# Wether mounting doe



## Dandilyun

Hey there, I just wanted to make sure this was normal. I have two 5 month old Nigerian Dwarfs, one wether, and one doe. Today, for the first time, my wether is chasing my doe around, trying to mount her. Over and over....he's determined, I'll give him that. She has knocked him into next week a few times. No means no! LOL. Not sure if it's my imagination, but her hind end looks...poochy? Poofed out just a bit? So a few questions. When the does go into heat, DO they get a little swollen? If he is showing interest in her, does this mean she is in heat? Also, is this normal for a wether? 

Honestly, I assumed that if his goods were removed, he wouldn't be interested. He was banded when I got him. (Side note - The banding falling off was a bit messy, I just expected them to be gone one day, but there was a little blood, they were separating for a few days. The rubber band and testicles were hanging down about an inch away from the body, dried, but bleeding where they were pulling away. After a few days, they were gone one morning, never to be seen again. There was a little hole where it pulled away.It healed nicely)

I guess even though I now she can't get pregnant, since he's interested, there's a small part of me that wonders....so I wanted to make sure this was normal wether behavior. Also, if this is a sign that she is in heat, can I sort of time it on a calendar now? Are they pretty regular? I might be interested in breeding her some day, but considering that I am just getting hoof clipping and basic care down, I would not be a good midwife at this point. And she is pretty small.


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## KW Farms

Sounds like the doeling is in heat. That's a normal age. Some wethers are quite determined, but there is a chance that the banding was not done correctly and there is a retained testicle possibly. Could you tell when you got him if both were banded?


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## ThreeHavens

Hopefully he doesn't have a retained testicle, but I have heard of wether "heat detectors" that go nuts when a doe is in heat. Handy to have sometimes. Although our wether is just a lovable squishy and has forgotten he is a boy. :laugh:


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## liz

Yep...she's likely coming into her first heat and it's totally normal for your wether to want to act on it. Most newly wethered boys will still have some hormones in their system even after the source is gone, he likely is totally wethered.

As far as marking the calendar, most does have a heat every 18-21 days BUT if they have a "5 day heat" , meaning that they come back into standing heat 5-7 days after the first standing heat, then you count ahead 18-21 days. As with most young females, the first couple cycles can be irregular so it's best to track heats for a few months so that you know what her regular length of cycles are.


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## Dandilyun

Thank you! He seems to have stopped chasing her around for a while anyway. She probably knocked him a good one on his keister. I love them, they are so entertaining. I am fairly certain he is fixed all the way...just a trace of doubt. Thanks for the info, I will see if I can keep track.


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