2024 Goats

This blog entry is presented in Reverse Order (redrO esreveR)!!

I timed the breeding of this year's goat births in two rounds, with one well before we would go out of town to chase the eclipse, and the second well after we had returned. As the second round has gotten underway in late April, I realized I hadn't blogged about any of the goats at all yet. Sure, I had posted on Facebook, but that is not a lasting memory for me, as this blog is.  So, if you are reading this, feel free to skip down to the bottom for the beginning. What follows right after this paragraph is the second round, and it will be updated as I have updates . . . of which there should be at least THREE, because as of the beginning of May I still have three mammas that I am expecting to give birth at some point in the next few weeks.

ROUND TWO

On Saturday 4/27, when I was absolutely not expecting a birth, Fuzzy had her two boys while I was away from home. By the time I got home and looked in on her, both kids were cleaned up, dry and fluffy, and had found the "milk bar" and had filled up. Fuzzy is a really good mom, and has given me many nice kids.

Fuzzy is one of my medium-sized goats who gives me a lot of milk. She was bred to a new Nigerian Dwarf buck that I acquired last year. Because there were four pregnant mammas in the large pen inside my pole shed I moved her into her own apartment now that she has her kids. She's a very protective mamma, so this keeps her from being a terror to the other mammas waiting to give birth.

Two days later I was able to get good pictures of these two boys.

A close-up of the black/white buckling.

His brother.

He's a very colorful boy!

Four days later, May 1, Cashew would have three kids, two big bucklings and a single doeling, but when I realized she had kidded and went out to check on her, the doeling was found dead. I don't know if she was stillborn, or died after birth. I did try to stimulate her and clear her airway and blow some air into her, but she was rather chilled, so I think quite gone when I found her. The two boys are robust guys doing very well.

One day later, on Thursday May 2, Winnie had two dainty doelings. That evening I had Rich set up an additional chamber to move Cashew out of the large pen and into her own separate apartment, as she was being a bully to everyone. Her two bucklings were rather precocious and would toddle around, sometimes approaching the two other mammas in the big pen. When Cashew would notice this she would charge over and attack the other mamma, who was not doing anything wrong. I was concerned she might trample these two tiny girls, so separate quarters it is. Thankfully, Rich is on the lookoug all the time for extra kennel panels, so we have many to spare for quick set up.

Winnie's daughters are noisy little girls!

The last mamma would make us wait almost two weeks to finish up for the year. On Wednesday 5/15, Stevie, a first timer, gave us a single giant boy. I thought surely as big as she looked prior to birth there was two in there, but just one big robust boy was produced. He was the same size as the two doelings he is rooming with, who were two weeks old already. Stevie took on her mom duties right away and has been taking good care of him, biting my toe the next day when I checked him over. I'll forgive a protective mom!

So THAT'S A WRAP for the 2024 kidding season. 10 new goats to the herd. I've had years with a lot more, but this group was mostly planned for mammas that are on the bigger side of the scale, as far as my own herd in concerned. I didn't breed any of my pure Nigerian Dwarf goats, as I still have four from last year that are rather dinky. These bigger mammas give me a lot more milk, when I have time to harvest it, and the kids tend to reach a good "harvestable" size by fall. It is a farm fact that I do sell some of my goats for meat to a friend to help pay for hay for the winter for all the rest. 

As I finish up this report I am post one week return back to work from my medical leave. I've enjoyed the time off, but it's good to be back to work. The only down side is I don't have quite as much time for milking. But when I do, I'm getting about a gallon of milk a day. Quite enough for drinking, and cheese and yogurt making. 

ROUND ONE

I had planned to have a first set of births to begin about mid March. I usually don't have babies this early as I worry about the cold, but we got the moms tucked away into the pole shed long before they were expecting, and there were two heat lamps to keep babies warm. Our winter had also been mostly snow-free. I had bred Harley and her sister Quinn, as well as Biscotti all to Funfetti, a buck out of Fuzzy and the now long-gone Norvus, the full Nubian I had for awhile. Funfetti had the Nubian ears and passed them on to all the kids.

Around late January Biscotti miscarried three kids. Upon looking at my records I guess I should not have bred her as she was 10 years old. After that she continued to decompensate, and I decided at the beginning of March to harvest her for our friend, Kongmo, before she died on her own. Our friend from Africa does not mind old goats and helps me keep my herd at a manageable population. His family enjoys the meat.

On 3/19, very early in the morning, Quinn went into labor and delivered twins. The birth went super smooth, and I just sat back and watched. She had a small black doeling, and a much larger multi-colored buckling.  

Here is Rich the next day holding the doeling out of Quinn.

I'm holding the buckling out of Quinn.

You can see his pretty colors. I may be tempted to keep him for a sire, as I have mostly been working for a medium-sized goat, bigger than the Nigerian Dwarf, but not quite as big as a Nubian. I have been selecting for milk quantity. The Nigerians I have just don't produce a lot of milk. Several of my crossed goats produce much more.

Four days later, on 3/23, Harley gave birth to a single doeling. However, because she was under the influence of pre-birth oxytocin after her sister kidded, she bonded not only to her singleton, but to her sister's two kids as well. This is unusual as mamma goats will usually only care for their own kids, butting away sometimes violently any other kids that don't smell like their own. Strangely, she seems to think all three are hers, which has led to her producing a good quantity of milk. Her sister ended up with a lopsided udder.

This is Harley's single doeling.

As of April 13 I started milk sharing with the kids. This is done by separating the kids from their moms the night before. They are placed inside a large dog kennel but still in the chamber by their moms so no one stresses out about being separated. They can see each other, just not nurse. This is done for about 12 hours from the time I plan to milk, usually at 9 am, then milking moms in the morning before putting them back together for the day. By this time the kids are starting to eat solid food, and are just fine to go overnight without milk. 

As of the writing of this blog entry it is now 6 weeks later. Here are pictures of the first batch of kids. It is time for them to get their first CD&T vaccinations. I've moved them to the outside pen, and recently I have been letting them out during the day to go with their moms into the pasture and start nibbling the new grass. 

Quinn's Buckling. Isn't he pretty!

The two doelings. Harley's singleton at the top, Quinn's little black girl below.

Oh, and a random chicken!