Cadence Dairy Goats

The crazy fall of 2011

2011-12-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

This fall has been a crazy one. Between school, work, actually feeding and breeding the goats I'm afraid blogging has taking a back burner. Perhaps as winter starts I will be able to pick back up.

November as a whole was a good month. The most interesting thing we have seen this November is more and more people coming and using our bucks. This is only the third fall we have even had bucks around, but this is really the first year I have every had people come and use them. Before that I have always been on the other end - driving to people's house to use their bucks.

Personally I have decided I really like being the one who doesn't have to drive a lot better. Sure you end up smelly and covered in the oder of buck but at least you don't have to get in the car after that. Plus you get to meet lots of cool people you would never have seen before. Yep, this buck service thing is actually pretty cool.

In other news.... WE HAVE BABIES!!!! Yep our July bred does kidded this last week. Antimony kidded with twin bucks by Arabica and Katie gave us a single doe kid from Kastdemur's Vigilante News. A beautiful white kids who being born Lamancha (which equals location name) and born in B year at Christmas time can only be rightfully given 1 name = Bethlehem. Probably as time goes on this will be shortened to Beth.

She lives in the house and is making the puppy and kitten jealous of all the attention. Oh? I didn't mentioned that I have a puppy and kitten now? I told you it had been a busy fall...

Beth and the Kitten - Quiz. He wants to play with Beth soooo badly

We picked up a poor bedraggled kitten when we went back the Sunday after our Delta DGA show to finish cleaning up the fairgrounds. Jenn stopped the car and he ran right into her arms. We knew that he would never survive and he was amazingly good natured. He wanted to be held and cuddled and to top it all off he had a broken leg. So he got to stay. We named him Quiz after a cat in one of my favorite books, fed the remanats of the goat milk and he grew and grew. He is the least of our troublemakers and has really integrated himself into the household. He loves to play with the puppy and just the other day I found him curled with Hannah (the 9 year old dog who lives with the goats) while they were sleeping in the garage.

He was so small and helpless

Not so tiny anymore - but still just as sweet

Puppy too you ask? Yep. When we went up to breed goats we stopped my our friend's house to visit since we were in the area. He breeds Australian Kelpies - a type of herding dog from the land down under. True working dogs who will go and go and go until they drop. He had mentioned a puppy last spring but when his favorite female whelped in August I assumed they would be snapped up. When we were there he said he had one puppy left that we could have if we were interested. Were we interested? Well I had had no plans to get a puppy yet...but I have wanted one for a really long time. I said yes and we brought her home. We called her Mac or MacKenzie after a character from a TV show Jenn and I love. She is much more of a handfull than Quiz, but she is smart and trying. She loves playing with Hannah, playing with Quiz, herding the chickens, and will hike all day if we ask her too. We have taken her everywhere - and she has taken it all in stride.

How could you pass up that face?

She has already grown so much

So I did not lie - it has truely been a crazy fall. Fun but crazy. And just think, more kids in a only a few weeks.

Treats for Goats

2011-11-11T13:45:00.001-08:00

Sometimes people want to know what we give the goats as a treat. One of their favorite treats is mulberry leaves. Our neighbor has a large tree that doesn't get pruned very often so when they grow over the edge of the fence - we make a point of pruning several large armloads of branches for them.

As you can see they really love it. They consume it so rapidly that soon all that is left is sticks. These of course provide a location for us to trip on for the next several months - but all in the name of enjoyment for the goats.

Brief Fall update

2011-10-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Wow - has it really been a month since I blogged? Sometimes I pat myself on the back about how good I am at this, then it all comes crashing down around me.

Clearly school has set in. Although my mind revolves around goats most of the time, come fall, my days return to being filled with school, meetings, classes, projects, etc. Sadly this leaves less time for casually blogging.

So whats been happening around here?

Well of the six does we bred for Dec/Jan kids, five of them (Katie, Antimony, Azalea, Arizona, Xymphony) came back pregnant!!!! We will be having some very early kids! Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like new baby goats.
Several other does have been bred for Feb kids as well - including Brioche and Bermuda, bred as yearling milkers. We have had 2 AI attempts (Yodel and Alba) so far this year as well. Having at least 1 set of AI kids a year would be an excellent goal in my mind.

We even have Bamboo bred for early March kids. Actually Bermuda (Brazil's daughter) was bred to Arabica and Bamboo (Arabica's daughter) was bred to Brazil. Since their dams are already related, it should be interesting to compare their kids.

Does should be returning to heat this week if they are going to recycle. I have my fingers crossed and am holding my breath.

We also have several does due in heat this week. We want to attempt AI on Keegan and repeat our Brazil breeding on Alaska and Thistle - their kids were so nice this year, it is worth it to have another set of them.

Several does still to breed, but it is amazing to me how fast this fall is going.
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In other news, we finished the show season out on a very high note. Note only did our first Delta DGA show go off splendidly, we added dry legs to 3 doe kids (Bolivia, Baltimore, Boysenberry) and 1 RGCH (Buri). Not a bad way to end the 2011 show season.

2011-09-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

So here is an interesting thought for you - do the goats like going to the show?

As you encounter more and more goats you realize that goats have a personality somewhere between a dog and a cat depending on which goat you talk to (metaphorically speaking). Most goats are independant like a cat but still enjoy human attention like a dog. And certainly their intelligence stands as high as any pet.

So this begs the question - do goats like going to the shows?
This picture I took of Xymphony says a lot in my opinion. I think it is hard to argue that she is smiling at the camera:

Can't you see her smile?

There are certainly goats who do not enjoy the show ring. We had one goat that refused to stand still and another who seemed to get car-sick driving anywhere (including to a show). Those are animals who we find nice pet homes for where they can live their life in peace and not deal with the attention of being shown. However for most of our show string - they do love the attention. They enjoy the grooming and handling ahead of time. The love to meet the people at fairs. Lots of our goats stand on the fence as people pass by and try to get their attention. If those goats don't love showing - it is hard to say what loving being there would look like.

One more reason to love AI

2011-08-31T14:24:00.001-07:00

There are so many reason to love AI – artificial insemination. Last night I was reminded of one of my top reasons – you can actually do something when your doe is in heat

Like so many goat breeders, our life outside of dairy goats is insane. We try to plan and sync does who need to be taken off the property to get bred to come into heat at a time when we are available. This is truly so we can take animals where we want them and use bucks we choose. We only have 3 bucks on the property and only 2 of the breeds we own could be bred to these 2 bucks for purebred kids. At the bare minimum we if we see them in heat we at least mark it so that we can make plans for 3 weeks later. This is maddening though if you want early kids. Sometimes does only cycle once in September or they cycle so late that “three weeks later” is no longer possible for senior kids. There is nothing more frustrating than having a doe in a strong, standing heat and not being able to do anything about it because you have class or something else keeping you from dropping everything and breeding her.

