Fatty Does

[Deer Heart]

Okay, I have a total of 5 does. 2 Finally got pregnant so now I KNOW the issue isn't my buck.

I have 3 does that I have tried time and time again to breed, One gets extreme false pregnancies to the point you can't even rebreed her until after "normal birthing time" was passed because she thinks she is pregnant for full-term length (she will not even go into heat during this time) and will fight the buck if I put her back with him before that time. She has had 3 false pregnancies in a row now, I just re-bred her again. The other 2 don't even bother. They literally just sit there like a loaf of bread as the buck mounts and does his thing with all his effort. They just sit there and don't lift until he becomes exhausted.

I noticed recently that one or two of the does are starting to get urine stains above their tail (and on their tail). Their genitals look nice and clean though. Oddly, one of my does that kindled is the worst of the bunch, her tail looks orange (but she had a litter of 9). Could this be a sign that my problem is that my does are too fat? How can I tell for sure? I checked spines and you can feel the bumps easily. I'm not really sure about ribs as the buns weren't hugely cooperative with that part. What specifically do you palpate to gauge if your buns are in the weight group you want?

These are NZW and I feel like a lot of the charts I've found online don't really apply.... my buck is extremely clean and active but his body type comes off on the charts as "overweight". I'm not sure they apply to commercial body types? That or I'm not really understanding the charts.

 

[imajpm]

They don't sound fat. How old are they? I have two NZW does. They are lean but both act like yours. It's a real pain to get them bred if I don't rebreed immediately after they have a litter. Generally those two does visit the buck morning and evening for a minimum of three days before they accept him. They will do this every time, no matter how ready they look.

 

[Deer Heart]

They don't sound fat. How old are they? I have two NZW does. They are lean but both act like yours. It's a real pain to get them bred if I don't rebreed immediately after they have a litter. Generally those two does visit the buck morning and evening for a minimum of three days before they accept him. They will do this every time, no matter how ready they look.

I'm honestly not 100% sure of their ages. The breeder didn't give exact dates and their ages were clearly varied. They only became old enough to breed a couple months ago. I'd say they're about 8-9 months old now (they are still very young). Any idea why they do that? Just fussy and looking for some persistence? It's just frustrating. At least my favourite doe only took 3 visits (and that was due to the buck not even trying to mount does yet the first 2 :|)