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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION 



THE DOE 



The doe usually comes in heat once every three weeks, except dur- 

 ing the months of July and August. They will breed when very 

 young before six months of age. However, if early breeding is 

 practiced for many generations, a dwarf stock and mediocre milkers 

 will probably follow. It is recommended that the doe be bred at 

 about eighteen months old, so as to come fresh at two years of age. 



Fig. 11. Kids, if given plenty of feed and exercise, grow rapidly. 



The period of gestation in does is about 152 days. The number of 

 kids at birth is most frequently two, although one, three, or more 

 kids are often dropped. Twins are usually desired because when more 

 come, they are, as a rule, neither as vigorous nor as large as twin 

 kids. Small, unthrifty offspring should be killed at time of birth. 

 It is a good plan to keep the pregnant does alone as much as possible 

 for two or three weeks before kidding. When two or more does are 

 kept together they may fight and hurt each other, causing abortion. 

 At kidding time, warm bran mashes are recommended as being both 

 laxative and cooling. Practically all goat breeders allow the kids 

 to nurse their dams. At first it is probably the best plan to allow the 

 kids to nurse three or even four times daily. If the kids are with 



