# Is she big enough to breed?



## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

This doe ( red doe) will be a year old in February, I planned on putting her in with my buck this month. She wasn't growing as strongly as I would have liked her to for a couple months so I thought I should wait. Tonight I saw her standing next to my trad doe who I had already bred and she was pretty darn close to her in size. I know she doesn't weigh and much as the trad girl. But do y'all think it would be okay to put her in with a buck or wait until she is a year and a half? 
She is definitely my favorite  So I want kids on the ground out of her like yesterday lol But I want to make sure she is old/big enough first.


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## odieclark (Jan 21, 2016)

I am sure someone else can give a better answer than I can, as we are pretty new to this.

We were told it is safer at 1 1/2 years, than one.

How much does she weigh? How much does the other one weigh?


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## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

I haven't weighed her sense October and she was 90lbs then. The other doe weighs 115-120lbs for size reference. I'm sure Reign is 100lbs now if not more.


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## odieclark (Jan 21, 2016)

I looked up on some boer websites, and see 1-11/2 come up often, but variation as I search further. Mainly you want to be sure your doe is about 70% of its adult weight at breeding, so as to not risk her growth potential and ability to birth safely.

Some are going for intense reproduction and some are not. If you are not in a rush, you could wait and breed her when comfortable with her age and weight. She looks healthy and large enough. 

When in doubt, wait. Better safe than sorry. We have one who is less than 100 pounds, and I do have concern for her. However she is healthy and is two years of age. So, crossing fingers she will be ok.

I believe you can breed year round, so if you wanted to wait and waiting works for you, you could wait. 

Good luck! Let us know what you decide!


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## Buck Naked Boers (Oct 15, 2012)

I wait til mine are 2. Just my preference. They should be older than 1 in my opinion. They make better moms. Again just my opinion. Others may disagree. It's wked well for us on our farm tho.


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## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

What made you decide to wait until 2? I've always been told 85lbs at a year or older. ^^


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## Buck Naked Boers (Oct 15, 2012)

It's just our preference. I breed close to two. Have one being bred now. She won't be 2 til June but try to get as close to two as we can. It wks well for us. We breed in Jan usually. Might breed in December next yr. 
We like to have babies when weather isn't so cold either. Less sickness etc. just our preference. 
Other people don't necessarily breed like us. But it wks well for us. They are a bit older and tend to be better moms.


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## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

Thank you for your input. I'll definitely be thinking about it some more. 

If anyone else has any input on the right breeding age/weight for boers please comment.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I've bred at a year and I make sure they are 100 pounds. Honestly I don't see much difference between a year and them kidding at 2. I can see why people do it that way though if you really think about it. The kid is born in, let's say April and that's when you always breed to have them born, so it comes out with them being 2 when any keepers are kept and bred.
My kidding time is different then others and I did have 3 that were December born kids (mine are April) so I checked them out and bred them. They were growing very well and they will still grow well for about 4 months so they will be very very nicer sized girls by the time they kid.....FYI when I say they will still grow for 4 months I mean really grow without putting a lot of it towards unborn kids or nursing kids. They will still grow just not as fast.
I can't tell you what I suggest with this girl, in the picture she looks small but pictures are so deceiving! Sometimes they look small but are big and sometimes they look huge and are actually really small. I've learned that the hard way a few times after making a long trip to buy a big looking goat lol


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## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

Sounds like I should probably wait until October to breed her then. It's so hard deciding what to do. 

I guess I just really wanted her to kid out for my last fair to take one of her kids as a market project. 

My first experience with breeding ended up in toxemia and a miscarriage so I'm being extra careful and trying to make sure that I am doing everything right so it won't happen again.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Then go with your gut and wait  I know it's so hard to wait and decided when to go for it but if you wait then you will have less to stress about.....not totally stress free, that just never happens with these animals! Lol


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I breed my boer crosses at 1.5 years old for them to kid at age 2. 

I feel they grow better but it also just works with my schedule. We breed all our does in autumn to kid in March or so. So a March-born keeper doe will not breed until the following autumn at 1.5 years old and kid close her her 2 year birthday. The boers mature quite a bit slower than the dairy breeds in my experience and some of them continue growing to their full adult size/weight until 3.5 years old!


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## Buck Naked Boers (Oct 15, 2012)

Yes we sort of do that too Katey. We breed in Jan for June babies so tend to breed at about 1.5 yrs old too. I have a boer goat that was still growing at 4! I had been told they only grew till 2 yrs old. But that hasn't been the case on our farm. lol. Maybe because they are so healthy not sure, but they keep growing and growing! My wether who is 5 is 230-240 lbs! He is a big boy! I cannot straddle him anymore when I need to drench him for any reason. He is tall! And has huge feet! But he is such a sweet boy! We love him!


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Jessica84 said:


> I've learned that the hard way a few times after making a long trip to buy a big looking goat lol


Me too! and now I have a stunted doe I can't seem to part with  cause I felt bad!


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## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

Sounds like I am for sure going to wait until October to breed her then.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I always wait till 1.5 years old to breed my does. Boers just don't mature as fast as dairy does.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

NyGoatMom said:


> Me too! and now I have a stunted doe I can't seem to part with  cause I felt bad!


Me too! I drove 4 hours with a cranky husband and 2 free spirited kids that are active so I wasn't going home empty handed lol even though neither one are overly great to look at they had very stunning kids at least


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## GoatGirlInTraining (Mar 26, 2017)

she looks great!


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## LibertysBoerGoatRanch (Aug 26, 2016)

GoatGirlInTraining said:


> she looks great!


Thank you! I'll have post updated pictures of her! She definitely has grown so much just in the past couple of months.


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