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Starting Member
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Last Login: 8/19/2009 4:17:28 PM
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| Last Nov. I acquired 2 Nubian does (that I love & adore) who are now 3 1/2 yrs. old and have never been bred. The question is can they now be bred for the first time and safely deliver kids.
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 11/17/2009 9:46:12 PM
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| Yes, they can. Their chances of successfully concieving are lower, but still very good. The chances of them having birthing problems are higher, but not too high. Big question is are they overweight?? Can you post pictures?
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
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I would think they would be safe. Typically its bad teeth that cause more issues in aged animals then anything else. That is because as their teeth decay they cannot efficiency graze on grass. That contributes to poor nutrition, and as we all know, nutrition is the basis of everything in a livestock animal.
I don't like to buy animals over the age of 6 years because of bad teeth, but because I feed soft haylage and corn silage, I can extend that a wee bit more since its "soft feed" and does not require as much chewing.
Incidentally the cut off age for any rams on my farm is 6 years old as well. It seems as if 6 years old is the magic number as far a vigor goes.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 10/19/2009 2:46:09 PM
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| The girls should be fine. In all my research before purchasing my Nubians, I have found that the breeding age cutoff should be by 10 years of age. I have a friend that had a 10-11 yr old doe that attempted to give birth, she died that day. Best thing would be to retire them by 8 yrs to be safe. Good luck and hope this helps.
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Junior Member
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| I think the question was being asked, how safe is it to breed a goat *for their first time*, at the later age of three years old. As opposed to breeding them at the usual age of 8 months to a year of age. The older an animal gets before having its first offspring, the more likely it is to have problems, either in breeding or birthing. As to how old can a doe breed and carry kids in general? That will depend greatly on the individual doe and how she has been managed her whole life. I have seen does in good condition easily breed and kid out healthy kids till 13 years of age. It depends on the individual.
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
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Because of our cold winters, I kid out my Boer goats in May, meaning the doelings are only 7 months come the following breeding season, so I hold everything over till the following year. This means the does are approaching two years old when they kid for the first time and I don't have any more problems than usual.
Mountainport Farms, home to 50 some odd goats, 4 LGDs, 1 crazy Australian Shepherd, 2 cats, a dozen chickens, a rabbit and a chinchilla -- oh, and two people!
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Starting Member
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| Sorry if there was any misunderstanding. I was operating on the general idea that no animal be bred before one year old. At least that's what I've always been told.
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crittergal1461 (10/17/2009)
Sorry if there was any misunderstanding. I was operating on the general idea that no animal be bred before one year old. At least that's what I've always been told. No, lots of goat breeders breed their doelings at 8-10 months. I breed by size, not age. When they hit 80-90 lbs, they get bred. Some hit that weight by 7 months and yes they get bred then. Most of mine are kidding out by 12-14 months of age. *As long as the management is so that they grow properly*, they actually do better breeding before they hit one year old.
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Dairy and Meat Goats
http://www.freewebs.com/ozarkjewels/
Also Morningland Dairy Raw Milk Cheeses. www.morninglanddairy.com
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