# Separation Questions- WDYD in your Herd? (Breeding practices)



## Kayla T (Jul 12, 2017)

Purely Curious on everyone's individual practices in a friendly manner- I know this will vary so much, but would love to hear what works for everyone.  

Please explain how you keep your herd together or seperate your herd for breeding purposes.

Do you leave your herd together, does, doelings, bucks and all? Or seperate out based on age?

We were planning to pull all of our doelings once weaned and have them in their own pen until they are breeding age/size- but I have seen so many around us that just leave all of them together year round, is this a common practice? I just don't want them bred to young. 

Thanks


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Usually everyone is together except the bucks-they have their own group pen. However, this year we had a lot of herd issues going on and have a lot more goats than we are supposed to (  ), so we separated the dry yearlings and kids from the rest of the herd.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Oh Ranger there's no such thing as "having more goats than you're suppose to."
Depending on the amount of space you have, besides bucks being separate from the does, the weaned girls can have their own pen however all mine stay together year round except for breeding season; when I bring a few in at a time.
Last year our main pen had to be replaced. It was not completed in a timely manner so they all lived with the buck. We had a few father daughter breedings a little too young/early for their size.


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

We keep our bucks separate and just put them in a breeding pen with the doe when she is in heat.
We put our does in a stall when they kid and leave the kids in the stall for a couple of weeks, depending upon if we have another doe ready to go into a stall.
Our does are all together. Mature does, yearlings, and this years kids. We dam raise our kids and usually let the moms self wean.
We don't need that much milk. Right now we have 3 does that we have to milk twice a day because they don't have a kid nursing.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Leaving them together year round isn't a great idea. The does get bred back to back and the doelings get bred too early. 

I have separate buck and doe pens, and when a doe is in heat she goes into the buck pen for a day or two.


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

I only have does and a whether, but if I had a buck, he would live with the whether, not the does. Otherwise, like Suzanne said, the girls get bred too often, and too young, and also there would be a whole lot of inbreeding (father to daughter, brother to sister, son to mother, etc. etc). 

Does being bred too young can be a serious problem and should not be taken lightly. It can result in dead or preemie kids and dead or stunted mamas.


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## Cudsumerfarm (Jun 7, 2017)

We have dairy goats. Our bucks, does, and kids all live together (our kids are dam raised). I have mostly Swiss breeds so they only come into heat in the fall. Come late August-Early September ( here in hot Oklahoma) we separate out the bucks.

The bucks are by themselves for only about a month and then they are separated into individual pastures with the does we want them to breed for the month of October. They stay with the does until August the following year.

There's less stress on the bucks this way and it has always been successful. We change out our bucks about every two years and make sure the kid crop from the current year go into the pen with the buck that is not their daddy for the following year's kidding.

I should also mention we have a small herd of two bucks, four does, and two kids.

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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

My buck & 2 does live together year round, except I lock dad up when a mom kids. He wears an anti mating apron to prevent back to back pregnancies as my breed are year round breeders. It's not an ideal situation, but I don't have space to do otherwise.


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## capracreek (Apr 5, 2016)

I agree Bucks need to be separate from the Does to safely mange breeding. I do not want kids born in Dec, Jan or Feb for sure. Too cold here and too hard to keep babies safe and warm. We only put a buck in when we are ready to breed to control when kids are born. We usually breed in Oct/Nov time frame for our spring kids and April/May for our fall kids.


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## Madgoat (Jan 8, 2017)

I keep my bucks/wethers together in their own pen/paddock with access to their own pasture. The only time my buck is with the girls is for "business"! I could put the wethers with the girls, but Pogo needs company, and I like to keep the number of goats per pasture as equal as possible to eliminate overuse.
The girls are in their own paddock/pasture and I have a horse riding ring, that is now converted to my goats baby playground/pasture. It's situated between the 2 big pastures, thus eliminating fence romance or fights. They can all "see" each other which I think they like.
When my does are close to giving birth they go into a horse stall which I converted into 2 goat stalls, they stay in the barn at night at first, then the attached paddock area, then the baby playground" and finally the big pasture with the rest of the girls. I use the baby playground to wean, it seems less stressful to both the babies and the momma's if they are in a familiar area and can see each other.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I personally keep my does and bucks separate until I want to breed them. However, I found that buck aprons for my little bucklings are awesome! I got them from Bacchus Pet Supply - since I have Nigerian Dwarves they are able to breed at 6 weeks, and I don't want to wean them that early, so I pop the apron on and let them stay on momma for longer. 

Maybe that would help with full sized bucks as well, although nothing is a 100% guarantee of stopping an oops breeding.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Very good advice by all.


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## clady92 (Apr 6, 2015)

I have separate pens for my does & bucks. I start making plans for which does will go to which buck in July/August. I do my breeding in October/November for March/April babies. I also put my wethers in with the bucks.


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## Pumpkincreekfarm (Jun 12, 2017)

We have a side pasture for boys only. It currently houses 3 bucks and a royal turd of a wether. Across the driveway we have another area for does,babies and our younger junior does. Then I have a small holding pen for newbies that has a newly wethered lamancha boy in it. After I feel he's healthy and fit enough he'll be moved into one of the pens probably the doe pen bc they would be easier on him.


