[nihicib2]

Hi all

I'm just wondering if it is possible to 'make' a female goat into heat, my problem is that my Alpine and Sannen goats were covered last year and didnt come back into heat, so I assumed they were in kid, however they have well passed their kidding date and no sign of any babies, not sure exactly what happened there, whether they lost the kids or maybe I didnt keep a good enough eye on them and they were in heat and I didnt notice.  I was talking to someone who had a goat that was covered in march and has been scanned in kid, (she is a nubien cross) that would make her due around August, so I am just wondering, is there any way to 'make' a goat come on heat this time of year or do you have to wait until Autumn/Winter to breed.  I am new to all this and just learning so any advice welcome.

Bríd

[ballingall]

There are things you can use to try and bring your goats into heat. You would need to speak to your vet to see what they recommend. It is possible to use a sponge inserted into the vagina which has lots of hormones in it. Once removed, the hormones should kick in afterwards and bring her into season (your vet might what to give her a injection of something to make her ovulate as well).
Have your goats kidded before? It is sometimes easier to use a sponge on a goat that has kidded before than on one who hasn't.

However, it is really getting a bit late on in the year for it now. Goats hormones work best in conjunction with the daylight hours, which is why they come in season when the days are getting shorter. Speak to your vet and see what they say, but it may be better to wait til the autumn.

Regarding the kids, there do seem to have been a larger instance of kids dying in the womb very early on in the pregnancy and being reabsorbed- might have been that hard weather we had so early on that caused it.


Beth

[Hopewell]

Hello
Things like sponges only usually work to extend the breeding period, ie will work to bring the goat in season a bit earlier in the year, or a bit later in the year than they would normally do. It is unlikely to work at this time of the year when most goats (except Boers) are not thinking about cycling at all. Sponges also come in multipacks so if you only have one or two goats it isn't cost effective. Generally best to wait until nature takes its course, but it might be a good idea to get them checked as to whether they really are pregnant rather than just relying on not seeing then come into season.

[wytsend]

In the days when I had a much bigger herd...around 200... I divided the herd into 4 sections .  This way every 3 months a group were being sponged to bring them into season.  This happened all through the normally quiet time of year.

I never had a failing to stand for a male or subsequent kids.    Goats can successfully be brought into season any time of the year.

[jinglejoys]

  This was Sweetroses second kid in one year

[Anke]

If you haven't got a male on the premises it can be really hard to detect any females in heat. My goats are sponged in early October (so I can finish kiddings before lambing starts), and no injections are necessary at that time. (But I have not seen mine in heat before October either). In 2009 it all worked very well and everyone was very noisy about two days after sponges came out. Billy rag worked well too.

However last year my BT did not show any signs of being in season after sponge came out, and I had thought given the noise the previous year I will be able to tell and didn't have a billy rag... I managed to get someone to post one really quickly, goat wagged her tail on smelling rag (This was day 4 after!) and she was whisked up the road in no time. Mating was successful, but I think only just!

Really, I would now wait until September, the vet can insert the sponges, and you should have kids early on in January. Also if it doesn't work you will have enough time to try other things to get them into season. maybe having a boy on site would be an option?

[Roxy]

My larger goats I prefer to get in kid in Autumn, so they kid March/April.  Without medical intervention, none of mine come into season after February.

The pygmy goats are a different matter - they breed all year round.  Our pygmy billy is always on the lookout for one of the females being in season!  I never intentionally get the pygmy females in kid twice a year, but they can do it.  Bobby managed to get in with Charlie  two weeks after she had Finlay, so it looks like we will have kids in August.

[nihicib2]

Hi all thanks a million for all the advice, I think I will nature take it course and get them covered in Autumn, it has certainly taught me a lesson to be more vigilant to make sure they ARE covered and get them scanned as soon as I can,

Thanks for the posts 

Brid