That was the case last night. Yodel was in a strong heat and willing to stand for a buck. So far we have had no showable doe kids from Yodel – so crossing her was not really an option this early in the year. Instead we thought we would breed her to Flash- our new young Togg buck (that is why he is there after all). Well, being an April kid he was very excited and had no idea what to do. I’m sure that if a doe kid we didn’t want bred was in heat around him he would figure it out…but since we wanted him to breed a doe – no such luck. The idea was there, the action wasn’t. Now what are you going to do? You can’t drive her anywhere this late, your Togg buck won’t do anything – saving the day once again is the magic of AI.

It was literally as simple as we looked at our semen list, picked out a buck to use and decided to give it a go. Inseminate her and hope it works. Now reality is she may not settle. In fact there is a high possibly she will have to be re-bred in 3 weeks. However she most certainly would have to be rebred if we did nothing.

We’ll know in in 3 weeks if it takes but even if it doesn’t – at least I don’t go to bed figuring I wasted the chance to breed a doe in heat. If for no other reason – this has to be one of the greatest reasons to start seriously looking at AI for a herd. No one can keep all the bucks they need for a small herd – this makes it possible to actually breed does the way you want to.

North Valley Summer Show

2011-08-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

North Valley DGA, known for their May show up in Red Bluff, decided to do something different this summer and put on a mid August show for Sr does only.

I will admit that I dragged my feet a little on one more show. After a show nearly every weekend I wanted a break. But being the good sport I am (read humor here) I agreed to give it a try. Boy was I glad we did.

First let me say that normally that area in mid-summer is HOT but it was actually not to bad. We choose to get up early Saturday morning and drive up then instead of spending the night up there. Just like I sleep better in my own bed, I think the does do better when they can sleep in their own pasture and relax. It makes for an early morning, but as long as you have udders clipped and goats ready to go - it actually isn't that bad.

We only took our Togg milkers. Lanney came too just to be sure we had the numbers, but we did not end up needing her so she was not shown. The show was divided up in a 4-ring circus style so that 4 breeds show at once. This is great because you get a lot more accomplished in a shorter amount of time, however if you bring more than one breed it is very difficult. With the exception of Thistle, who is not a strong saanen competitor, the Toggs are our only older does. Yearlings have a really hard time winning in a big show. Judges feedback is important, but for this show we were packing light and trying to do it easy by just bringing one breed.

All three of our does placed really well. Yodel placed 2nd in 3 rings (standing right behind the champion twice), Xymphony placed first in every ring, and Keegan was second in all 4 rings. The best part was both Xymphony and Keegan earned a Reserve Grand Champion award!! A big reward in the competitive Togg area.

Overall I came home with a very positive feeling. Not only are the Toggs headed in the right area, we are starting to be known among the larger breeders. People are beginning to see us as comrades and there is nothing more exciting than seeing your hard work start to pay off.

Only a few more shows to go this season and we finish with the big hurrah of putting on our own show - it will be crazy!

Boys will be boys

2011-07-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

We took several of the goats hiking (post to follow at some point) and this picture was just too good not to share. As it turns out the idea that boys cannot pass a stick without picking them up is not a concept limited to human males. Arabica (in the picture) had to grab a stick and play with it when he saw it! Such a clown!!

Katie and her Boys

2011-07-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Katie lying with "her" two boys in front of her

So anytime people tell me that goats don’t think or have feeling or anything like that I might bring this story up.

Katie is a beloved member of the herd. All but one of the full lamanchas born this year originated with her. In many ways she really is the herd matriarch for a good portion of the herd. However, she doesn’t usually make it on our show string. When we have lovely up-and-coming yearlings we want to take out, she usually stays at home. As a result, when a friend of ours asked to borrow a goat she was an easy choice. We thought of it as a 10 day vacation for Katie.

Katie did not feel this way. Outside of her herd she refused to eat and in a matter of 5 days lost almost 20 lbs. Poor Katie was so upset being away from her friends and most importantly away from “her boys”. After Argentina left to be a milker for someone else, we started putting Katie on the milkstand for Argentina’s two boys. Not the way we do it for the girls, but for the boys, it is not nearly as big of a deal. Soon the boys were so excited that they didn’t make it to the milk stand before nursing Katie out. Most does have a big problem with this, but not Katie, she just stood there waiting for them to finish. Then one day, I just opened the kid gate and they went running over to her (you could almost hear them calling in their high pitched voices “Grandma! Grandma!”) and like a perfect angel, Katie just stood there in the pasture letting them eat. Well that was that. The boys just stayed out with her from then on and “magically” her udder was completely empty.

Once she came home Katie was so glad to see those boys – I think she has gotten quite attached to them. Right away she took them back and went running over to the feeder. Within just a few days she had gain most of the weight back and was back to mothering the boys.

County Fairs

2011-07-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind with one county fair after another. First we had 5 4Hers (and 5 goat kids) at our local San Joaquin County Fair. This was followed by taking our “show string” to attend Alameda county fair. County fairs are a lot different than standard goat shows (sometimes called “club shows”) in several ways.

First, you often stay there longer than at a standard show. Most club shows have you come in Friday night or Saturday morning and rarely stay past Sunday afternoon. During a fair you usually stay for the better part of a week.

Second there are rarely public (non-goat people) in attendance at club shows. Not that anyone should think of not coming to a club show who is interested in goats, I love talking to new people at goat shows, but a lot of questions you get at a fair you don’t get at club show. In fact I would say there are 3 popular questions that people ask at a fair.

1. They ask why we cut off their ears (the Lamanchas)? Sometimes the fair has signs up and sometimes we put signs up, but no matter what we do, we always seem to have that question posed to us. I suppose since dogs get their ears cropped the idea of cutting outer cartilage off of an animal’s ear is not that far off. And I feel like we should at least respect that they were willing to go out and get the right answer. Better that, then forever passing around miss information. We, of course, do not cut the ear off – they are born this way. Depending on the other animals around we may get asked if we cut their horns off too. If the only goats around are dairy goats (and they are all disbudded) then we only get that question once maybe twice during the full time there. However if there are other goats in the general area who have horns (either at a petting zoo, or at Alameda the breeding meat goats were nearby) then we get this question a whole lot more.

