I don't have a buck, so I'm having a tough time telling what to look for in my doe. Naomi is 7 months old and 40lbs, smallish frame from what I can tell (but I'm new so I could be wrong).
I am told to look for tail flagging and mucusy stuff on or around the vaginal area. I am not seeing the flagging, but I have seen a time or two some mucusy stuff on the vaginal area and the hair around the base of the tail; however, I am not seeing that there is necessarily a 21-day pattern to when it manifests.
Can you all share some other telltale signs that I can be looking for that might help me track her heat cycles?
Thanks in advance!
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It does work. They behave differently when they are in heat. If they are not, they mostly ignore it - they might be temporarily curious but will leave. The first time I set one out, opened the jar it was in, my senior doe (in heat) smelled it, even mouthed it a bit (in the gallon jar) and them promptly urinated beside it. She also did not want to leave it.
I am picking one up Thursday or Friday of this week in hopes of catching my younger ones in heat. I'll let you know if it helps. They have not been good at showing symptoms with the hot weather we have had.
I have a very bulky bath towel in a gallon jar - it totally fills it. I use a gallon jar because I can keep it tightly sealed when not in use for detecting.
Hint: Whoever prepares it for you, be sure to do something nice for them. It's not a pleasant task.
Thanks everyone! I'm wondering if I could get a buck rag from a friend and use it to tell me when Naomi is in heat. Does that even work?
Something I have been telling myself is that they just are not as strong this time of year. I was very fortunate my first two years that my girls were vocal, etc., and it was so easy to tell. But that was also November! I've been trying for the last several months to catch at least one of two particular ones in heat but to no avail. This week, I am going to pick up the missing buck rag and hope that will help. They were fighting last week but not a trace of discharge on any of them which caused me to wonder how much our excessive heat this summer has negatively affected this.
Because I am limited to three and now have four (three adults and one yearling), this is especially troublesome because if someone reports me, I will have to re-home one and I *don't* want to let go of a good milker! Two were bred for this spring, one didn't settle and the other miscarried. With none this spring, I really wanted a fall baby but that ship has sailed. Color me disappointed and frustrated. On the positive side, I *have* found *the* buck I want to breed my girls to. The owner does driveway breedings and already has my test paperwork - I just have to get someone there at the right time!
(This buck is the son of the buck that I bred my Capri for the 2013 kids and lost the only doeling of her quads - the buck died a few months later. So, I can't have Crazy, but I can have Crazy's son.) Even better, she also uses my goat person.
Some does have silent heats, and it seems to be more common with younger does.
I have one doe that I can NOT figure out when she's in heat. I've had her for a year now and I've never actually seen her showing any signs that people say to look for. I was beginning to think she was a hermaphrodite (she's polled and her mom was polled, but I don't know about her sire), she also has a weird looking vulva compared to my other does. I even have a wether but he wasn't any help to me :/ I finally decided to just pen breed her because I was so tired of not seeing heat cycles and I think she is pregnant. I'm sending off for a blood test on Monday to make sure :)
You're definitely not alone lol.
Thanks Julia! I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this, though I do have some breeding mentors that will help me work around it (i.e., allow me to put Naomi with their buck if needed for a few days to see if that helps us at all). Naomi is a young doe, so the 5 day heat thing is really good to know. Thanks!
Also the cycles can be as early as 17 days or as late as 21. Some of my girls are 21 like clockwork, others are 17 or 18 regularly. Sometimes they seem in heat for 2 days then come back in in 5 days (this is called a 5 day heat). The first one is a false heat (usually). I've found the younger does seem to do this more than mature ones. This makes it all the more confusing if you don't have bucks! You're not alone, it's hard to tell if you don't have a male around. The wether idea is a good one! Good luck!
Hmm, she's been butting heads with my other doe for a while now, and daily. I figured it had more to do with dominance. Funny you mention mounting---my dog is in heat and is mounting my younger doe! But I haven't seen Naomi do that yet.
Good point about the wether. I always wondered why people want them, and this would be a good reason if breeding were a major part of raising goats for someone.
When a doe is in heat, they also get kind of moody, so they start butting heads with other does. Other does might also mount the one that is in heat. If you don't have a buck, it's nice to have a wether with your does because he doesn't know that he's not a real buck, so he'll let you know when the girls are in heat.