If you own any goat does, knowing when they go into heat is important whether you want to breed them or want to avoid a pregnancy.
When a goat goes into heat all depends on its breed. Desert breeds are aseasonal and go into heat once a year. Alpine breeds are seasonal breeders and go into heat from mid-summer to the end of the year. Once in the breeding season, a doe will have a heat cycle every 17-25 days.
Knowing when your doe is in heat can be tricky and there are many things you should know before breeding her.
Heat Cycles
What is a heat cycle
Every doe has an estrous cycle, which is the goat’s equivalent of a woman’s menstrual cycle. While, not every doe’s cycle is the same length, but they usually range from 17 to 15 days. Heat or estrus ends the cycle and lasts for 2 to 3 days. The effects of heat start gradually, reach a peak, and then taper off. During the peak of estrus, known as standing heat, a doe is receptive to a buck’s attention and can become pregnant. Bucks tend to go into rutting around the same time that does are in heat.
Once the doe has become pregnant she will not go into heat again until she has given birth.
When do does get their first cycle
Depending on the does breed, she can reach puberty anywhere between 4 months old to 1 year old. You will know that she has reached puberty because she will exhibit her first heat or ovulation soon after. Once she has reached puberty she will be able to breed, however, no matter when she reaches puberty, it is better to wait till she is at least 1 year old before she starts breeding for her safety. Of course, once she reaches puberty you will need to make sure she is separated from bucks until you are ready to breed her.
Signs Of Heat
Below is a list of signs to could signify that your doe is in heat. A doe that is in heat may not display all of these signs at the same time and may even not display any sign at all, which is called a silent heat. Try to be on the look out for these signs and they could help you recognize your does cycle.
Talkative
During heat, a doe will become a lot noisier. Even if she was silent before she will become talkative. Even if she was already talkative she will only become louder. If there is no buck present then you may notice that she will start making weird noises that are similar to the noises a buck makes during rutting.
Tail wagging
This is a behavior that is called flagging. Essentially the does will wag her tail the same way that a dog would. This sign can attract a buck nearby even if the doe is not in standing heat. You may not want to touch her tail while she is flagging as she may not want you to and could take aggressive action.
Personality change
You may notice that your does personality has changed completely. It could be anything from becoming more aggressive to becoming more docile, to flipping a total 180 personality-wise. This is completely normal and her personality should go back to normal after heat.
Discharge
You may want to take a look at her privates for a sign. If you notice that her vulva has become very pink and swollen then this is a pretty sure sign. In addition, there will be a vaginal discharge around her vulva and maybe even on her tail. It should be clear and jelly-like.
Change in milk
If your doe is a dairy goat and she being milked, she could resist getting on the milk stand. In addition, she may give a lower volume of milk than she usually does and also, may have no interest in eating. If you notice this sign then watch to see how long it lasts. If this lasts for more than a couple of days then it could indicate a sickness rather than heat.
Mounting
If there is no buck nearby then she may try to mount other does around her.
Lets others mount
She also may allow others to mount her. If there is a buck present and she is in heat, then she will stand still as he tries to mount her. If she is not in heat then she will refuse to let him mount her. If there is no buck present then she will let does mount her. If any goats try to sniff her tail she will lift it to give them access to her vulva.
Frequent urination
If your doe is in heat then she will urinate more often than she does usually. This is because a does urine contains hormones that tell a buck where she is in the ovulation cycle. If there is a buck present then you will notice that he will run to her while she is releasing, sniff or drink her pee, and the exhibit flehmen. Flehmen is a specific face he will make. He is just trying to get a deeper sniff of her urine.
Caring For Does In Heat
Keeping bucks away
First and foremost, it’s extremely important that if you also own a buck, that he is not kept with your does. In fact, he should be kept in a separate pen that is nowhere near the pen that holds the doe. Bucks have been known to try breeding through fences, so that is why the pens should not be next to each other. If possible, it is best if he cannot see the does from his pen.
When does go into heat, a buck can get extremely aggressive and only sturdy fences will be able to keep him from escaping. Some goat farmers recommend actually using an electric fence to hold a buck.
Health
It’s important that your does are up to date on vaccinations and do not have any contagious illnesses. This is for the safety of the buck and the doe if she becomes pregnant.
Both the doe and the buck should get the CDT vaccine, which is for Clostridium perfringens type C + D and tetanus, annually, 30 days before breeding season. New breeding bucks and does with unknown vaccination history should get two initial doses, three to six weeks apart, and then annually. Optional goat vaccines may include, caseous lymphadenitis, sore mouth, rabies, footrot, Chlamydia, Leptospirosis, Mannheimia haemolytica, and Pasteurella multocida.
It’s also important that your doe is being fed the appropriate amount of nutrients whether in breeding season or not. How she is being fed has a direct link to her chances of having a healthy pregnancy and birth.
When it is not breeding season she should be eating about 4% of her body weight. Breeding season can be an exhausting period for goats and she will need to be fed more than she is usually fed. It is also important that the food she is consuming has the right amount of protein, energy, minerals, and vitamins. If your doe is not getting the right amount of these things she can suffer from; reduced fertility, reduced growth rates, reduced milk production, reduced resistance to disease, and more.
Breeding
When breeding a doe with a buck, try keeping them together for two months and no longer. Within these two months, the doe should have a few estrous cycles. There is a good chance that she and the buck will successfully breed during one of these cycles. If they do not, then separate them after two months. If you do not the buck could lose interest in breeding with her. You will have to wait till she is going through heat cycles again before you try again.
Keeping records
Keeping records is absolutely vital when it comes to breeding your does. Creating a spreadsheet will help you stay organized and get the most out of breeding season. Some things you will want to keep records of is each of your does cycles, who has been bred with who, which breedings have been successful and which have not, and any other information that may be relevant in the future.
Not only will this help you know when your does are ready for breeding, but it will also help you create a family tree that will helpful with future breeding seasons.
Creating breeding records will require that you already have some way to identify your goats. This shouldn’t be hard to do from memory if you just have a handful of goats, but any more than that and you should be keeping records of which goat is which. Starting some sort of identify system will extremely helpful to you.
Below I have included a video from Hamiisi Semanda. In his video, he goes very in-depth about keeping a record book for a goat farm, including breeding records. He explains how to create management in a farm that will make it easier to keep track of goats in the future.