2. What are those things on their neck? Speaking of course about the wattles. Now to be fair, I think I would ask this question too. I mean, wattles are never seen in the pictures or models. Images nearly always show animal with a smooth neck. And since this is usually the only exposure people have had to goats, it is understandable that this question gets asked. We always try to let them touch the wattles (and most of our goats are totally willing to be petted) and it is highly amusing as people tentatively reach out and touch the goat’s neck. Somehow they are really worried that the goat is just going to turn and bite them I guess. Too bad no one shows pictures of goats not having top front teeth and that they are not going to bite anyone.

3. The third question we get CONSTANTLY is “where are the pigs”. I have no idea what it is about pigs that everyone wants to see. Is it because they are in story books? Or is it because they are so unusual? I have no idea. I personally do not find them all that fascinating but someone does I guess! Most fairs have a rotation of animals (if they are large enough) so that livestock – things that go to market like market lambs, market hogs, and market steer usually come in during a different time than the dairy animals I always feel bad that I have to tell them there are no pigs around.

Please don’t think that I don’t like answering questions. I love fairs because you get to really brighten someone’s day by letting them get close to the livestock. Nothing can beat pulling out a goat kid from the pen and letting a human kid really pet or hug the goat. Personally I feel a deep connection with the fairs because that was when I first encountered goats and really for a child living in a major metropolitan area, where else would you encounter them? Without our local county fair, I can’t even imagine where I would be in life. You never know what little thing will change you life…

Watsonville 2011

2011-07-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Watsonville is another of my favorite shows. Maybe it is time to be honest – they are all one of my favorites. However Watsonville always lands right into the middle of the summer. Right about the time when it is reaching 103° in the central valley, right about that time when you think you are going to die of the heat – we head to the coast for a weekend vacation.

A few years ago when we really started to get serious about the goat breeding (after we were both ready to work hard with our breeding program) we started to notice we began moving up the line. Going from the bottom half to the middle third of the line. This year I am happy to say that few exceptions we stood at the top ½ of the line consistently. The Lamanchas are very competitive in that area and it felt great to get three of our girls in the champion line-up. Berkeley, our rising star of the show, took 2 reserve grand champion awards. Bolivia stood at the top of her class and looked lovely in the champion line-up. Bamboo took a reserve champion in the first ring and then earned her dry leg with a grand champion win in the second ring. Biscotti was the big surprise – we added her in the last ring to make up for pulling Bamboo out so there would be enough goats to make the win count. As the only jr kid, she won her class, however I was stunned when the judge decided to go down to her for the Grand champion. What makes her win even more ironic is that she was for sale all weekend!

The young yearling milkers did respectable with Arizona standing at the top of her class or near the top in all the classes. Keegan also did very well standing second to the doe who went Grand Champion in the AOP division.

Overall we had a great few days getting away from the heat and hanging out on the coast.

Next adventure is taking the Lamancha does up to a show in Oregon. The first out of state show exhibition in the history of the Cadence herd! Exciting!!

Katie and her Boys

2011-07-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Katie relaxing with her boys

Once she came home Katie was so glad to see those boys – I think she has gotten quite attached to them. Right away she took them back and went running on to the feeder. Within a day she was looking better and within a week she had gained the weight back. I think she just missed home and “her” boys

Tattooing Lamancha Tails

2011-06-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

As a Lamancha breeder there comes a time each year when you have to get the tattoo pliers out and put a tattoo in the poor little kid’s tails. The Saanens and Toggenburgs don’t know how easy they have it – their tattoos go in the ear, the poor Lamanchas get theirs in their tail.

So let’s start with the obvious question, why tattoo at all? Even though it is not a fun job, I would encourage every goat owner to get their animal tattooed. This is important method of identification. Even if you only have a goat in your backyard and never want to take your goat across state lines or even down the road, things can happen. You never know when a goat is going to discover a weak point in your fence and push its way under the fence for a tour of the neighborhood. And, much sadder, there are always the case of stolen animals. I once had a young animal taken directly from its pen and thankfully I was able to tell the police that, yes I did have a defining mark on it – it had already been tattooed. Why not microchips you ask? Well for pets this is a great option, but the reality of having a working herd of dairy goats is that not all animals will forever be a pet and microchips could become a big problem if the goat ever entered the meat market.

So how do you begin? Well first you wait. The Toggs and Saanens could probably get tattooed at a day old (although we try to group them so they are usually around 3 weeks) but the Lamanchas need time to grow those tails. We don’t usually bother tattooing them until at least 2 months old. You want to make sure there is enough tissue on both sides of the bone so that you can get letters into the tail. In my opinion it is better to lose a jr leg on 1 month old kid because she has no tattoo then to have to re-tattoo her at 1 year old because the tattoo is no longer readable.

So the first step is cleaning the tail. You will want at least 1 helper for the whole procedure. Although it is possible to do it solo – it is not fun or easy. Have your helper secure the hind of the kid. Whether this means putting the kid’s head in the milk stand and securing its back legs and rump or if it means holding the kid between the helper’s legs so that the kid’s legs can be held and the helper’s legs secure the middle section so the kid can’t go running forward. Clean the tail with rubbing alcohol so that it does not have dirt or anything to block the pins. Baby wipes work well to clean all the dirt off and then a paper towel or second baby wipe with alcohol to sterilize the area. Once the tail is clean keep hold of the kid so it can’t go running around and get dust in your clean work.

Cleaning the tail

Clean and alcohol sterilized tail

Get you tattoo pliers set up with the correct letters for either the herd tattoo or for the year tattoo. CHECK THE SEQUENCE ON PAPER FIRST!!!! It is not fun to have to put an extra tattoo in the ear or tail if you mess up!!!

Once the tail is clean, have the helper hold the tail up, but don’t stretch it tight. When you stretch it you take away skin that you can punch. Ideally you want the tattoo positioned about 2/3 of the way down the tail. It is hard to read when it is hidden in the tail web, but it is harder to read when it is up near the end of the tail because there is not enough skin. Find a place where you can reach enough skin to punch successfully. You can line it up over and over again before you punch – but you only want to punch once.

Add the pliers up before you punch

Once you have the tail still and the pins lined up, punch. Punch ONCE! And Punch HARD! It is supposed to bleed a little. If it doesn’t bleed you may not have punched hard enough. At least there should be holes that you can see easily in the tail.

