Goats tend to be seasonal breeders. Their heat cycles are usually in full swing from September to January, although it can happen any time of the year for hot weather goats such as Nubians. The time of year is a good guideline, but if you have any buck or buckling in with the does, chances are that they will be bred.
Some does are very subtle with their heat cycles, and might need to be with the buck for about 6 weeks. If you keep just one buck and don’t want him alone all by himself you can keep a wether in with him (castrated male). The other alternative is to keep a doe with him all winter. Then everyone is happy.
For the majority of does the signs are listed below. Does may exhibit all or just one or two.
- Flagging – this is when your doe wags her tail usually vigorously and more often then normal.
- Vocal – more so than usual.
- Affectionate – being more friendly then normal, wanting you to stay with her and pet and scratch her.
- Mounting – a doe in heat sometimes will mount another doe. It can be flipped with the doe in heat being mounted by anther doe NOT in heat. So check for other signs on either doe to see which one is really the on in heat. The mounting can also be accompanied by blubbering noises and stomping.
- Pink to red vulva – swelling in the vulva area which can be seen as pink or red depending on the degree of swelling.
- Clear to white discharge – noticeable on her vulva or on her tail, a transfer from contact.
The standing heat is when the doe is willing to stand and let the buck mount her – this is when she is ovulating and at the peak of her fertility for that heat cycle, for a live breeding. The doe will usually have a longer period of time being in heat before and after the actual standing heat.
Sometimes the doe will ovulate, be mounted by the buck in a standing heat, and then come into heat a few days later (often five). This is because that first ovulation didn’t end up being successful – the follicle did not mature fully. Yet the process is in gear, so it only takes a few days for the doe to build up the hormones and come right back into heat. If you see the doe in a standing heat within a week or so of being bred, you know the first breeding did not take and you can likely count on this second one.