Breeding Age

[Cattle Cait]

I have a dilemma. Mom said I need to condense. I've about narrowed it down to keeping only Havanas and a few American Chins. My problem is that I have 4 very, very, VERY nice Havana does that my aunt gave me, but the youngest one is 4 years old. I haven't gotten a litter from any of them, but I've only had them 3 months. Should I hold onto them until spring and keep trying, or are their breeding days behind them?

The alternative is to get rid of these older does and keep my two younger does that are about 5 months old, but the older does are better quality then one of my younger does. I'm worried I'll get rid of the best of my barn before they're actually done producing.

 

[MaggieJ]

If your Mom can be talked into giving you until spring to get a litter from these does, I'd suggest you keep trying. It would be a shame to lose those valuable traits at this point. Or maybe you can compromise and just keep a couple of them and a couple of younger ones... Hedging your bets, so to speak.

You're not keeping your Checkered Giants?

Edited to add: When was the last time one of the older does successfully kindled? That, more than actual age, would influence my decision.

 

[Cattle Cait]

I'm working on moving next fall, and then a year after that completely out of the state. I love, love, LOVE my Checkereds, but they take up so much space. I'll always keep Pepper and plan on getting back into them someday, but for now I need something small and easy to transport and house. I don't want to build up a bloodline only to have to disperse it...4-8 Havanas will transport to Oklahoma much better then 4-8 Checkereds.

 

[MaggieJ]

That makes good sense, Cait. Glad you're keeping Pepper!

 

[Cattle Cait]

I'd say probably...gosh, I don't know when their last litters were. I'd have to check with my aunt. In the 3 months I've had them they've never had anything for me...I think one of them was about 5 months ago because she had just weaned them when I got her.

 

[MaggieJ]

She may still be able to pop out another litter or two, if it was only five months ago. Biggest problem with older does is that they often have internal fat that interferes with fertility. You might want to consider reducing their pellets a bit and increasing their hay for awhile. Then just before you intend to breed them, increase the pellets gradually to the original level. I don't know how effective this is, but it is something I read on one of the forums and it made sense to me.

 

[Cattle Cait]

I'll try that. Definitely need to do that with Ingrid, she's got at least three dewlaps going...little fatty.

 

[MaggieJ]

Yeah... if they are old AND fat, they are a lot less likely to breed successfully.