Aim for towards the center of the tail web or 2/3 down from the end of the tail. (you should be able to see the holes in this skin on the right side of the picture)

Once you have punched one side take your pliers back and swap letters. You could start rubbing ink into the side you just punched, but we find that the pliers and the tattoo letters stay cleaner if you do all the punching and then rub the ink in. Punch the other side the same way that you punched the first side.

Line up for second punch

There will be blood - that is alright, it means you got a good clean punch.

*** The Herd tattoo goes on the goat’s RIGHT side (or right tail web) and the Year tattoo goes on the goat’s LEFT side***

Once you have punched both sides, rub ink all over the tail and rub hard into the holes. I have always found a finger works better than a brush or anything like that because you can really push the ink into the holes.

Rub the ink in well so that you cannot see the dots any more.

Finally let the poor tortured kid go and eat something – they always feel better after food. Ideally you want to leave the tail alone until the ink falls off on its own. This is ensure the proper healing occurs. Don’t wipe it off just for curiosity sake – you will just mess with it, better to wait several weeks so that you have a good tattoo.

REDGA 2011

2011-06-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

The Redwood Empire Dairy Goat Assn or REDGA puts on a two day show every year over memorial day weekend and it is one of the best shows of the year for several reasons.

First, nationally known breeders bring their animals out for a spectacular show. Last year the judge was so moved by the champion Saanen line-up, she actually got choked up over the mic. The quality of animals brought to this show is really impressive. When you choose animals to go you really have your “REDGA” quality animals and the rest of the herd.

Secondly their junior show is done “four ring circus” style so that you get to let other people help and you get to help other people show their goats. There is nothing quite like being handed an animal to make it look good only to have it move up 4 or 5 places. The second most important thing about showmanship is to feel comfortable and look confident. The best way to do that is to practice, practice, practice, and there is no better place to practice than in lots of breed classes all at once. It really makes you feel more comfortable about being in the show ring. It reminds you that the show ring is not some scary place, but a place to show off the animals you have. We love having 4Her come out and try their hand at showing.

Finally they do an amazing job of recognizing the youth exibitors. As someone who came up through the 4H program and is now a 4H leader, I think it is so important to recognize those exhibitors. On both Saturday and Sunday they have 1 ring which recognizes the best youth owned doe in show. They also give the kids shirts and make sure to have fun activities (like a costume contest) that adults may not enjoy but that the younger exhibitors really get excited about. Many of the exibitors only know a few other people who raise goats – so it is shows like these which get the kids interacting to really make friendship of people with mutual interests.

This year our breed placings were both exciting and pleasing. The big star was Keegan, who, at less than 2 weeks fresh won Reserve Grand Champion in the Togg specialty ring. We were so excited!!!! We also got to see her mother who looked beautiful at 10 years old and still milking! Argentina received a second Reserve Grand Champion award and all the other kids stood near the tops of their classes. The unfortunate thing about the “4 ring circus” is that if you are showing more than one breed – you often miss that is going on in one of your other breeds. I was monitoring the Lamancha and grade show (making sure the right kids took the right kids into the ring) and didn’t get to see the Saanen show at all – I guess that is what next year is for!!

Weekend activity?

2011-05-26T15:48:00.001-07:00

Bored up in the Bay Area this weekend? Want to come see a goat show? Come over to REDGA Saturday or Sunday and enjoy one of the best shows of the season!

Go to www.redga.org for full flyer details!

(and I am sure I will blog about the results next week sometime)

Red Bluff (NVDGA) Show 2011

2011-05-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

We attended the Red Bluff – North Valley DGA show last year for the first time. The fairgrounds have a lovely set up with pens large enough for the does to spread out and a beautiful grassy area where the owners can set up tents. Last year we had a great time camping and enjoying the people. This year we enjoyed seeing people – but the weather was as uncooperative as possible.

After a few days of 90° weather in late April we were inspired to clip everyone enough to be ready for the show. All the kids got a full clip and the milkers were mostly clipped (with an udder clip). Boy did the weather play a trick on us. The balmy 70-80’s dropped down into the 40’s with a wind and rain chill. Few things are less fun than tent camping in the rain with water blowing into the tent.

The does (who now have almost no hair) were very cold and miserable. They do not like being cold and the fact that water was involved was just too much. They all looked hunched up and cold. Even looking that way, Arizona had a great weekend. She placed first on the first day and second on the second day! Out of a large class of almost 8 other goats, we couldn’t be prouder! The rest of our does fell somewhere in the middle of their classes, but with that weather – I couldn’t fault them if they lay down on the ground and refused to get up. I certainly felt like doing that.

Our kids were somewhat of a mixed bag. Most of them we put coats on in an attempt to keep them warm. While it made it possible to keep them comfortable while in their pens, I think it made them colder when we took them off to put them in the show ring – creating the same hunched up appearance as their older counterparts.

Bermuda looked beautiful and incredible long and won her junior leg. This means that she probably won’t come with us in many future shows this year but still I’m excited to have another doe with that start to her show career. Bamboo took first in one ring and almost made reserve junior champion. When the judge announced she was going with a different goat, Bamboo was royally offended and turned and screamed (and yes, she screamed, not just hollered or maa’ed) at the judge. Thankfully the judge was good natured enough to laugh along with us at Bamboo. Berkeley really impressed us by placing second in her class several times just behind or in several cases, between several animals out of top herds. Overall we were really proud of our junior does and how they did in their classes.

Even our successes did not outweigh the relief we felt upon returning to our house which was significantly drier and a tad bit warmer. All the goats were glad to be able to wait out the storm in their own shelter and huddle with the rest of the herd for warmth.

Hopefully the next show coming up this weekend will be just as enjoyable with the people and the goats and several times more enjoyable with the weather.

First Show 2011

2011-05-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

For the past few years we have been on a schedule – the show season starts with the closest show. At only 40 minutes away, we can bring lots of kids, we can bring all our 4Hers, and overall a great show to ease into the season.

Last Saturday as we were discussing who to bring and who the 4Hers could do showmanship with, we were suddenly confronted with an upheaval to our nice little plans. They were looking for an emergency replacement judge down in Chino for a 3 ring, 1 day show. Taking one for the team (and because it sounded really fun!), we agreed to head down south and bypass the close show.

We still sent a few 4Hers with their leased goats up north to do showmanship and practice. Reports indicate that one of our 4Her’s even got a special trophy for the Lamamcha specialty show! Sometimes it is good to know some things can run without us.

