Breeding Dairy Goats

Video Transcript

"If you're going to keep goats, one of the most interesting and exciting parts is breeding. So, how do you breed the goats? Well, you need a buck. Your first two choices are whether you're going to keep a buck on site or import a buck for the breeding purposes. Many people enjoy the convenience of having a buck on site, however, the bucks can stink and occasionally they grow into aggressive brutes and you might not want to have one around all year. If you go looking for a buck you might look for the breeding lines and the health. You'd be interested in what kind of history the parents had in terms of milk and meat. General confirmation if you're looking for a dairy animal or if you're looking for a meat animal. If you really just want your does lactating for milk, any buck will do. Most people who keep goats will have one around. We often like a young goat because they're small. A nice little guy who can successfully breed your does and then either be raised for meat or move along. Once they're bred, which is pretty easy, the goats pretty much know what to do there, it takes five months for the pregnancy to be completed. Here you can see our stud of the future, this is Rodea. We've chosen him to raise as a breeding buck because he's half Saning and half Nubian and he should produce some champion milkers if we're lucky. Look at the camera. You might wonder how do you know when your does are settled, when they're bred. In the fall, when they breed, that is October or November, you'll see them active and then you'll see them standing around the barnyard chewing their cud and looking just settled. If you're in with your goats and you notice that they're just looking at the stars and settled down you probably can assume they've been successfully bred. Nineteen days later, if there's no activity, you're probably right."