# Okay, i've been told that...............



## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

when a buck breeds at a young age your doe is most likely to have a buck. What is y'alls experience with that, And how many of you think this is accurate?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

No guarantee. I haven't found that to be true. I have ended up with about 50/50.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

There are all kinds of things people try to get only does or bucks. Breed late in the cycle, right before they go out of heat - supposed to get a doe kid, put vinegar in water, might help. (Helps with health, not sure of the sex of the kid). Overall, they all work out to around 50% ish..... Over time...


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

well I dont believe age has anything to do with it, it is just each individual thing, my first buck's first kids at 4-5 months was a doe, 2 bucks and a doe, and two does out of 3 different mamas


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## OpieDoodle (Nov 15, 2015)

There are a lot of factors that go into determining gender of the kid. Age of the doe really doesn't come into play. 

The male sperm is what determines the gender. Now There are quite a few other factors that come into play. I have seen some research (I do not have the links handy or I'd share them) where the male sperm is supposed to be faster but the female sperm can last a little longer. So depending on when the doe actually ovulates can come into play, this is not just when she comes into heat but when the sperm officially meet the egg. There can be other genetic and environmental factors that can also come up but in the end unless its a proven buck that is known for throwing more of one gender than the other then it really is a 50/50 chance


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Yes, some individual males have offspring of mainly one sex. But, in what way should those other things work?

The only thing I have heard of to separate Y-sperms from X-sperms is electricity. Then they will wander in different directions. But I know not if that might have any other impacts on the sperms, such as DNA damages.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

The goat girl said:


> when a buck breeds at a young age your doe is most likely to have a buck. What is y'alls experience with that, And how many of you think this is accurate?


Statements like this (and dozens like them) only prove that superstition is still alive and well in the goat breeding community! It seems like when there's anything outside human control, voodoo theories and black magic remedies run rampant. The good thing is that most of them are harmless except to people's expectations.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

It is 50/50, you never know.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

We, humans, are experts at finding trends, relationships between events. This has suited us well. Unfortunately we can also see trends where not exist resulting in, among other things, old-wives-tales.


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Well thank you all for that info. I'll be more carful what I read.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Never stop reading and learning. Keep an open mind, but analyze things with a critical mind. Sometimes you never know till you ask.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Last year research came out of some huge sheep farms in New Zealand (or was it Australia?), done by their university. Anyway, they found that ewes produced more females if fed grain for a few weeks before breeding and males if fed no grain, just pasture and hay.


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

How interesting?


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

Well, my dearly departed mother told me if you want boys, put a hammer under the water bucket. And if you want girls, a wooden spoon in the straw bedding. Course she was born in 1921 so they had some silly ideas. By the way, it didn't work at all.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

bonnie would try and eat the spoon lol


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

lottsagoats1 said:


> Last year research came out of some huge sheep farms in New Zealand (or was it Australia?), done by their university. Anyway, they found that ewes produced more females if fed grain for a few weeks before breeding and males if fed no grain, just pasture and hay.


It would be interesting to see what the actual proportional difference is in numbers.


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## mariella (Feb 23, 2017)

I didn't even read the other comments I just wanted to answer this.
So My buckling was 8-9 months old when he bred all of my does and so far out of 7 babies I have 6 doelings. 
I don't believe either parent decides the gender of the babies. I believe conditions decide what the mother drops. Each ovum has its own gender pre chosin as does the sperm. So if conditions are favorable then more females will be born to further the spices. And if the conditions aren't favorable then more males will be born.


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## Sophie123 (Feb 18, 2019)

We had the neighbor's buck jump the fence and breed some of ours, including 2 that were 5 months old. One ended up having 3 girls, the other one had 2 girls. Both were fine, but I was worried they were too young. Both had their kids when we were not looking and managed totally on their own also.

Oh wait, I read that wrong, you meant the buck is young, right? Well, maybe true then. The first year our buck was around 6 months when he breed our does, we had almost all boys


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## Treva Brodt (Jan 11, 2019)

That's why it's called "the miracle of life" folks. Interesting conversation though.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Yes - but I'm all for putting a wooden spoon in the straw! Why NOT???:heehee:


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## R.Williamson (Mar 21, 2019)

Hehe my buck never got that memo. Out of 7 kids so far 2 bucks and 5 does.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

wifeof1 said:


> if you want boys, put a hammer under the water bucket. And if you want girls, a wooden spoon in the straw bedding.