Since I would be the only one showing, we had to make sure we had only one goat per class. Most shows we can get away with more goats in each class since we can both be showing. Additionally because we see most of the same people at all the shows we normally go to - we can always ask our friends to help us out. This time around I was going solo and wanted to make sure I was only showing one per class. So we took 3 senior does to show (Arizona, Alba, Xymphony) and 4 jr does (Bolivia, Brea, Bianca, and Ballad). A mishap with Brea’s papers meant that we did not get to show her and Yodel came along for the ride since she would be very uncomfortable without Ballad.

I got the opportunity to deliver the second Saanen wether to his new home where he is to be a slightly spoiled pack goat. I had seen the ad asking for a bottle baby Saanen back in February and figured there was no way I would be able to get a goat all the way down there, even if one of my boys was a good fit. This trip made it all work out. There is nothing that warms your heart more than seeing one of your animals go to a new loving home. I have no doubt he will be very happy down there.

It was cool to see so many other people who we don’t normally see and compete against lots of animals you don’t on a regular basis. The highlight of the show was Bolivia going Reserve Jr champion. She walked out in the that ring like she was a star. Ballad and Bianca did not act as polite (although they placed respectably in their classes). Bianca walked through the ring hunched up and cold while Ballad danced on 2 legs most of the time. That is part of what the show season is for – teach the animals a few manners and how to behave like little ladies.

After a 7 hour drive down and a 12+ hour day of showing and judging we loaded everyone back up and headed home. Although we arrived at 4am (and had to milk a very angry Katie) it was a really fun experience and a great change of pace.

Adorable Pictures

2011-04-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

You know those shots that are too cute for words? Enjoy a picture one of our newest Lamancha kids - Belize.

Spring continues...

2011-04-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

There is so much to write about and no time to actually do it (I gave you fair warning didn’t I???) I will try to finish my ½ written blog about our newest purchased herd addition because getting her was quite an adventure both in the preordering her and then actually obtaining her. However I think that it really deserves its own entry to I will leave that story for later.

In all brief updates (other blogs I should write) there are many animals who have left the herd as well. This year Zaire, Zinfandel, Annie, and Fritter were all sold to new homes. Ysis left to go live at a dairy although we will receive doe kids in the future back from her. When we dropped her off she took one look at the large empty feed bunk and didn’t hesitate. I have no doubt that she is having a delightful time eating as much as she wants as often as she wants in exchange for milking.

Several of the kids have gone too. Katie’s boys both went as herd sires to herds up north. One of Arizona boys also went as a herd sire and the other has a wonderful home as a pet where I have no doubt he is cuddled and well loved. One of Yodel’s boys went as a herd sire on the coast and one Saanen boy is leaving soon as well. Three other boys were also sold and it makes the pasture look much more reasonable to have a few less animals.

All the other kids have collar now too. They are wearing the large plastic chained collars which stretch and break should they actually get caught. Plus it means we do not have to pick them up and carry them because we can all practice leading and walking by the collar (in preparation for show season that starts in a mere 2 weeks!!)

Finally we had nearly our last set of kids born this week. The remaining two alpines bred to Brazil came over and gave us buck doe twins each. Ziggy seems rather surprised to see them at our house. They look a lot like her so it was pretty funny to watch her get confuse why we brought them here. Zulu’s doe is a beautiful solid black with a lot of personality. Zulu comes from a dancer line so I think the kid is getting the name Bossanova. Kahlua’s doe is beautifully colored and her coloring is similar to her half-brother, Kastdemur’s Watch Yourself with black front and back and a large white belt with spots intermixed. As she is from a dessert line, her daughter is named Biscotti.

Argentina surprised us to know end by delivering triplets – 2 bucks and 1 doe. Quite a lot of kid for one little yearling! The doe came inside for a few days so that mom could concentrate on feeding 2 kids. 3 kids is just a little overwhelming for a first time mom. When Artemis kidded a few days later with a single doe kid, we graphed Belize (Argentina’s daughter) on to her so that she now has a mom to look after her in the field. She may still get extra bottles here and there (or more accurately Artemis’s daughter Buri may get a bottle since Belize is pretty quick to that udder) to help her grow well, but now she has a goat mom to teach her how to be a goat.

Wheeeew, I think that is all the important things that have been happening here. More about shows as they happen, although with the quarter as crazy as it has been I doubt I will be back on a regular blogging frequency until after I finish with school.

Saanen Doe kid

2011-04-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

Since I am the one who is writing this entry – I am going to write about my beautiful Saanen doe. I really need to stop telling people “Oh we are breeding 3 saanens, I’m sure that we will have lots of Saanen doe kids.” Yea, every time I say this I end up with nothing. This year Azalea tricked us; she gave us a doe, but it was not a Saanen. Well then Zinfandel gave me Saanen kids but no does. So that meant it was down to Alba. What’s more is Alba had more than just this year’s hopes resting on her. She was bred to a buck (Auric) who is just gorgeous and I love dearly and this is the third year I have used him.

Auric - beautiful sire

The first year I used him was way back when Thistle was a 2 year old first freshener. Sadly she kidded when no one was around and the kids did not survive. Then I used him again when Vanilla (Willow’s older full sister by one year) was a first freshener but she kidded with a giant single buck kid, still no doe kids. Since Auric is getting older, I figured Alba was probably my last chance to get a doe kid from him. Needless to say A LOT was riding on this breeding and I was definitely holding my breath.

Awww I think she is smiling

Thankfully Alba came through for me! She delivered (by herself, without our help) a beautiful single doe kid – full Saanen and thoroughly lovable. Perfectly white with the correct upright ears – all Saanen.

For a name, Albariño is a type of grapes, so then I wanted another name that was a variety of grapes. Finally we settled on Bianchetta (which literally means, little white grapes, but is also a variety of grapes) or Bianca for short.

Rain and Mud

2011-03-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

First Disclaimer: This is the end of spring break (which isn’t actually a break for graduate students, just a “go to lab everyday” time) and the next quarter promises to be very difficult with a combination of teaching and taking a very difficult class. You will have to forgive me for 10 weeks if I don’t get many blogs posted. I’ll try, but they might be short and infrequent.

Rain has hit us hard here. Now, I know many people across the country have to deal with snow, but since I don’t, I can only talk about the rain. It is not so bad that there is water falling from the sky, which makes hay wet and everything else wet, but goats are allergic to water. I mean they like it in a bucket and need it to drink, but if it is on them! Oh the drama!