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## Kayla T (Jul 12, 2017)

Love seeing how everyone does it!!! Thank you all so much for taking the time. '

We are just building our herd and as we are making sheds and pens we are trying to decide how we want to split ours. Right now we have a buck pen and a doe pen. There is a wether in the doe pen as well. He will be used for keeping whoever needs it company so we never have to worry about a lone goat. 

It is so hard deciding what set up will work best and how to design it. 

But right now there are boys in one pen and girls in another- so all is calm


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

We do not keep bucks on our property at all unless we are leasing one for a month specificallt for breeding purposes.


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## Kayla T (Jul 12, 2017)

groovyoldlady said:


> We do not keep bucks on our property at all unless we are leasing one for a month specificallt for breeding purposes.


That is nice that you have the opportunity to lease. That would be our preffered method if possible- but not in this area


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Kayla T said:


> That is nice that you have the opportunity to lease. That would be our preffered method if possible- but not in this area


Well, we are able to lease for our Nigerians. But we have to haul the LaManchas to a breeder an hour away and pay a boarding fee as well as a breeding fee there.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

My two cents since your just starting. Make as many pens as you can. You can always move them from on pen to pen if you need to. The biggest frustration I have with my setup is the lack of pens. Right this very moment I have most together, 3 that are thin that I want weight on in another. A show wether in another, a doeling that doesn't feel good in a dog cage and another doeling that just got her second cast off (she's not smart) in my back yard because I don't want a third broken leg! Oh plus the bucks over in their pen.
But this is not the normal thing lol this is just the whole when it rains it pours right now.
NORMALLY though, to answer your first question what I do is does and bucks apart of course. When it's time for kids to be weaned they go in another pen. I'll bring the bucks out when it's time and leave with the girls for about 3 months. When done they go back, all the girls go back together. Once the does start kidding The weaned keepers go back out with the does. It seems, with mine, once the doe has new kids they won't put up with their last babies nursing. This year I had a doe loose her kids and when I put the last years doeling in the pen she went back nursing. This was the first time I have ever had that though and I really think it was because she didn't have new kids.


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

I totally agree with Jessica. I watch craigslist for the chain link panels to come up from the fence co. Quick n Easy. 10$ for 14 ft. panel. When I get low on goats then I stack um against the side of the barn.

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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

At 2 months my bucklings go in the buck pen before getting sold. My doelings stay with their mom's until being sold unless I keep them then they stay until breeding time! My does and bucks stay separate all the time unless they're getting bred. When breeding my two bucks get their own group of girls in separate pens but get switched every day so they get new browse. While my older girls are getting bred from May till July or August the younger girls which I call them the babies are in another pasture away from any chance of getting pregnant. Once breeding time is up the boys go back to their pen and the pregnant girls stay in the pen next to the males while the babies are still away..... sometimes the males try to fence breed and I've got a naughty doeling that tries to get the boys to breed her that way. So I leave them that way till another month or two until they are on their last month (kidding time) then they go to the kidding pen away from the bucks. Once they kid the babies and the new mom's and their new kids stay together for 2 months then the babies get bred and the whole process starts over again! 

I have kept bucks running with does the whole time and never had back to back breedings before but don't run kids in with the buck ever they will get pregnant! 

jkgoatfarm.weebly.com 
instagram- jk_farms


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I have a buck pasture and a doe pasture. I also have 3 breeding pens and my holding area by my milk shed. Right now I have wethers and junior herdsires in two of my breeding pens, because the adult bucks are breaking in my LGD pups and I wouldn't trust the pups around a ND kid. I like to set them up for success.

I would like two more pastures, one for my junior does and one for my lamanchas. I have one six month old doe who is fat, and her mama won't wean her. I just need a junior doe pasture. And my two standard lamanchas are mean, I can't have them with my ND does. They're ok when I throw them in with the bucks, and thankfully they're seasonal breeders so I can figure out what to do.

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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I have all the does and kids run together until the bucklings are mature enough to try to breed. At that time those that have not been sold are shipped for meat. My 3 bucks live in their own pen during the summer, and each have their own stall in the late fall, winter and early spring inside the barn.


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## Kayla T (Jul 12, 2017)

Wow so many different set ups, and also lots of similarities. 

Right now we have 3 pens. A buck pen (we have 2 bucks) that is alone and joins no fence line- a doe pen- that shares a removable fence line with a pen that currently has a yearling doe, a weaned wether, and 2 weaned doelings. I call it the "nursery" LOL. 

Ideally my does will self wean their doe kids that we intend to keep, the bucklings if not sold at wean time will be put in the nursery with the wether or the buck pen until they are sold. 

We are still working out the kinks. But I am getting some great ideas and advice from all of this input!!!!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

^^^^ yes on the no joining fence line for the does! Good job mentioning that! The bucks WILL breed threw the fence. I read that at first and laughed because seriously thank about the total process it would take to actually breed threw a fence, but no they do it! Even threw very small holes in the fence. Right now I have a 2' gap between the does pen and the Bucks pen and I'm going to need to take the does fence out because I'm changing some things but I plan on putting the water troughs along the bucks pen to keep everyone from being bad, so there is that option too (although it may not work well) even if you get some panels and just have it blocked off by the bucks that will work too (that's my back up plan)


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