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We do offer stud service at a rate of $300 for Sunspot or Mandarin Sunset, $150 for Beam Me Up or Thunderhead, $100 for any of our other bucks per doe bred. It is up to you to decide who you would like to have your doe bred to- I already have my hands full figuring out my own breeding schedule. The breeding fee will cover two seperate visits for breedings, and there will be a $20 service charge if your doe takes more than two tries to get bred to help compensate for my time. This is why it is important that your doe be up on her minerals when you come to have her serviced (read the last paragraph for more on that). I've decided to not offer outside boarding service due to concerns over biosecurity. For the time being, we will continue to offer driveway breeding services, which means that you need to keep track of when your doe is coming into heat so you can bring her at the appropriate time. If you do not have a buck, it does help to have a "buck rag" (that would be some sort of cloth that has been rubbed on a buck to collect their oh-so-dreamy aroma, this rag is best kept in a tightly sealed jar or plastic bag) you can present to your doe to see how she reacts. Flagging (vigorus tail wagging), mucous discharge, extra vocalizations, swollen and/or extra pink lady parts, ridding other goats, or allowing oneself to be ridden by other goats, are all signs that your doe is in heat. Does can be in heat for anywhere from 12 hours (unusual) to two or three days, with heats much more obvious during the fall, though Nigerians are year-round breeders. They usually come into heat every 18 to 21 days, though some have shorter cycles; if you have a doe coming into heat every five to seven days, that is called "short-cycling" and seems to be caused by either mineral imbalance or ovarian cysts. When this is happening, it is quite unlikely that the doe will settle.
Does brought for breeding must have proof of a recent (within 30 days) negative CAE test. No exceptions. Please try to be on time for your appointment, or call me as soon as you know you are going to be late so I can try to rearrange my plans accordingly. If you show up late for your appointment and it is around a meal time, you will get to experience the full pleasure of watching me eat that meal before we attend to your animal(s), because I have already eaten way too many cold meals due to people being late. Please call ahead to check and make sure that we are going to be around when your doe is expected to come into heat so we can try to accomodate your schedule. Be prepared to be the one holding your doe while the buck is servicing her-- does who do not live near bucks may be a bit "spooked" by the buck when seeing him for the first time and want to run away. You are responsible for keeping her within range of the buck, as I will have my hands full as it is with him (not because they are aggressive, which they aren't, but because they have a low center of gravity and are remarkably strong when they want to go somewhere). A note about breeding your does: In order to be fertile, goats need to have a good mineral balance in their systems, with the two most important minerals for fertility being copper and selenium. At a minimum, your doe should have a free choice loose goat mineral available to consume at all times. We prefer Sweetlix Goat Minerals, and have found that Bar-Ale makes a decent one as well; our goats won't consume enough of the Purina Goat Mineral to make a difference in their systems. A sheep and goat mineral will not do as there will be no copper in it (toxic to sheep), but goats MUST have copper. Even with a loose mineral available to our goats 24/7, we have found the need to supplement with copper bolusing and BO-SE (a selenium/vitamin E shot) at least a couple of times a year. If your doe has a rough terrier-type texture to her coat, the liklihood of her settling is much lower, as this is a sign of mineral (usually copper) deficiency. It has been my experience that weak heats are also a sign of mineral deficiency, and that as the mineral balance gets better, their signs of heat get much stronger. Another way to judge if your doe is mineral deficient is to look at pictures of her from when she was a kid- is she significantly lighter than as a kid? That is also a sign of deficiency. If your gold kid is white as a mature adult, or your black doe is turning brown, there is a really good chance that she needs some extra minerals before you take a drive up to our farm. |
