Whole Goat Care

I'm waiting on one of our yearling does to come into heat to breed her. It's later than usual, but we missed the last cycle because I wanted her to give birth after the older does (so I can spend more time with her).

Anyway, I record all the heat dates and pretty much know when everyone is due to cycle. In the last week 3 of the does that were meant to come into heat have delayed their cycle, somehow, at least 3-4 days each. We've had days not getting above 32 and nights into the teens, which is very, very unusual for here, even in the winter. Moonshadow, whom I'm waiting for, seems to be delaying as well and is frustrating the heck out of me.

I just thought it was interesting. Anyone else notice this?

Once she finally comes into heat, I'll have to deal with getting her and the buck together. NOT a fun prospect in the ice and bitter cold. So we might wait until the next cycle anyway. June babies anyone?

Funny you mentioned this. I did notice in October, when we had a massive dip in temps that were colder than normal, that a few of my does did not seem to cycle till a week after they were due to. I decided to skip their breeding till next may cause that one week would throw is into a time we normally get a freeze that lasts for about a week, and that was more than i was willing to deal with next year!!

Yea, Moonshadow is now delaying into a time when we might be busy next year. Not sure if I'll breed her, assuming I catch the heat, this year. Maybe next spring instead. This ruins my plans of having at least one veteran milker and one new milker freshen every 6 months.

Snowing hard here now. I don't expect I'll get her and the buck together today, that's for sure.