|
Committees > Marketing > How to Plan
Your Breedings to Target Specific
Holidays
By: Tatiana Stanton (June 2001)
Some facts to consider:
-
The gestation period (time from
mating to kidding) for US goats is about 150 days.
-
Birth weights range from around
4 to 8 lbs for Spanish kids and 5 to 11 lbs for dairy and
Boer kids. However, wide ranges can be experienced across
the US population.
-
Birth weights depend on the
breed and genetic potential for size in the parents, age of
the mother doe (yearling does and very old does tend to have
smaller kids even though they often have singles), sex of
the kid (male kids tend to be bigger than females), size of
the litter (kids from multiple births generally average
smaller birth weights than kids from single births in the
same herd), and nutritional and health status of the doe
during pregnancy (does that are severely overweight or
underweight during pregnancy tend to have smaller kids).
-
Daily growth rates for baby
goats from kidding to weaning at about 3 months of age range
from 1/3 and 1/2 lbs in most New York herds. However, herds
with severe environmental restrictions (health problems, low
feed inputs) or raising breeds with smaller mature weights
may have growth rates as low as 1/4 lb per day. Some
exceptional kids under optimal environmental management (but
not necessarily optimal economic management) may grow 2/3
lbs per day. Single kids and male kids tend to grow faster
than kids raised as multiples on a doe and female kids.
Milking ability of the mother and general health and
internal parasite condition of the breeding herd affect kid
growth rate substantially. Sick and/or starved kids do not
grow well. However, in most New York herds count on kids
growing from 10 to 15 lbs per month for the first three
months of age. Kids that are growing 1/2 lb daily at this
age will generally grade Selection 1 while kids growing 1/3
lb daily will generally grade lower.
-
Goats are generally sold and
shipped at least 7 to 10 days prior to the targeted holiday.
Calculations:
Let's say you want to market 30 to 40 lb kids at Easter in
2002. Western or Roman Easter will be early in 2002. It will
be on March 31st. This means kids will probably be picked up
about 10 days earlier or on March 21st. If your herd is well
managed and you are working with Boer/dairy crosses, your twin
kids from does that are 2 years of age or older will probably
grow about 1/2 lb daily. Your singles from yearling does will
also average about 1/2 lb daily. However, some of your
triplets from older does and your twins from yearling does may
grow only 1/3 lb daily. Let's assume your kids average about 7
lbs at birth. When should you breed your does to target the
Easter market?
Growthy kids:
40 lb - 7 lb (birth weight)= 33
lb. At 1/2 lb of gain per day, you need about 66 days to get a
7 lb. baby kid to 40 lbs by March 21st. You have 21 days in
March, 28 days in February, and still need 17 days in January
--> So you want their dams kidding by January 14th, i.e., bred
about August 14th.
Slower growing kids:
30 lb - 7 lb = 23 lb. At 1/3 lb of
gain per day, you need 69 days to get a 7 lb. newborn kid to
30 lbs by April 21st --> So you want their dams kidding by
January 11th, i.e., bred about August 11th.
This means you definitely want
your bucks in the herd by August 1st. Most does are stimulated
by the smell of a buck to come into heat within a week of a
buck's sudden introduction into the herd. However, the heat
cycle of a doe is 18 to 21 days so if you want to make sure
all your does have a chance to be exposed before January 11th
you need to have the buck in there by July 20th. Your leeway
here depends on how many does you are challenging your bucks
with, how young and inexperienced your bucks are and whether
your buyer will actually accept larger kids or you also have a
market for kids for Greek Easter which occurs about 5 weeks
later on May 5th, 2002. If your buyer penalizes large kids,
you will want to hold off putting the buck in until August
1st. If you have a good market for kids that are slightly over
40 lbs you’ll want to play it safe and have the buck in by
July 21st to make sure every doe has an excellent chance of
producing an Easter kid. |