Plus with the rain bring the wind and the mud.

The wind is easy enough to take care of – you but up some boards and make sure there are plenty of wind blocks (in lots of directions because somehow as soon as you break the southernly wind the northern one starts up. But the mud!

Oh the mud is everywhere. There are puddles that don’t drain in the middle of the pasture. There are places where my feet get stuck to the point of pulling my boot off! Then there are the goats. They look horrible they are muddy and spotty and dirty and just plain gross. The white does are in no way white and the brown does seem to have lighter brown spots on them. The kids legs are muddy and they put horrible muddy foot prints on all your clothes. I have gone through more jeans this week because of it!!

I know we need the rain, but I need the sun!! I need the pasture to dry out! I need the clover to grow back. Right now nothing can grow. All the little tomatoes I planted – dying of water overload and wind. It is really all too much.

But in the wise words – This too shall pass. Until then, time for mud boots.

One Thousand Page Views!!

2011-03-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Thank you to EVERYONE who has read the blog, once, twice, or regularly. We have crossed one thousand page views!!! I'm so excited you all enjoy reading the blog!!!

Buying Grain - in bulk

2011-03-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time I owned one small goat. We feed her one bag of grain a month (spread out of course). Once that little doe was milking we bought a couple 50lb bags a month. Eventually when her daughters were milking too I got up to 5 bags or so a month. Never in a million years did I think I would every buy grain by the ½ ton – honestly I didn’t even know it existed until a few years back. Now that is the most popular way we buy grain.

Every year we start off buying the first few rounds of grain in sacks. It is easy when we need 1 or 2 bags to get us through a few weeks. Plus it helps to replenish our grain sack stash. After you use the bags for a year or more they start to really wear out.

Then once the milkers start producing and we have plenty of milkers, it is time to go buy in bulk. Find a sunny day, line to bed of the truck with a clean tarp, and off we go.

The cool thing about buying in bulk is that you can decide what you want to milk in. Sometimes we want to add a little extra molasses, sometimes we feel like we want to boost the protein, or maybe we want some other feed additive put in – whatever we want, we can put in! So then we wait around while the feed gets mixed up and ready for us. We position the truck under the shoot and shortly they are dumping it into the bed of the truck.

Of course the real work begins when we get home. We have the great fun of shoveling (and I do mean shoveling – with a shovel) into a bags and a trash can to actually feed to the goats. 1000lbs of grain usually goes into 10 or 11 full bags of grain, or a trash can and a few less bags.

Here’s hoping that it will last a few months at least!

Bippity Boppity Boo

2011-03-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind but mostly I think that is simply from too many things to do and not enough hours to do it. However I briefly had to post about Annie’s little twins.

Annie was our last kid born last year, at the beginning of May and as a result she was handled less than our older girls. She was a bit wild and a bit skittish. If you caught her she calmed down and behaved fine, but first you had to catch her. This is the down side to having a herd that is over a certain number. The animals who are friendly get more attention and as long as the less friendly ones are eating and seem content you don’t chase them down and handle them. Annie fell to the second set. We would see her eating with her mother, we would see her happily lying in the sunshine, and we would catch her to trim hooves and make sure she was alright but we didn’t handle her daily. As a result we missed the fact that she was definitely pregnant.

Sure we noticed she was round, but she was also VERY furry. I mean, for goodness sakes, she is a Togg. Then we noticed she was growing a small udder, but it was pretty covered with fur and she comes from strong milking lines so there was always a possibility that it was just a precocious udder. We went round and round in our own minds. She was so small… when could she have gotten bred? Wouldn’t we have noticed?

Finally over our “kidding weekend” one of our friends asked when Annie was due. Sigh, I guess it was time to face reality. So finally after Azalea kidded we tried chasing her down. It took quite some effort but we finally caught her. Sure enough – there was definitely a baby we could feel. Since we didn’t want to run around the pasture every time we wanted to catch her – we put her in with Arabica (well! She was already pregnant at this point!)

A week and a half later Annie delivered a beautiful set of buck/doe twins. They are the most adorable things ever. Perfect Toggenburg markings with little Lamancha ears, truly precious. Annie was such a good mother and a good milker. Shortly after she went to live at her new home where her milk is helping to raise calves, but the two kids stayed with us. I’m sure there will be many pictures of the two of them, but for now here is one shot of them and yes, we are calling the doe Bippity Boppity Boo.

Saanen kids at last

2011-03-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

I am a skeptic. Maybe I secretly hope for the best but I plan for the worst and expect it to come. I suppose in some ways this means life occasionally gives me good surprises but mostly it means when good things come my friends have one more thing to tease me about.

Well it was the same last fall when Zinfandel didn’t come back into heat after 21 days I held my breath. We had tried breeding her by AI twice and I was only going to give it 2 rounds before I took her for natural service. AI – or artificial insemination tends to be a hit and miss thing. In 2009 we bred 2 lamanchas (one time for one and two times for the other) and had 2 sets of kids. We also bred 1 Toggenburg and had no Togg AI kids. In 2010 we bred 1 Saanen twice and 1 Togg 3 times (she didn’t settle by AI at all). Zinfandel didn’t come back into heat BUT I caught Arabica out at least once near the time when she was in heat. I told my friends I would not believe that the AI had worked until those kids came out with long white ears.

To make me even more skeptical and worried Azalea ends up with a little grade Lamancha cross after breeding her specifically to a Saanen buck. Now I was truly worried. The doe that I have taken to the breeder to have serviced by a live buck and I never saw even close to the Lamancha pen kids with a cross so what was going to happen to the doe that I AI’ed and saw near the Lamancha buck pen.

Saturday morning rolled around and Zinfandel looked to definitely be in labor. She kidded with no problems and no assistant needed and guess what… the kids had perfectly shaped Saanen ears and were white all over!!!! It worked!!! I can now say I have successfully settled a doe with AI!!! The small downside was that they were both bucks so no does this year (last year our 2 sets of AI kids ended up being 3 does) but now I can add AI bucks to the list of potential sires. And yes – I am already plotting next year’s breeding plans including some cool AI crosses. I’m sure the skeptic will be back soon but until then I will go have a long chat with Alba about some Saanen doe kids ;-)

Creative weekend

2011-03-02T22:37:00.001-08:00

This weekend seemed to spur creativity. I feel like I totally accomplished so much including planting radishes and beets and starting to set up another area for a small garden bed. However my best moment came when I had the brilliant idea to recycle.

