Do Nigerians cycle year round?

I have read here that some does cycle year round, some don't, and some cycle year round but are not ovulating year round.

I have some questions about this:

First, are there Nigerians that actually DO cycle year round and can be bred all year round?

Second, if some do cycle year round, and there are some which don't, is this dependent on where one lives (how far north or south)?

Third, if does don't cycle year round, in which months are they "quiet" and not cycling (for instance, July & August)?

We live at almost 38 degrees SOUTH of the equator, which equates to about the latitude of  a line drawn between San Francisco and Washington D.C. (about 38 degrees north) so we would anticipate the response of our doe to be similar to that of a doe near that line because the daylight times would be about the same.

Any suggestions, questions, observations or advice are welcome....

Michael

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  • I do believe my situation was unusual. No, there was absolutely no udder development on my doe. I felt it frequently. There was no obvious weight gain. I did finally feel a baby kick in there. I believe I still have a picture posted in one of these discussions because I was looking for advise from others on here. All of my other goats had more normal pregnancy symptoms. She was the only unusual doe.
  • Phebe,
    I don't know if we should be encouraged or discouraged by your experience!

    You really noticed nothing (no swelling of the vulva and no movements of kids kicking along her side were felt)? Today is day 149 and it is the beginning of summer here so our doe Chloe's coat is short and sleek, and we see nothing on her sides and don't feel any movements. (Of course, we are so inexperienced and we don't know exactly where we should be resting our hands! We also don't know if we are feeling the ligaments correctly to see if they are softening in spite of having looked at the various video clips, descriptions, etc. She certainly isn't showing any udder development.)

    We are SO eager for her to be pregnant, a really good Christmas present.... Unfortunately, we are preparing ourselves for a bag of coal and twigs rather than the sack of presents. It also means that we might have to work out a regime to shave a few of those Christmas pounds from her so that she will be better able to get pregnant in a Feb./March which is the beginning of autumn breeding season here (at least for the standard dairy goats).

  • I know my situation was NOT the norm, but I had a doe this past spring that had no udder at all until delivery. She also did not look pregnant at all. She was with a buck only once because my buck was not on my farm any other time that season. She was confirmed pregnant by a Biopryn blood test. I finally figured she had miscarried by day 150 and no sign of pregnancy. If I remember correctly she delivered on day 154. Healthy twin bucklings.
    As I said, definitely not the norm but possible nonetheless.

    Good luck!!!
  • Julianne, if you thought you saw movement in your goat's belly, you probably did. Check out my video:

    http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/video/is-this-goat-pregnant

    Michael, you should feel the doe's udder area to be sure there isn't any development. Some first fresheners don't look like there's much there, but if you feel it, there is a little handful of udder tissue. If, however, she is flat as a pancake at this point, I would not be placing any bets on her being pregnant.

  • Michael, you're going through almost exactly what I went through with my doe. I kept hoping against hope that she was pregnant, even though the signs weren't there.

    Although it is possible that she won't bag up until right before delivery, you'd still see some udder development. And you'd probably see the kids moving. I managed to convince myself I did see that - talk about the power of hope! If you've been feeding her as if she were pregnant, than she probably has put on some extra weight, I know my doe did. 

    I really hope I'm wrong, but I wouldn't count too heavily on it. Hopefully she'll cooperate for you next breeding season!

  • I know I am grasping at straws....

    IF..., the big if..., Chloe is pregnant, 147 days would be 9th of December. Surely as a first freshener there would be some sign at this point that she is pregnant, wouldn't there? She is very large around the middle, but the udder shows no enlargement and the vulva is not swollen at all. At this stage, is it just possible that she could surprise us, or is she getting a ticket to the fat camp for Christmas?

    (Please tell us that she could be pregnant and not show any signs until the night before she drops - other than being big around the middle - and then suddenly we would go out in the morning and find a kid on the ground!)

  • Julianne and Deborah,

    Thanks for the information; that is what I wanted to know, that some ND does actually do stop cycling for part of the year. I think Chloe must be one of that group. Now we will just have to wait till autumn (Feb./March here) to see what happens, though we will probably try to get a bit of weight off her by then so that she will come into cycling "on a rising plane of condition" and hence be more likely to get pregnant. Of course this means we have to be patient and that she might kid when she is about two years old next September. 

  • Thanks for the clarification and the Houdini image. LOL!

    She does not look four months pregnant to me. I wouldn't even say she's that overweight. Her left side is larger because that's where her rumen is. I've had goats that did not get pregnant in April here, even when in a pen with a buck. Odds of pregnancy after February in Illinois are not good at all, so it doesn't sound like that much of a mystery.

  • I think Chloe is just a seasonal cycler. My doe stopped cycling in late winter too. She had been bred shortly before that but she did not settle. I took her to the vet in early summer and he gave her a shot, but she still didn't start cycling again till autumn. 

  • I have uploaded three photos of Chloe taken today.

    Chloe1 23 Nov..jpg

    Chloe2 23 Nov..jpg

    Chloe3 23 Nov..jpg

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