The estrus season for goats is autumn. At this time, goats show signs of hunting. It is regulated by nature itself. If conception occurs during this period, then the cub will be born by the time the mother can easily get food and produce milk for her baby. It's time for spring to come. Kids are born, and they will not be deprived of food.
The main signs of a goat hunting
Like people, animals have a certain period of maturation. An immature and unprepared organism will not be able to bear a he althy fetus. Farmers usually start breeding goats when they reach 32 kg, and some wait for the animal to gain 40 kg.
Signs of hunting:
- The external genitals swell a little, swell, become red.
- The nature of the goat becomes more restless, irritable, aggressive. The female becomes more susceptible to diseases.
- The goat is becomingreceptive to the smell of a male, constantly sniffing in search of a candidate for fertilization.
- The animal's tail is in constant motion - these are the most noticeable signs of sexual hunting in a goat.
- She starts eating less, loses her appetite.
- You can notice the discharge coming out of the genitals, which in a certain period have a different consistency. At the beginning of the hunt, they are liquid and transparent, and by the end of the period they acquire a viscous thick consistency.
- What other signs of hunting do goats have? A noticeable sign is this behavior of the animal. The female she assumes poses showing that she is ready for fertilization, and also behaves quite excitingly, sleeps poorly and constantly makes sounds, calling the male.
Stimulation of hunting in goats
Before breeding animals, farmers try to improve their nutrition in order to best prepare the animal's body for fertilization and gestation. The food is made more saturated and balanced before the hunting and mating of goats come. The main signs of hunting will be more noticeable if the female has an organism prepared for this.
Reveal various diseases and treat them. They also strengthen the goat's immunity, as during the hunt it becomes more susceptible to diseases.
There are more vitamins, nutritional supplements, stimulants, such as walnut, flax, soybeans in the feed.
Stimulation with veterinarydrugs
If all these actions did not bear fruit, then special medicines are used. An injection of the hormone estrofan, which stimulates reproduction, is injected into the animal every 10 days. The result appears after 11 days.
If this drug did not give results, then they begin to change the dose - progesterone is added to estrophan, after the injection, signs of hunting in goats should appear.
In special cases, hormone-correcting agents are prescribed, in addition, surfagon is used. The types and doses of drugs cannot be chosen independently, otherwise the situation will worsen. For this, you need to contact the veterinarian, and he, based on the age, weight and number of lambing, will write out everything you need. Each goat has individual characteristics, so do not trust the advice of friends.
Such methods greatly help in breeding new offspring and stimulate signs of hunting in a goat. Thanks to them, he althy goats are born, and the reproductive abilities of females are restored.
Drugs are not the only method to stimulate estrus. In addition to them, there are other effective ways.
How to induce a hunt without the use of medicines?
To induce hunting artificially, you can do without medical means. This method is used by housewives who do not trust veterinarians and believe that any injections can worsen the condition of animals. The following methods are quite old, but still in use.
The goat is placed in a pen and a male is brought to her. After these twocarry out various manipulations, and after a few days, the female will be able to observe signs of estrus.
When the end of summer comes, before the hunting season, hay is rubbed on the skin of a goat to collect its scent. And only months later, in the spring, this hay gets to lunch for the female.
If you buy a goat, it's better to immediately take a goat for her and raise the animals together. You should not mate animals at once with a whole herd, as it will be difficult to keep track of each one. It will be difficult to determine which animal has already walked, and which one is just getting ready. It is not always possible to trace when a goat will mate with a goat. Hunting signs are even harder to track.
There is also a way to force mating. After that, the pregnancy in the animal will proceed normally and the fetus will be born he althy. If, after mating, fertilization did not occur, then signs will appear again after 18 days in autumn or after 25-30 in winter.
These ways will help make your animal fertile, its offspring will be born strong and he althy. Also, the female's milk will become tasty and he althy.
When can a female happen?
The first signs of hunting in goats can appear in the female as early as four months of age. But at this age, she is not yet suitable for bearing a fetus. For this purpose, she will only be ready when (as already said) she reaches a weight of 32 kg, some farmers do not allow mating until the female weighs 40 kg.
If you provide an animal with a good balanced diet,it will reach such a mass in 7-9 months. And already at 12-14 months, the uterus forms offspring.
How to determine when a goat is in heat? Signs
How long does a female hunt last? It is individual, but usually 1-3 days. This happens every 21 days. It is not easy to notice hunting in goats if they do not behave naturally for this period - they do not wag their tail, do not call the male and eat normally. The only thing that can indicate estrus is swelling in the genitals. It is easy to miss this moment, so sometimes you have to constantly lead females to goats.
How to tell if a goat is pregnant?
It is almost impossible to determine whether a goat is carrying a fetus early on. But we can assume a possible pregnancy if, a few weeks after mating, the goat stops showing signs of estrus. An especially obvious sign will be an increase in the amount of milk. 4 weeks after mating, if fertilization is successful, the belly will begin to show and it will be possible to feel the embryo.
If you are not sure that the pregnancy was a success, then contact your veterinarian. Before going to him, do not feed the animal for 8-12 hours.
It is especially important to visit a veterinarian in order to determine a false pregnancy, which appears due to the death of a cub or hormonal failures. Such states can only be determined by specialists.
Goat gestation period
The gestation period is about 5 months (149 days). A goat can carry a fetus a little less or more in time. If only in the wombone cub, then the pregnancy will last a little longer, unlike when a goat has several fetuses. The signs of hunting in goats disappear for the entire period.
During pregnancy, you need to help the goat to bear the fetus: give her high-quality feed, walk her in a quiet place, sometimes separately from the herd. Poor feeding, cutting, pushing, moving, beating can cause the fetus to die.
Root crops, before being fed to a pregnant female, are boiled, but turnips, turnips, etc. are not given at all. It is better to take a pregnant goat out to pasture than to keep it in a stall all the time.
In the last stages, the animals need to be looked after even better, create a comfortable temperature, keep in a dry and clean place. Before lambing, for 2-3 weeks, the goat is fed with less high-calorie food and is no longer milked. But it happens that the udder begins to swell, in which case it is worth trying to milk the goat. But if she starts to kick, then you should not touch her. If kept in a clean room, the udder is less likely to become inflamed.
How is the pregnancy going?
In goats, it flows easily. In the first months, it is indistinguishable from other females. A change in forms occurs when half the term has passed. The sides become asymmetrical, the stomach is rounded. The behavior also changes - the female is calm, spends more time lying down, eats more.
