Essentials of Boer goat breeding

Sheuneni Kurasha

Welcome dear reader to our column where we explore all things farming. This week I am focusing on the essentials of Boer goats breeding.

Hardly a day passes without getting a question, either through the column or our Facebook page, related to aspects of breeding in goats. In this column, I focus on key aspects on goat breeding, namely how long it takes between conception and birth, when are they ready for breeding, the frequency of breeding, how to ensure multiple births and controlled breeding or synchronised breeding.

It is vital for the farmer to be knowledgeable about the essentials of breeding because successful breeding is what separates sturdily profitable goat farming operations from those that are not. After all, the main objective of any goat farming operation is to progressively increase the herd with healthy and productive animals.

Gestation period

The gestation period for Boer goats is five months, that is, generally from 148 to 152 days, with an average of 150 days and under normal circumstances, the doe can have multiple births — twins and triplets.

Multiple births in Boer goats

Due to their productivity traits, Boer goats do have multiple births as a norm rather than an exception. However, there are a number of important factors that can influence the rate of successful multiple births. One of these factors is nutrition. Does should be given quality feed in sufficient quantities for them to give multiple births. One of the ways to achieve this is by adopting a flush feeding system, whereby does are put on a good quality pasture or provided with extra nutrition starting from about four weeks before the breeding season.

The extra nutrients will provide more energy which escalates ovulation rate, thereby increasing the flushed does’ proportion of giving birth to twins and triplets. In rare cases of quadruplet births, colostrum and milk replacers may have to be administered to the kids to ensure the health of both the dam and the kids.

Farmers should ensure that does have sufficient quality feed throughout the gestation period, particularly during the 40 days after the end of the breeding season, that is, after the removal bucks from the herd. This is critical in order to ensure that the embryos are successfully implanted in the uterus.

The best age and weight to breed a doe

When deciding when to breed does for the first time, weight and physical development are more important than age. Does should be bred when they are about 65 percent of the average weight of the adult does in the herd. Based on my experience, does should be fed to between 40 and 45kgs before breeding. This is usually when they are between a year to a year and half years old, depending on the feed available to them. Breeding does when they are lighter than 40kgs may stunt their growth. Underweight and younger does may also not be physically ready to handle kids in their womb, leading to dystocia, that is, kids getting stuck on the way out.

How frequently should does breed?

Does should be bred once a year for optimal health of the animals. This allows the animals adequate time to recover after weaning. As explained earlier, better nutrition makes does healthier and more fertile for the next breeding cycle. Most intensive breeders have two breeding seasons to maximise productivity.

Controlled breeding and synchronised breeding season

Controlled breeding is the manipulation of reproductive processes of farm animals to suit the objectives of a farming operation. It is principally aimed at achieving synchronised breeding and parturition, postnatal survival, controlled parturition as well as optimisation of reproductive performance. By synchronising their breeding season, farmers are able to have does giving birth during the same stretch of time.

The major benefit of synchronisation in a Boer goat farming operation is that the births happen around the same time, making it easier for the farmer to plan on selection, health management programmes such as vaccinations, feeding including supplementary feeding for pregnant does and kids, as well as marketing. Other benefits of controlled breeding are that it saves time in oestrus detection, allows for more efficient use of labour, often leads to improved productivity, gives greater control over the production cycle, and enhances accurate record keeping on animal performance.

The simplest way to synchronise your breeding season is to keep bucks and does in separate kraals and paddocks until they are ready to mate when they are let into the same pastures. Bucks should be left with the does for about 35 days, which is one and half breeding cycles. It must be recalled that the estrus or heat period for a doe is between 12 to 36 hours and the estrous cycle, that is, the period from one heat cycle to the next, occurs every 18 to 24 days or 21 days on average.

Synchronised breeding ensures that the kidding season is clustered within a month, which makes it easier for the farmer to manage the does and kids at kidding time. The separation of bucks from the herd also eliminates inbreeding which is the mating of closely related animals and indiscriminate breeding, that is, son-dam, half-siblings and full-siblings mating.

Paswera badza hapanyepi!

Till next week.

Sheuneni Kurasha is the Managing Director of Chivara Farm which specialises in stud breeding in boran cattle, Boer goats, Kalahari red goats and damara sheep, as well as dairy farming. For feedback, kindly get in touch on email: [email protected] or WhatsApp: +263 772 874 523.