# How do I bring my doe into heat naturally?



## Buck Naked Boers (Oct 15, 2012)

Hi! We never know when our doe is in heat....she doesn't make noises....doesn't act really different anytime of the month. So....how do we know? And how can I reliably bring her into heat?

Another question: We know who we want to breed her with, the owner told me I could bring her into heat and just bring her to their farm have her bred and take her home. Is this a reliable way to breed or does she need to stay with the buck for a few days? 

Tami


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## kccountryfarm (Apr 2, 2014)

I've heard that sometimes its hard to tell when yearlings go into heat. I've heard that using a buck rag is a good way to indicated when your doe is in heat. I do know that I took one doe to the breeder and she came back smelling like a buck. My second doe which wasn't suppose to cycle til the following week came into heat early after smelling the buck smell.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

At my farm, I doubt I would ever be able to tell if most of my does were in heat if I didn't have a stinky buck around. Can you take her to the breeder and leave her for three weeks? It wouldn't take three weeks probably, but if the breeder isn't paying attention, they wouldn't know. It just depends on how much attention they pay to their goats.


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## Darlaj (Dec 10, 2013)

I found a buck rag to work great... Just watch your lady.. Watch her tail and vulva for discharge... I sometimes will tickle the vulva to check if they pull away or stand... I have found if they stand for it that they are probably ready if combined with discharge and a little flagging 

There is always a CIDR insert for 13 days lute on day 12 pull CIDR on day 13 standing day 14 or 15


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I had to send my girls to the breeders. There was no way I could tell if they were in heat. No bucks around.


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## Buck Naked Boers (Oct 15, 2012)

Thank you everyone! I am going to try the buck rag method. If not she will be staying with the buck, just was trying to forgo that. But will see. Thanks for your help! tami


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## Jasmar (Mar 28, 2015)

I found this thread looking for ideas. We still haven't seen any signs of heat in our 11-mo-old junior doe, even after ten days of having a young buck staying with us. (He's not in rut, although he's nearly a year old.) I know the cycle is 21 days, but she didn't show any signs of heat in the two weeks before we borrowed the buck, either. 

We've got a buck rag from another, stinky buck, and although she will occasionally try to nibble at it a bit, she mostly isn't interested. Her health and nutrition are excellent, and she's definitely not a hermie.

Is there anything else we can do?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You need to do the full 21 days if you put a buck in with her. Just because you didn't see a heat, doesn't mean she didn't have one.


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

kccountryfarm said:


> I've heard that sometimes its hard to tell when yearlings go into heat. I've heard that using a buck rag is a good way to indicated when your doe is in heat. I do know that I took one doe to the breeder and she came back smelling like a buck. My second doe which wasn't suppose to cycle til the following week came into heat early after smelling the buck smell.


I did this just this month. Dee (HappyCaliGoats) sent me a buck rag a few weeks ago and I've been letting my girls smell it every evening. I was only looking to see what my Naomi would do (since she is the one I was hoping to breed this year), and I was able to tell the day before she went into heat that she was going to, based on the fact that she didn't run away from the smell immediately.

The evening of the day before she went into heat, she seemed slightly interested in taking a few extra whiffs. The next evening, there were deep whiffs and lots of flagging. I took her the next morning (less interest than the evening before) and she spent that day and night with the buck. She came home this morning.

Ok--that was more than I intended to share, but the point is, if you can get someone to make a buck rag for you, that might help you be able to tell when your girl is in heat.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I am my own buck rag! I feed the bucks first (10 of them). The aromatic boys rub against my legs, so I am pretty 
odoriferous. Then I go feed, milk etc. and just walking through the girls, the ones that sniff the most will be the ones that I breed the next day. (quite a few are silent heat types, hard to catch in heat).

I have taken to wearing coveralls and rubber gloves in the buck pen, then after the does get a sniff, stripping down to regular clothes.


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