# How many fathers can twins or triplets have?



## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

Hello,

I'm not sure if I asked this question already, maybe on the yahoo-list but I keep wondering about the aspects of breeding in goats in regards to twin or triplets (or more for that matter).

Is it possible, like in cats, that the kids can have more than one father? Or are clear distinctions between twins like colour, horns, waddles, character only variations.


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

very interesting question.
With dogs and cats.They drop down eggs
at different times. And go on walkabouts. 
When I get home tonight I will ask the
tennessee meat group that I am on.


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## ohiogoatgirl (Jan 31, 2010)

hmm... interesting...
i know my sisters dog had puppies from 3 fathers... little hussy lol!

i'm wondering not if its possible but how likely it is to happen. 
all that you need for a female to have two kids from different fathers is for her to... ya know  .... with two males. 
but i'm thinking the likelyhood would be higher for a pygmy or nigerian goat because they usually have multiple births.


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

Hello,

well, yes, we had a situation two winters back with three possible fathers.


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

I was about to post this at 5:30am this morning, but lost my password in the middle of posting it so here it is again.  
Hi,
Last year one of our sets of quads had three kids by one buck and the other kid by a different buck. It made it a little hard to know what to think at first, but three were definitely not half Anglo Nubian. The mum is a purebred, D grade Toggenburg, the dad of three is a purebred registered Toggenburg, and the dad of the last is an unregistered Anglo Nubian. I can post more photos of the kids for more scrutiny. :mrgreen:

Do dairy goats not normally have more than one kid over there? All of our dairy goats, if they are healthy, good-sized and the right age, have had more than one in all the time we've had them, though I know many people over here get singles from perfectly healthy first timers. Last year we had nine does kidding, and all except the tiny yearling who was definitely not allowed to kid had twins, triplets of quads.  
Here is a photo of the quads from two fathers with their mother. (she was never disbudded, but we took her horns off with rings)
[attachment=4:1i6kvhse]102_5055-Megs+kids-30%+crop+bcg.JPG[/attachment:1i6kvhse]

And here are the two dads 
Rousty young and pretty
[attachment=1:1i6kvhse]101_6635-Rousty-25%+crop.JPG[/attachment:1i6kvhse]

Rousty a bit hunched up several weeks ago
[attachment=3:1i6kvhse]P1120623-Rousty-15%+crop.jpg[/attachment:1i6kvhse]

Vargo a bit younger and neater
[attachment=0:1i6kvhse]S1410110-Murrungowar-Zhivargo-30%+75%+crop.JPG[/attachment:1i6kvhse]

Vargo smiling crazily a week ago
[attachment=2:1i6kvhse]102_7752-Vargo-30%+crop.JPG[/attachment:1i6kvhse]
Cheers,
Cazz


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

Cazz said:


> Do dairy goats not normally have more than one kid over there?


Hello,

yes, they do.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

Yes they can have Multiple births with different fathers. i have a herd of sheep and it is not uncommon to have a white face ewe have a set of twins with different fathers. how do i know? one has a white faced dad and is totally white the other lamb has black legs and spots on his face.


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