# All about flushing?



## amanda5858 (Aug 3, 2015)

I wasn't sure where to post this, so if it is in the rind spot, I'm sorry. 

So we are breaking the bank and purchasing a Hummel doe in few days. She's on a online auction, and I'm sure she is going to go super high.. 
She has an absolutely amazing pedigree, and I believe she will do awesome for my daughter in shows, and later as a donor doe. 
With that being said, we have talked about it, and we are planning on flushing her this fall. 
She's a January born, and we would like to flush her sometime between August-October. Would this be a good age? Would she be too young to flush? 
Could she still continue to show after she is flushed? (My daughters state show is in October, and she is wanting to show at NAILE in November) 
How do you go about getting a doe flushed? I don't know anything about it. 
Can someone explain everything to me?


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

I remember asking that same question. I think it is basically boosting up your Doe's food source so that she will be more fertile. I think all you have to do is give them a good source of feed- add a bit of oatmeal or tiny bit of grain to their diet before they go to season.. I think at least a month or two before you put them in with buck. I dont' do that anymore as they eat so many acorns here. I don't want quads. Triplets are hard enough sometimes. Another thing to consider is this: Some advice was given that if you are able to catch the doe at the beginning of her cycle and put her in with the buck... her chances of having multiples will be higher than if you were to put her in with the buck at the middle or end of her cycle. I am not sure if that is even true or just an observational guess. Here- at our place- it appears to be true. However the ones that scream the loudest for the buck and that know they are in the cycle are also the ones that have the triplets. The others that are slow to catch on that they need to be in with the buck had singles their first year and were put in with the buck perhaps toward the end of their cycle. This is all speculative as we don't have enough does to observe. Our Does have a good diet- plenty of acorns and had produced triplets. I have no idea why they use the word.. 'Flushing' .. a very confusing word to use for just giving your Does extra feed.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Are you flushing for more kids for her to be bred and carry herself? Or, flush to have the eggs harvested and placed in other does after they have been fertilized?

When I flush, I raise the protein% of the grain I feed to 20%. They get a small amount more than usual for the month before I want them to be bred. Mine are dairy, so they are still producing milk and get a decent amount of grain anyway. I never flushed the Boers when I had them.


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## NWIndianaBoers (Mar 18, 2013)

So much involved in flushing that simply asking someone to explain it to you isn't really possible without them spending a long, long time typing and still can't possibly explain it all. I would say start searching about it then come back with a list of more detailed questions.

Here's a link to get you started 
http://www.boergoats.com/clean/articleads.php?art=731

One thing to also consider is if you're looking at doing an ai flush vs natural breeding. A lot lower success rates with ai but of course the chance to use any buck out there. Though some guys selling semen don't want you using it for a flush.

August is on the young side to flush. 10 months is the number i hear. though even then umbers are lower than a yearling.

As for showing after. Realize she has just gone through a surgery and will be shaved down really close. I know that won't matter as much for a wether doe that gets sheared anyways but does need some time to heal. How much time depends on the doe itself and if everything goes well during the flush. If it was my high $ doe that i just flushed in October at only 10 months old i would not be taking her to a show in November. Doesn't mean others don't do it.


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## NWIndianaBoers (Mar 18, 2013)

Also realize that 0 is a very real possibility for the flush(Especially an ai flush). And even if you get say 4-6 only getting 2-3 live kids from that is a real possibility. No guarantee in flushing is the biggest thing that can be said. If it was easy everyone would do it. Go into it realizing that and that all money could be wasted and if you still want to proceed forward.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

If she is going to be shown ABGA she must show that she has kidded by 24 month or confirmed pregnant.


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## NWIndianaBoers (Mar 18, 2013)

Hummel breeds wethers so I'm thinking this is a wether producing doe that will show in one of those classes. Not that the flush would change things either way. You can breed back naturally the cycle after the flush or anytime after that for that matter. The doe could show all this year and next without needing to kid. Wouldn't even think about breeding her to kid on her own until next spring and then decide when based on the age of kids desired.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

So we keep using that word 'Flushing' I don't think it means what it really means..


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Just for an outside thought, it is also a real possibility to lose the doe from complications from the harvesting or she could get a hernia. My buck is out of a flush in which the donor died from the hernia from the flushing.


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## NWIndianaBoers (Mar 18, 2013)

In the show world of boer goats "Flushing" means only one thing. That is super ovulating a donor doe and during surgery they literally flush the embryos out of the 2 uterine horns. This material is then looked at under a microscope to find the embryos and verify they are good quality and ready to go into recips or freeze for later use.

I realize flushing used to mean(and still does to many i suppose) the process as described above of giving the doe more nutrition the month before breeding. This process is also used in the embryo flushing but we don't call it that anymore. The questions the original poster asked were clearly about embryo Flushing (well clear if you are familiar with it i guess haha)


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Flushing for more kids thru high nutirtion is still a term used in Dairy goats.


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