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AI and Seasonal Breeding Questions (kind of long)

1152 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  StaceyRosado
Here's a situation we're facing: I bought my daughter a registered Alpine doe, "Nadine", in early May. Nadine turned 2 years old in March and has never freshened. My daughter has her at the school farm as a project and wants to show her at the district fair in October.

Here comes the dilemma part of the situation :scratch: : The fair rules state that a dairy goat past the age of 2 must show an udder to be shown in competition. Nadine has never been bred, so no udder :shrug: . I was under the assumption that Alpines are seasonal breeders and we would have a harder time trying to breed her off-season. So, please tell me if I've got this straight, does go into heat cycles all year-round, but the seasonal breeding breeds of bucks are only in rut in the late summer/fall months.

AI is a possibility, right? Unfortunately we're still learning basic goat care. I'm not certain we know how to tell when a doe is in standing heat, much less trying AI.

Even if Nadine became pregnant today, she wouldn't have time to give birth before the fair and I'd be concerned about the stress of taking a pregnant doe to the fair with all the exposure and excitement (it's a big fair).

So, I'm flat-out confused. :help:

Sorry this was so long. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to slog through it and offer some advice. You folks here are so wise and always steer us in the right direction. :love:

Anna
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Hi Anna, well the bad news is she's probably not going to "come in season" until later Aug-Sept. as Alpines are seasonal breeders. I don't know if you can bring her into season with a vets help (ie drugs) or not. But, even if you bred her tomorrow, chances are she wouldn't freshen before this show anyway.

However, it's pretty obvious when they come into heat if you recognize the signals. Excessive tag wagging, mounting other does (or being mounted by other does), and of course they get a little, well, we'll say vocal.

Is the show limited to the goats at the school? Is any breed acceptable? It would be hard to find a registered doe in milk at this point, I'm sure. Sorry for your daughter, will she be able to show next year?
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