Meet Bugsy.  Aptly named because she bugs me.

And she’s in heat…

Because we are planning on a lot of projects for the coming spring and summer, we decided not to breed all of our goats.  That, unfortunately, means that we are still dealing with their heat cycles.  Even in January.

So, how does one tell that a goat is in heat?

A goat’s heat cycle happens roughly every 21 days (3 weeks), but can come anywhere between 17 and 24 days.  This heat cycle, where the female goat is ovulating and able to be bred, usually lasts 24 hours, again with the time frame ranging between 12 and 36 hours.  Goats typically start going into heat around September and can continue going into heat through winter, about February.  Thankfully, there is a break from the heat cycles during the spring and summer seasons.

Signs of being in heat include:

-Frequent wagging of her tail

-She might act really irritable, show no interest in food and, when she does eat, will do so between calling out.  It is funny when they do the calling with a full mouth.

-Crying!  Calling out!  Constant yelling that will make you think you will go insane!

-Her vulva may be swollen with some mucous-like discharge

-She’ll stand and let the buck breed her, rather than run away and yell as if terrified by his presence

 

The crying out, especially if you have a male goat, known as a buck, on your property is the big clue.  She will stare at that guy and yell until she loses her voice, because we all know how a guy finds a woman’s constant yelling attractive.

I guess it could be worse.  The buck could pee into his mouth, because he thinks the smell will make him more attractive to the females

Oh, wait…

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