Some Goats Have a Mind of Their Own

Even though it is more work and planning, we have been wanting to get into the routine of breeding at least one goat in July for December babies. This would provide us with fresh milk year round instead of having to buy milk when all of the does dry up for the last two months of gestation. Our plan this year was to breed One Stripe in July and the rest in November. This would bring us one set of babies in December and the rest in April. Good plan, right?

One Stripe's name comes from that little white stripe on her side.

Well, it appears either One Stripe or Bill, our buck, had other plans. Frank's back surgery was the beginning of July, so our breeding plans were postponed for a few weeks. But any time I put the two of them together, Bill just cried and acted clueless. He has been slower to mature than the other young bucks we have bought in the past, but this last week he finally figured things out. This means we will not have milk during the last two months of One Stripe's and Copper's

Copper is in the back looking over everyone.

gestation. They were both in heat, so we bred them both. We can expect kids from these two does around February 10th, which is 150 days from breeding, or the average gestation for a goat. This is not our optimal time since it is the coldest part of the year. It is normally not a problem, but it can be. It is a problem for cold fingers. We thought back in July that One Stripe might be pregnant....but she wasn't.
 

Bill

Our young does are growing nicely. Bill will be turned in with them on November 1st. The girls will be eight months old and ready to breed. Cricket is friendly and the biggest of the three. Penny is just as friendly as her mother, Copper. Lady Bug is a pretty girl, but is still pretty stand-offish. If she doesn't come around and get easier to handle, she will be sold after she has her babies. Training her to milk may gentle her down some, we will see.

Cricket

Penny

Lady Bug

One Stripe with the two wethers on either side

Our two young wethers that were born in March are still alive. For a while we thought we would lose them. After Frank's surgery, a neighbor came over and helped us ban and worm the boys. After a while, they weren't doing well and had some raw skin around the site of the ban. We have used this technique for many years on goats and sheep. Once we took some goats to the vet and had them castrated. Once was enough. We found it to be very gruesome, and returned to banning again. Everyone has their stories and their preferences, and that is great. This is ours. 

An example of the small sheds

Anyway, back to the story. These two wethers were not doing very well and Frank could not help me with them. I managed to catch them while they were eating, and use a double ended brass clip to attach their collars to the fence. That way I wouldn't have to hold them while I tried to work them over. The first time I put some drawing salve around the ban in hopes they would go ahead and heal up. The scrotum sack was just about to fall off at this point. A few days later, one of the boys started staying in their small shed instead of grazing with the herd. I figured at that point I would loose them both. But, that just wouldn't do. I had to try something else. On my own. You see, Frank has always been the needle man. Anytime we have to give shots, he gets to do it. Not that I can't, I just don't want to. I don't like it. But, as I found out, I can do it, and it's no big deal. So, I gave them both a shot of LA200 and applied more salve to the raw area. I figured the one in the shed would still die, but he didn't.

About a week later while I was in the barn milking, Frank called me on the radio. Yes, we use hand held radios every single day around the farm. Anytime I am in the barn and he is not, well anytime we are outside, whether we are together or not, we always take a radio. It has saved many a step when we need to communicate something. So, Frank called me on the radio and said, "You saved those two boys lives." That makes it all worth while. And it makes for more meat on the hoof.

We hope to butcher our three older wethers soon. They are way past the age we would normally do it, but it just hasn't gotten done yet. We are out of red meat in the freezer and it will be nice to have some of our own again. We chose goats because of the smaller carcass size. We don't need as much milk as a cow would provide. The meat you get from butchering a goat will be easier to process and preserve when we no longer have access to refrigeration or freezers.

There are always hooves to be trimmed and chores to do when it comes to having goats. Sometimes when they won't cooperate or bellow all the time, they are a real pain and we don't appreciate them as much. That's a nice way to say they drive us crazy. It's interesting to watch animal behavior. If one runs, they all run, if one starts screaming, another one may join in, kind of like people. And I bet if we gave one of them a TV, they would all want a TV, or a free phone. I don't see the government out here handing out free goat feed. How come some people get things that are 'free', and others have to pay for those things that are 'free' that they don't get? So much for my mini rant.

Sometimes plans with the goats just don't work out the way we would like, but, in the long run, they provide milk, butter, cheese, meat and dog food for our little homestead, and that is part of our long term plan. And it is a good plan. A plan to survive.

Until next time - Fern

The Goat Stork Cometh

One Stripe will be having her kids soon. There are subtle signs to watch for when a doe is within a few weeks of giving birth. Not all goats present the same signs or symptoms, so sometimes it's more of a guessing game than not.

I try to keep good records of when the does have bred so I will have a decent idea of when to be prepared for kids. This doesn't always mean I catch them on the day they actually breed, though. It seems that every year, there is at least one doe that my 'guess-timate' is a few weeks off. 

You can tell by the goat breeding schedule that the first solid breed date I had for One Stripe was July 19 which gives her a 150 day gestation on December 16. I'm not sure if she will go that long, but I have thought the same thing about her before. She is pretty consistent in the length of her gestation. The benefit of keeping a doe for a while is having a history of past pregnancies and births. We bought One Stripe in January of 2009. Here is some of her history.

• 1st kids - May 2010; twins - a buck and a doe; 153 days (after breeding).
• 2nd kids - March 2011; twins - 2 does; 150 days
• 3rd kids - March 2012; triplets - 2 bucks (one born breech with no problems) 1 doe; 149 days
• 4th kid - January 2013 (accidental breeding); 1 doe; days unknown; had to fix kid's ear since it stayed folded over

This is Copper. She will be having her first kids in March.

If you keep a doe for a number of years you get to know the patterns she follows during gestation and have a better idea when she will birth and how she will do. Past history of easy births is not a guarantee there will be no problems, but does lend to some peace of mind knowing a doe is experienced and has shown reliability. 

One Stripe really does get 'big as a barn'. There have been two previous years that I just knew she could not go another three weeks (which is the time between heat cycles and breeding - usually), but she did.

October

Early November

Her udder tends to get large and very full before she gives birth. It started filling out a few weeks ago. It has a ways to go to be full and is still soft and pliable at this point.

Mid November

This is how I check their hips. This is Copper, not One Stripe.

As One Stripe gets closer to kidding her hips will spread until there is no bony protrusions left to feel. You can push in all the way around her tailbone. 

Here is Copper again, modeling for us.

One of the most fun things to check as the birth draws close is the activity of the kids. Sometimes, not always, I can feel the kids kicking when I place my hand on her right side, like this. If the kids aren't active I gently pat her side a few times and wait. Many times I can feel a gentle kick. This happened for the first time yesterday. According to Pat Coleby in Natural Goat Care this usually happens about two weeks before birth, so I shouldn't have to wait too much longer.

I am excited about new kids, they are so fun to watch and are a renewable source of milk and meat for our table. We are especially looking forward to more milk since the one doe we are milking, is not quite keeping us in enough milk right now. I bought a gallon of milk at the store today. But if we only have to supplement with store bought milk for a few weeks this year, we will have almost met our goal of being able to drink our own milk year round. For the past several years we have gone without our own milk for at least two months between the goats drying up and the new kids being born. So we're almost there.

One Stripe and Copper

It takes time, effort and a lot of trial and error to accomplish many goals, especially when that goal deals with a live product. What are the goals you have for your own self-sufficiency? Take the time and expend the energy to increase your skill and knowledge so that you will be closer to accomplishing your goals. The more you learn, either from trial or from error, the better off you will be in the long run, and the coming run will be a long one.

Until next time - Fern