# Tiny Yearling



## woffinden (Jun 11, 2012)

I have a tiny ND yearling and am becoming concerned that she will never get large enough to breed. She has excellent milking genetics and her mama is my best doe. Both of her parents are tall (for niggies), but she was a dam raised triplet on a FF doe. I have kept her in her own pen so that she doesn't have to compete for grain and hay, but it hasn't helped. She is a very sweet, special pet for my kids, so we'll be keeping her regardless, but this was a breeding that I was excited about. There is so much time planning put into these little guys! Any experience would be appreciated.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Some take longer to grow so you could wait and see what she is looking like at 18 months. If she had coccidia, that could also stunt her growth if it wasn't caught right away and could have damaged her intestines so she doesn't absorb nutrients as well. Or she may end up being tiny for whatever reason.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I personally do not choose to breed does until after their first birthday and even then, since I don't breed for "year round" deliveries my doelings are usually closer to their 2nd birthday by the time they freshen at my chosen time of the year. 
IF you think she's not big enough at a year old, then wait awhile... I have a doe here now who was the smallest of 2012 quads, dam raised but supplemented with a bottle and even though she had grown beautifully, I still was not comfortable with breeding her to kid this past spring so she'll wait til this fall and freshen around her 3rd birthday.
Don't give up on your doeling just yet, given a few months of good feed, browse and time to grow, she may surprise you with a good growth spurt


----------



## woffinden (Jun 11, 2012)

She definitely didn't get cocci or have any health problems, just a tiny little girl. We'll wait and see what happens. I'm taking her to be appraised with the rest of my herd in August and I'm sure that we'll get a few laughs on my miniature, mini, Nigerian.


----------



## ogfabby (Jan 3, 2013)

I had a doe like that. She didn't really hit her growth spurt until she was around 18 months old. She is a boer and is now as large as the others. Don't give up!


----------



## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

How small is she? If she is 17 inches breed her if not wait til fall, she should be fine. We had one like that , we were afraid to breed her until we went back to see her younger sister., and realized she was as big as her mom. Lol


----------