So I had to try this out...(in the barn)
Didn't have a hammer handy so I put a bucket on top of an axe. No wooden spoon, so a couple of chop sticks went into the hay. Two days later and I have a pair of rats in the barn. Draw your own conclusions.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Here, a pair of scissors or a knife in the feeding place protects agains evil forces like trolls :hide:.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

The only sure fire way to get all does is to really wish for and need buck kids! And vice-versa! :heehee:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:haha:


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Eh ... Let us all wish for sick and stillborn kids then ... :hide::shrug:


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Goats Rock said:


> The only sure fire way to get all does is to really wish for and need buck kids! And vice-versa! :heehee:


Now, THIS one REALLY WORKS!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Trollmor said:


> Here, a pair of scissors or a knife in the feeding place protects agains evil forces like trolls :hide:.


Sounds legit to me!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> So I had to try this out...(in the barn)
> Didn't have a hammer handy so I put a bucket on top of an axe. No wooden spoon, so a couple of chop sticks went into the hay. Two days later and I have a pair of rats in the barn. Draw your own conclusions.


It's not nice to fool Mother Nature...
(from an old, really old, series of margarine commercials)


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I remember that commercial, LOL.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

Trollmor said:


> Here, a pair of scissors or a knife in the feeding place protects agains evil forces like trolls


Yea, but don't you also put out a bowl of oatmeal to appease the nisser? (or is that just in Norway)


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> Yea, but don't you also put out a bowl of oatmeal to appease the nisser? (or is that just in Norway)


No, porridge!  And do not let us forget the Christmas Sheaf, and the seven flowers under your pillow at midsummer to dream about your coming husband ... 
:hide:


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Isn't porridge the same thing as oatmeal?


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

mariarose said:


> Isn't porridge the same thing as oatmeal?


yes it can be, but grits and cream of wheat are also porridge.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> yes it can be, but grits and cream of wheat are also porridge.


Gotcha. So the Nisser is more about the texture than the ingredients...

It's important to get this stuff right, you know.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

Btw, I have no need to dream about husbands - mine or anyone else's. So, no flowers near my pillow!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

The great difference between meal and porridge is the cooking. If you eat meal you will get a bad stomach ache! (Trust me, I have tried! The taste was very nice, but in the afternoon ... ooooaahh!!)

The Nisser (here usually only one at each farm) was (is?) more interested in the food. The dab (??) of butter was very important! For those of you who are interested enough to have a go with a translation machine:

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte
http://www.tomtenposter.com/Tomten.html


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

What is pease porridge? (Pease porridge hot, cold, 9 days old, etc.) 

Sorry, way off original topic.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

I am sorry, too, but, what is pease porridge?

If the moderators want to move the porridge discussion, it can add to my thread:
https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/trollmor-is-back-maybe.201437/


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

It's made of peas, like a really thick split pea soup, or dried field peas cooked to a mush.

Peas were a base of a meal in England before Potatoes were discovered in the new world, and then finally became accepted as food (The English had to discover eating the potatoes, not the poisonous foliage). Because grain crops took longer to grow, grain suffered more crop failures than the fast growing peas. Perfect for the shorter cooler growing season of the British Isles.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Goats Rock said:


> What is pease porridge? (Pease porridge hot, cold, 9 days old, etc.)
> 
> Sorry, way off original topic.


Peas. Like some kind of green pea


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Oh! Ah! PEAS! No, for some reason peas were, as far as I know, not offered to the nisser. As far as I have understood, the porridge for the nisser is part of the same tradition as the sacrificing of butter into small holes in a rock, in very ancient ages. (Here, too, the people had to be taught not to use the green parts of the potato plant.)


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

toth boer goats said:


> I remember that commercial, LOL.


For being a Commercial, quite nice!


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Yuk! Peas are not a favored veggie of mine! (Or Lima beans).


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Goats Rock said:


> Yuk! Peas are not a favored veggie of mine! (Or Lima beans).


But the film as such is rather nice. As far as I am concerned, any product that shows in commercials in TV thereby proves itself to be of bad quality, or really harmful.


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