# my goats are not breeding.



## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

:whatgoat: 

i bought a billy back in february, you may recall. he went to town "breeding" the girls right away. i was expecting kids in july... well one kidded in july. she happened to be the last one i saw him breed of the bunch. here it is the end of september and no one else has kidded and he is breeding them again. what gives? 

he got one kid, so i guess he worked that day :chin: 

*sigh*

on another note i got a new doe. a spotted nubian.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

What breed are your other does? How old is the buck? Were the does overweight or to thin in February?


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

here is a picture of the new nubian.










the other does are all boer or boer cross. in february they were in good-breedable condition. NOW they are a little on the tubby side, some of them...

the billy was young when i got him but old enough to breed a few nannies. i think he was at least 5 months when i got him but he went to town... and since he got one bred, i would think he would have gotten some of the others bred within 2 months time.

he has bred them all again recently and none of them are showing at all.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Beautiful Doe..... :thumb: 

How long was he in with your Does? Sometimes it takes a few cycles for some Does to take.... did you retest them... in 18 to 21 days after you seen him breed....

Also ...you can have a sperm count done... by a vet ....to see if... he has a low count..... if you doubt his breeding ability.....


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## Polarhug (Jul 1, 2010)

Perhaps they are practicing abstinence?


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

large breeds don't tend to cycle year round/ breed year round. and 5 months is kinda young for a buck to be completely fertile.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

some bucks may look like they know what they are doign but doens mean they are actually ready. 5 months is still young like SDK said. 

This time of year is more of the time for breeding so sounds likeyour buck now has it correct 

when breeding late in the season and with a young buck its not uncommon for the does to not all settle. 

now that he is older and its prime breeding season you should have better results


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

hmmm. so these three large percentage boer does (i was under the impression boers breed year round..?) have had three more cyles to have kidded by now which would have put the billy somewhere between 5 months and 8 months at the time of the breedings that did not take...


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

to answer one of the previous questions, the billy has been with them the whole time since february. so they are 3 months "late" and not showing, and he has been breeding them all, again.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> hmmm. so these three large percentage boer does (i was under the impression boers breed year round..?) have had three more cyles to have kidded by now which would have put the billy somewhere between 5 months and 8 months at the time of the breedings that did not take...


 .... when I first started out with boers I had a 4 month old buck ...that serviced all my mature does.....all where preggo.... so age shouldn't be a issue...unless he has low to no sperm count.... especially not getting even one preggo.....



> to answer one of the previous questions, the billy has been with them the whole time since february. so they are 3 months "late" and not showing, and he has been breeding them all, again.


 If it has been since February... I would recommend.... getting a sperm count done on him....then you will know....


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

he did get one pregnant, which is what is so strange. it was the last one i saw him breed the first go around..she kidded in july like they were all supposed to. 

someone at the goat sale said some kind of a drench wormer would make a billy sterile for a while but they didnt know what the name of it was so i'm not sure they knew what they were talking about. i know you arent supposed to give pregnant females valbazen but i did worm all the girls pretty aggressively with ivomec orally and i did give the billy both ivomec and valbazen. i wonder if worming them kind of hard has anything to do with it? 

by "hard?" i mean like 3-4 ccs of ivomec orally for a 50-70 lb goat.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> i wonder if worming them kind of hard has anything to do with it?


 No ...not at all....... I wormed my buck with the same wormers when he was breeding... and all are preggo.... :wink: :thumb:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

just because boers are SUPPOSE to breed able to breed all year round doesnt mean they actually WILL.

same goes for pygmy or nigerian dwarf goats. 

See how things go this go around and then decide if he has fertility issues or not.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

My percentage does do not cycle year around. They have just started to flirt with the buck in the last few weeks. Two of them are registered 50% Boer but are actually 75% (their mother was unregistered Boer/Oberhasli)and they still cycle like their dairy ancestors.


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

I put my boer buck on with my does last January until March. At the time he was 9 months old and should have been old enough to breed them. He didn't really show an interest in them and although I was disappointed when they didn't kid, I wasn't surprised. I figured I would give him one more chance, but bought another buck in case he didn't do the job the other buck could go in with them later. Well, I put him in with a couple girls in August and he bred them both in a couple weeks. 
So either the competition got to him or he isn't a year round breeder. I wouldn't give up on your buck just yet. If he doesn't breed your girls this fall when bucks are typically in run then I would look into getting a different buck.


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

wait- i never even considered that the BILLY might not be a year round breeder? i only thought that applied to females. and the guys were always ready to go


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

UPDATE: one of my girls is starting to bag up.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

well congrats


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## jodief100 (Jan 15, 2011)

Mineral deficiencies can cause breeding issues. Especially copper deficiency. Another thing is while outright sterility in bucks is rare, low fertility is common. 

I suggest checking for signs of copper deficiency and get a sperm count from your vet.


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## beefy (Aug 3, 2009)

all my goats have kidded now, most within the last month. i had the one kid back in july. so i'm guessing it was a seasonal issue as you all suggested. thanks


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