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What are the reasons does don't settle?

Posted by Julieanne Cook on February 5, 2015 at 5:55pm in Breeding

I was so disappointed to go out to the pen this morning and find my year old (today) doeling was in heat, which means her breeding 3 weeks ago did not take. I'm not at all sure what went wrong. She's small, but in excellent body condition, the buck was proven and the breeding itself was textbook. 

Does anyone have a run-down on what are the reasons does don't settle?

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  • Phebe February 9, 2015 at 3:03pm
    The udders are not "flat as pancakes" but very very small. I have felt them, and the best comparison I can make would be a stuffed shell from an Italian restaurant. It is a little bit of a bump, but not much at all. My visibly pregnant doe has a much more developed udder.
    Back in September I actually put 4 does in with 2 buck (2 doe per 1 buck in 2 separate pens) and one doe went into heat the day after we took her out. But the other 3 didn't noticeably go back into heat. The bucks are both young. They were about 6 months old at the time.
    I'm just curious if the 2 are pregnant or not. I guess it doesn't really matter much, I would just stop waiting on babies from them if they are not pregnant...
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 9, 2015 at 2:43pm

    When you say they don't have udders, are you just looking under them, or have you felt them? If they feel flat as a pancake at 140 days, I am 99% sure they're not pregnant. Pen breeding is usually quite successful, but you should leave them together for at least a month, just in case they were in heat the day before you put them with the buck and if they cycle a day or two longer than 21 days. I like to leave them in for six weeks so that we go through two heat cycles. If all three does came into heat on the same day, and this is a young buck or a buck with nutritional deficiencies, his sperm count may have only been high enough to get one pregnant.

    Phebe said:

    I'm wondering how successful pen breeding is? I left my doe in with my buck for 21 days back in September. Now they should be at day 140 at the latest. Only one doe is showing obvious signs of pregnancy, the other two really don't even have udders yet. All three are ff, and I did not notice them come back into heat the 21 days following the pen breeding. Any ideas? Pregnant vs not pregnant? They look bigger, but with winter coats its hard to tell.
    Thank you!
  • Phebe February 9, 2015 at 2:34pm
    I'm wondering how successful pen breeding is? I left my doe in with my buck for 21 days back in September. Now they should be at day 140 at the latest. Only one doe is showing obvious signs of pregnancy, the other two really don't even have udders yet. All three are ff, and I did not notice them come back into heat the 21 days following the pen breeding. Any ideas? Pregnant vs not pregnant? They look bigger, but with winter coats its hard to tell.
    Thank you!
  • Melissa Johnson February 8, 2015 at 1:43am

    lots of folks do the Bo-Se injection.  I have not had the greatest luck with taking my doe to the buck, but I dont show so my does are not used to leaving home.  I had a doe here one year for a breeding to my buck, the first visit he kept mounting but not much happened.  The doe was brought back a week later - stood like a champ for the buck, got bred and had 3 babies. :) timing.........

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 6, 2015 at 9:59pm

    Selenium paste really doesn't have that much selenium in it. What brand of minerals is it? (They're all different.)

  • Julieanne Cook February 6, 2015 at 5:52pm

    I gave her selenium paste, and there is selenium in her minerals as well.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    What type of selenium? Free choice, injection, or paste?

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 6, 2015 at 12:49pm

    What type of selenium? Free choice, injection, or paste?

  • Julieanne Cook February 6, 2015 at 11:59am

    Thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards it being the wrong time in her cycle since I've given her Sel-E and a bolus of COWP. Her coat is in  great shape. Guess I'll just have to try again.

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 5, 2015 at 11:36pm

    Ditto on everything Rachel said. Copper or selenium deficiency also cause fertility problems. If it's copper, you might also see a faded coat or rough coat, fish tail, and losing hair on the face. If it's selenium deficiency, you don't usually see any other symptoms, as fertility problems are one of the first things you see with a mild selenium deficiency.

  • Rachel Payne February 5, 2015 at 10:54pm

    The two reasons I know of (other than being permanently infertile) are the doe being overweight or catching her at the wrong time of her heat cycle. I'm interested to hear other possible reasons.

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