Mating goats: at what age is acceptable and top 3 methods

Farmers should definitely keep animal reproduction under control. It will be possible to get milk from the female only if she brought kids. With proper mating, goats manage to get strong offspring and maintain the he alth of the animal. Today, there are a number of ways to conduct mating, each of which has certain advantages and disadvantages.

At what age is a goat ready to mate

Puberty in goats occurs at 6-9 months - the exact timing depends on the breed. But mating for the first time at such an early age is not recommended.The fact is that the body of a goat is not fully formed. Therefore, she will not be able to give birth to he althy cubs. In addition, such an early pregnancy is fraught with various pathologies. The most dangerous disorders include bleeding and mastitis. A goat may also develop a cyst.

Early mating provokes negative consequences during lambing. Females that gave birth prematurely are less productive and age more rapidly. Experienced experts say that the optimal period for mating goats is 1.5 years. A similar situation is observed in males. Although the period of puberty occurs at 6 months, goats can only be mated at 1 year. Earlier mating provokes deterioration in he alth and developmental disorders. The offspring from a young goat will turn out to be sick and weakened.

Kozlov can be used for mating up to 6 years. Sometimes there are stronger producers. They can mate up to 8 years old.

How to recognize hunting

The period of readiness of a goat for fertilization is called hunting or spree. It can be identified by changes in behavior. In this case, the following signs are observed:

female loss of appetite;
pickiness in choosing food;
restless behavior;
loud bleating;
swelling and redness of the genital loop under the tail, the appearance of mucous secretions.

To determine the readiness of a goat for mating, it is recommended to run your hand along the ridge, pressing it a little, and stop at the rump. If the individual is ready for mating, she will raise her tail and wave it in different directions. In the absence of readiness for mating, the female will press her tail down. Hunting in a young female is less pronounced than in a giving birth. Farmers often use the most reliable method for detecting heat, the male test.To do this, in autumn or spring, they walk a goat, launching it into an aviary with an adult goat.

When the female is ready for mating, he will try to make a cage. If necessary, the owner can remove the goat to avoid fertilization. If the female is not ready, the breeder will simply ignore her.

Preparing goats for mating

Males enter sexual maturity at 6 months. However, they are allowed to mate no earlier than 1 year. If mating too early, there is a risk of deterioration in the development and he alth of the goats. The cubs in this case will be weak. For coating it is permissible to use males up to 6 years old. Sometimes eight-year-old animals are also used. It is recommended to prepare producers for mating 1.5 months in advance. To do this, it is important to introduce high-quality feed into the diet. The animal must be fed heavily. Its menu should contain a sufficient amount of proteins, vitamins and trace elements.

At the stage of preparation for mating, it is recommended to evaluate sexual activity and the qualitative composition of sperm. Young producers are often not active enough. Therefore, they need to be separated into a separate group. Also, animals should be accustomed to the cage using an artificial vagina.

How to prepare a goat

Features of mating are determined by the conditions of detention, the number and age of females. On large farms, goats should be grouped according to age and use. In small farms, manual mating is used. At the same time, the kids are allowed to approach the female directly during the hunting period and the process is kept under control. For 1-2 months, the goat must be prepared for mating. It is recommended to do the following:

to recapture the kids;
stop milking;
make adjustments to the diet - it is important to reduce calories to prevent obesity.

The period of mating depends on physiological factors, climatic conditions and features of the content. Maximum productivity is observed in autumn. In hot weather, goats hardly come to hunt, and goats have increased fatigue. In rainy weather, there is also a decrease in sexual behavior. The effect of climatic conditions is lessened by raising goats in a good indoor area with a roof or in shady places in the forest.

In the event of a massive onset of hunting, animals should be separated 2 times a day. It is recommended to do this at 7-8 and 15-16 hours. If the state of sexual hunting in a goat was detected in the morning, it can happen 2 hours after being removed from the herd. If readiness for mating arose in the evening, it is carried out the next day in the morning.If you inseminate a goat during the hunting season twice with an interval of 8 hours, this will help increase its productivity. After lambing, a goat is allowed to happen after 1 month. However, many farmers wait several months.

Goat cover

There are several methods for covering goats. Each of them has certain features.

Free method

This method involves placing a goat with females for the whole season. In this case, natural mating is observed. The male independently finds the female in a state of hunting in order to cover her. When using the free method, there are no unfertilized goats left. The goat alternately chooses females until it covers them all.

Free mating has many advantages. The only negative is the risk of severe depletion of the goat. Therefore, it is recommended to periodically transfer it to another room for rest. The manufacturer usually needs 8-10 hours to recover.

Harem

In this method, the sire goat must be placed in a herd of 20-30 females that are in heat. Thanks to this, he will gradually cover them. However, this method is not particularly popular among farmers. This is due to the fact that the goat quickly loses its sexual potential.

Manual

The best is when the animals mate under the control of the farmer. The owner will be able to notice if something goes wrong and help the animal. For the first time, it is advisable to seek help from a veterinarian.

To perform manual pairing, it is recommended to do the following:

Wash the animal, paying attention to the genitals. They can also be disinfected. This helps to avoid the threat of infection to the fetus.
Transfer animals to a separate room. In this case, it is recommended to fix the female in the machine.Behind her, you should bring the male and make sure that he covers the goat. It is important that the goat makes some good pushes. In conclusion, the female should hunch over. If this does not happen, after half an hour you need to carry out a second coating.
After mating, breed animals in different rooms. At the same time, the goat must be carefully observed to determine the onset of pregnancy.

Mating animals has a number of features. For the procedure to be successful, it is necessary to correctly choose the method of its implementation. Equally important is the preparation of pets for mating.