So you know those really gross jobs that come with raising animals? The ones that involve lots of poo or other smelly things? We have two large dog carriers that we use to hold animals. Sometimes it is for transport and sometimes it is just for storing young animals. The last things these carriers were used for was holding the sheep (who we are raising up for meat) and they really needed a good cleaning before we wanted to put any little goats in them. Well then the question is what do you use to scrub them out? You want something stronger than paper towels, but you also want to throw it away after wards.

Then it hit me – before I throw away that nasty scrubbing pad that I have nearly killed doing the dishes – give it one last hurrah. So the old dish scrubber pad gets used (it was headed out anyway) and then it gets tossed!

This was again repeated (with a different scrubber pad) when I had to clean out the tub. When a kid is not looking strong or quite right and we want it to not have to maintain its body temperature, we often bring it in the house and put it in the (dry) tub. Well you can guess that the sick baby does not leave the tub spot less – so it is really nasty once it is strong enough to go back outside to mother. Once again – brilliant idea. Normally we just put a towel underneath, but why not put a paper bag. The bag is disposable and very inexpensive and it can be changed if the kid remains in the tub – so the poor thing is not rolling in the manure. Then at the end – everything can get scrubbed out with a pad to then toss.

This all worked perfectly until I found myself this morning with a clean tub and a different weak kid. Oh well – I tried.

Surprise, Surprise!

2011-02-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

We only had 1 doe due to kid last weekend. Azalea is a Saanen yearling milker who was born last January and we decided to freshen in February so we would have some Saanen senior kids. You can recall our breeding/hiking adventure with Azalea back in September. Remember how she angry she was about getting taken all over the mountain? Remember how she did not enjoy the hiking at all? Well I’m afraid she got the last laugh.

Her daughter was born late Monday evening and while Azalea will tell you it was a horrible process it was not extremely eventful – until we saw the kid. Little Bamboo has tiny little elf ears! And instead of being solid white like Azalea and any good Saanen should be she has the palest brown patterning! In fact her brown pattern looks remarkably similar to her ½ brothers – Arizona’s boys. So instead of a senior Saanen kid Azalea gave us our senior Arabica kid we had been hoping for in the early does. Although I would have loved a Saanen doe, I’m grateful for another doe kid and if you’re going to have and experimental, a beautiful doe is the best way to have them.

Urban Homesteading

2011-02-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Normally I try to keep my posts based on our goats and the world of goats. However, even the title says “sometimes the lives of their owners” so I feel as though I am justified to write about something in the world around me.

There is a lot of hoopla going around the blogosphere right now on the topic of copyrighting and trademarking common terms including the terms Urban Homesteading. While I believe in private property, sometimes things get a little out of hand. In response (you can read more at many different sites – google it) people around the country are writing about what urban homesteading means to them.

I can’t honestly say that I consider myself an urban farmer. However, I would be hard pressed to consider myself a full time farmer, so I guess I fall somewhere in between. The goats provide us with milk and occasionally meat and we (try to) grow many vegetables in the summer time (okay – so I TOTALLY failed last year – but this year I am determined to improve).

But, all that aside, that is not way urban farming is so important to me. No, the reason why I feel like it is so important is because I was raised as a city kid but with this incredible streak of agriculture. We always had a large vegetable garden and my mom was canning fruits since I was very small. Homemade food was the norm, not the exception. However, my life took and even large ag based when I started into goats. When I was in 4th or 5th grade I decided I wanted to own an animal I could get my own milk from. Since I lived in the heart of San Jose, I figured my mother would never let me have a cow (she told me later I was right about that) so I set about finding a way to get a goat. Reading every book in the library and writing reports on the topic were the start. Then I spent a year cleaning up other peoples goats. After many hoops and convincing my parents this was not just a whim, I was able to get a goat right before I started high school. 4 years may not seem like long to an adult – but it felt like forever for me.

Regardless, I soon became that strange goat girl. Lots of “getting your goat” jokes. I have talked to friends who grew up in a more rural area, and somehow being in 4H or raising livestock didn’t make them stand out. It wasn’t the only thing anyone ever remembered about them. For me, I was weird and so were all my weird habits – like breeding goats, watching goats kid, or milking 2x a day. But you know what – I was connected to my food. I understood that what I put in the animal was what I could get out. Milk didn’t just come from a carton, no more than vegetables only come in a plastic bag to be microwaved.

This is why urban farming is so important to me. It takes people back to where their food came from. It makes more “weird” people like me who have crazy schedules so they can be home to milk twice a day. It makes people excited about agriculture again. It reminds people that what you put into your animals it what you get out. I am not here to bash modern agriculture practices and I don’t think that being a supporter of urban agriculture doesn’t mean I can’t be a strong supporter in modern agriculture. It is about connecting people to their food and the land that feeds them and the more of my fellow “city kids” I see excited about my passion – the more excited about urban homesteading I get.

Photographing Kids

2011-02-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

So this year we have several people inquiring about buck kids. This is such a cool experience and I am excited to send them out. However before we confirm sales we need to send pictures. This makes a lot of sense; people want to know what animals look like before they purchase anything. If you have been to our website, or really most goat websites, you have seen goats posed from the side or rear to show them off. They stand still, they pinch down, overall they look really nice. Kids don’t really understand this – or adhere to the stand still policy…ever.

The weather was nice today so we went and found a few small collars and decided to embark on the “getting kid pictures” expedition.

I think this story is best told in pictures:

THIS is what kids do normally.

This is what they do when you put them on a collar. A few seconds before he was kicking his front legs like the toddler in the store.

This is what they do when you are not taking their pictures

But when you do try to take their pictures – well they scream

Which brings their worried mother running over…

Alternatively if they don't scream they become stiff

And then they climb on you instead of standing properly

And don't even bother trying to walk them around

Sigh, What are you going to do?

And then, as soon as you give up, they start peeing and pose themselves.

The Dark Side of Raising Livestock

2011-02-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a doe kid with premature kids. They were beautiful buck/doe twins out of our young buck. They were not planned but once we realized she was pregnant we were very excited to have them. Sadly they did not make it through the weekend.

This is the sad reality of raising animals. It is the part they don’t tell you about and the part that is hard, no matter how many years you have been doing it.

