they misbehave will help train
them to behave.

5. Breeding: You should only breed to a good quality buck with the traits you want your
herd to have. Your buck and doe should not be underweight or overweight at time of
breeding since this can affect the outcome of the pregnancy. We do all planned breedings
since ND tend to have a large number of kids and we like to make sure we are there to
assist if necessary. We put the buck and doe together in an area by themselves so the
buck isn’t intimidated by the other bucks. The buck will make all sorts of noise that
sounds almost human. They’ll walk around the doe snapping at her side and licking her,
sometimes. Sometimes they’ll stomp, spit, snort, you know… all those things that the
ladies like. When they’re finished wooing the doe (for about a whole 1 ½ minutes) they
will mount the doe. I personally watch them breed 3 times (when I know the doe is in
heat). During those times the doe will usually arch her back after the breeding so that she
looks somewhat like a cat arching its back. This is another one of those things that is
quite a sight to see. After the 3 times of penetration that I see, I put the doe back in with
the does and buck back in his place. If the doe doesn’t come back into heat in 21 days
then the breeding was probably successful. I have seen, on occasion, a doe reject a buck.
She didn’t like his spitting and got behind him and mounted him. After that he wouldn’t
have anything to do with her. In cases like this you need to put her in with a different
buck.

6. Feeding during pregnancy: Feed needs to be increased during pregnancy, particularly

during the last 60 days, when the kids are growing very quickly. The doe should get
plenty of calcium to help her kids grow. Alfalfa is a good source of calcium. Toward the
end of pregnancy the does may not have a lot of room for food because of the amount of
room the kids take up. At the end of pregnancy I start feeding them twice a day in order
to help them get enough nourishment. I have an ultrasound machine so I know how
many kids each dam is going to have. I feed according to how many kids they will have,
since a doe carrying 2 kids doesn’t need nearly as much food as a doe pregnant with 5
kids.

7. Pre-kidding: About one month prior to kidding I trim the does’ hooves and give them a
pre-kidding shave. This shave will make clean up a lot easier post kidding, as well as
make the udder look nicer for pictures. The shave should include the inside of the legs,
 around the vulva, the tail (leave the end hairs alone), and the udder and teats (if there is
hair hanging from around the teat area). I also give them their pre-kidding CDT shot (2
cc) so that the kids will get the benefit in vitro. I separate the does from the other does a
couple of days before kidding and put her in an area where she can have some privacy to
kid without other goats bothering her. The doe pictures below was 2 ½ weeks away from
giving birth to quads, although due to complications had to have a C-section at the vet’s
office.

8. Kidding: Does are pregnant for 145 days. When it’s very close to time the doe will lose
her ligaments around the tail area and most will have a white discharge signaling that it’s
very close to time. This picture shows typical discharge from a doe ready to kid.

ND does can carry up to seven kids successfully. They have been known to feed that
many kids also, although I generally supplement them with a bottle when there are more
than three kids so all of the kids get good nutrition and to help out the does. If you’ve
ever seen five kids charge a doe at one time to fight over two teats, you’d understand.
 In this picture you can see the water sac that bursts
before the doe gives birth.

I let the doe stay with her kids for a few days in the kidding stall before letting them out
with the other does. I handle the kids as much as I can to get them to trust people and be

less skittish.

It should be noted that the dam will not allow the kids to nurse until she is finished
having all her kids. Feel free to help her clean up the babies with a towel. In the winter a
towel straight from the dryer is nice to help warm them. I also use a nasal aspirator to
suction extra fluid from the mouth. This picture shows me helping remove the fluids
with a nasal aspirator. Notice how yellow the fluids are on the baby? This actually means
the baby was in distress (possibly because the doe was a little small or because she was
taking a long time to give birth and this was the last baby in line).
If at all possible it is best to dip the umbilical cord in iodine diluted to the color of weak
tea immediately following birth, and if possible several times the first day. When the kids
are born they are very weak and often need help locating the teat and standing up long
enough to nurse. It’s very important that they get colostrum in the first few hours after
being born in order for them to thrive. We put the kids up to the dam’s teat so we can
observe that they were able to get colostrum (sometimes the dam’s teats have a plug that
you’ll have to squeeze loose so the kids can eat). Normally by the 2nd day (sometimes
the first day) they jump and hop and play. Kids born in colder weather tend to have better
weight gain than those born in the heat. Kids have difficulty regulating their temperature
for the first week so they should be monitored carefully. In the cold a brooder area for
the kids is very helpful. If they are born when it is very hot outside you may have to
move the dam and kids inside, add fans to their living area, or put ice water in surgical
gloves to help cool off the kids. The more you handle the kids the more they will see you
as someone to trust. Goat babies are so fun to watch – enjoy them! The picture below is a
plastic barrel cut in half and a lightbulb screwed into the top. This gives a place kids can

go to get warm when it is cold outside.