Does anyone have experience with a doe kidding at 8 years old? I have the opportunity to buy a doe who is 8 years old and due in june or july...my concern is that she is so much older and has never had babies. Has anyone had experience with this? Is she more likely to have issues since she is so much older? I have read things that say goats can have kids until they are 14 and others say they retire them at 7...so I am looking for some advice on whether this would be worth it for me to do...
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She is from very good lines and is registered also...Kappio acres on both sides and I think that the woman has spent this last year getting her back into good health and taking very good care of her.I have seen pictures of her and she looks to be in good shape..and I would obviously go and see her and check her out fully before i got her...She is not asking very much for her and with such great lines I might get a really good deal for her...Even if she kidded and I either kept her kids or sold them and just milked her for as long as possible without re-breeding her or just rebred her for a couple of years...I don't know, I don't want to make the wrong decision and I am only allowed ten goats on my property so I really don't want a pet doe that I can't milk. I don't want to get into the situation that I have to spend thousands on vet bills and don't even get any milk...I am just hoping to hear if someone else has had an experience close to this.
I have a 6 year old doe with an unclear history, like this doe you're looking to buy. But she was given to me, I wouldn't have paid money for her. I've had to invest time and money returning her to health, and I'm still working towards that. This is just my opinion, but unless this doe is registered and from known good lines, I wouldn't pay much money, if any, for her. You will most likely have to spend a lot more on her once you get her.
That's really sad and unfortunate. Do you have a good goat vet? How much are you willing to spend if she has problems? I just spent $1100 on one doe last month and $500 on another one last week who had kidding problems -- and they were healthy and low risk and had kidded before without any problems. If you are not experienced enough to evaluate the doe's body condition and nutritional status before buying, as well as dealing with kidding challenges, I really would not recommend it. And this does not even get into the possibility of contagious diseases such as CAE and Johnes. Based on what you've said about her history, I'd bet this goat has never been tested for diseases.
She said she bought the goat last year and the women she got her from told her that she had just never bred her. She said that she thought that the doe wasn't being taken very good care of and that she was very skiddish when she first got her. Fro what I understand she let the buck stay with all of her girls for six weeks and since she hasn't seen them go into heat is assuming they are all pregnant.
I normally don't breed my does to kid beyond 10 years of age. However, I would not take an 8-year-old first freshener if someone wanted to give it to me. It might do okay, but yes, there is a higher risk for potential problems. I have never met anyone who routinely kids goats at age 14, although I've heard of it happening every now and then. It's usually an accident. Most does don't even live to be 14. It is NOT a common practice. Some people who are in this strictly for the money never actually retire an animal. They're fine if the animal winds up dead from kidding problems when it's older because their philosophy is that every animal has to be paying its way every day they're eating.
I'd also really want to know this goat's back story. Why has she never been bred? How long has the current owner had her? There is always the possibility that she was previously sold to someone and told that she should never be bred -- or be bred again -- for some valid reason. I also have to question the type of care she was receiving if she was bred at this age. Unless they say that it was an accidental breeding, which can happen to anyone, I wouldn't want any goats from that farm. There is no reason to breed a doe for the first time at that age other than to make money.