What is interesting to me is how different I feel when I lose a newborn kid as oppose to when I send a kid to the butcher. When I send a kid to be butchered I feel like I have given it a good life. It got to spend several months playing with its siblings and with its mother. It was able to run around freely without a care in the world. It slept in the warm sun, jumped off the straw bales, and climbed on anything it could. Overall it had a good life. Maybe it was a short life, but to the best of my abilities it was a good life.

The newborns who die never had that shot. They were taken from their warm womb into a colder world and weren’t able to get past that point. They never got to have a life. They never had the chance to run with their siblings or sleep with their mother. It just seems overwhelmingly sad. The two kids this weekend were particularly sad because they tried so hard to live. They kept breathing and eating until they couldn’t last any longer.

I know this is part of reality. I know that life and death happen. Kids are born and kids die – this is the cycle of life. We’ve learned to not get too attached until we know they are going to live. Kids don’t get names until we know they can make it. We really try to buffer ourselves from being too torn up about these loses, but somewhere deep inside I still feel sad. On one hand I should get used to the death, but on the other hand, being sad makes me a little more human. I never truly want to become so callused that these lost little lives don’t affect me.

Morning Nap Time

2011-02-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this picture. I went out to feed this morning and found Ysis' kids all warm and snuggled up in the feeder for their early morning nap. Nothing makes a better bed than remnants of alfalfa and brother's back!

Pictures of the Weekend's kids

2011-02-08T22:06:00.001-08:00

Whew! All 15 of the little kids!

At a slightly different angle.

After last year's mostly cream/white kids - look at all the color!!!

Kidding Weekend Extravaganza 2011

2011-02-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

We started kidding season out with a bang. Of course we knew we would – this is what happens when you bred 9 does in 2 days, but at least we get to have a head start on looking at our kids and evaluating them.

We timed our kiddings out so that ideally we would have 8 does kid over the weekend and they would be nearly evenly split between the two days. We didn’t want all the first fresheners to kids first because we wanted to make sure there was enough colostrum to go around. The advantage of having a clean herd is that we can feed milk and colostrum around without worries. Everyone has tested clean so it’s safe to use. We were going to start out with 3 does Saturday morning, 2 Saturday evening and 3 Sunday morning. Being animals they had to play games with us but at least they did all kid successfully.

Saturday morning started out going to check on Yodel at 7am (hours before anyone was supposed to start kidding). We found her in the later stages of labor and by 7:30 she had produced a beautiful set of triplets for us. 2 bucks and 1 doe – believe it or not, it works out perfectly since we had a buck reservation and we wanted to be sure we had a buck for ourselves and one doe to complete the package. A perfect early surprise.

There was then a long holding pattern (much to the disappointments of the first set of 4Hers) where no one wanted to kid. Well they must have decided collectively that the sun was at the right position in the sky because Katie, Ziggy, and Ysis all kidded within 40 minutes of each other. Katie, who has given us 4 does in 3 years and nothing else, decided to change things up and deliver 2 bucks this year. Personally I think she is regretting the decision since she seems to be fed up with their desire to wander in opposite directions instead of sleeping where she put them. Boys! Ziggy gave us a lovely set of buck/doe twins nearly all black. She delivered nearly sitting in her owner’s lap – but we all need moral support now and then right? Both kids seem to be doing great although Ziggy seems to be overwhelmed at times with this mothering thing. Last year Ysis gave us cream and white triplets. This year she gave us buck/doe twins who are somewhere between silver and brown. Beautiful, leggy and amazing color. As a Saanen breeder I am always stunned by the colors we get.

Fritter waited until late in evening and had an overall rough time with the whole kidding process. Since Ziggy will be leaving us to go home to her owner about the time that we need to start weaning doe kids we had decided that if we could swap doe kids we are keeping with any buck kids she had this would work great. Once mommy is gone weaning becomes much easier. So we took Fritter’s lovely Togg colored doe and swapped it for Ziggy’s little boy. He seemed fine with the whole thing and Fritter took him with absolutely no argument. Ziggy was a little surprised with the change but judging from the doe’s stomach this morning – Ziggy is feeding and mothering her with no objections and doesn’t seem to notice that her “daughters” have different shaped ears.

The next day (Sunday) we had 3 more does to kid. Arizona and Zaire kidded within 30 minutes of each other and seemed to be trying to support each other during labor since they were laying nearby for a large portion of the time. Arizona – who was bred to Arabica for our desired senior Lamancha kids from him, delivered twin bucks. They are gorgeous both in terms of their apricot white color and their long frame and flat bones – I just wish they were girls. Arizona has been rather miserable for the last week and half or so and although the kidding was not a difficult delivery, she seemed to be exhausted afterwards. We gave her some pain medication and is doing much better. Zaire gave us our only full Lamancha senior kid. A beautiful solid black/brown doe with what apparently in rabbits is termed “gold tipped fur”. Already a stunning kid she was up and eating faster than her light chamoise brother, she definitely has a lot of spunk.

Thistle was the last to kid and took a very long time with the processes. She is a stunning example of why does should kid out young and not wait until they are older. One goat keeper explained it to us that the bones seem to fuse together making delivery that much harder. Her first doe kid was not that large but somehow the head was positioned slightly wrong so it took extra effort to get her out. She gave us a beautiful second doe kid next for a set of twin doe kids. Devastatingly when I went out to check on her and her kids, no more than an hour later, she had accidently laid on the second kid, most likely in a contraction, and had killed it. I know these things happen and she didn’t do it on purpose, but it doesn’t make them any easier. Fortunately she still had the first doe kid and seems to be mothering her well. Another beautiful white Saancha kid to add to our lovely grades from this weekend.

In conclusion the total currently stands at 6 doe 9 bucks
Yodel: 2 bucks 1 doe (Toggs)
Ysis: 1 buck 1 doe (3/4 Lamancha)
Katie: 2 bucks (Lamancha)
Zaire: 1 buck 1 doe (LM)
Ziggy: 1 buck 1 doe (½ LM ½ Alpine)
Arizona: 2 bucks (LM)
Fritter: 1 doe (3/4 Togg)
Thistle 1 doe (½ LM ½ Saanen)

Kidding 2011 starts!

2011-02-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Kidding season started today. After 4 does kidding today with a total of 9 kids born and one more still out there thinking about it, I'll admit that I am too tired to write all about the day. So instead I will leave you with some pictures to enjoy

The day started off with triplet Toggs from Yodel! A beautiful little doe kid and two large buck kids

Our six beautiful Brazil kids. Solid black kid on the far right is a doe from Ziggy (the alpine) and the brownish kid next to her is a doe from Ysis. All the rest are boys, including twin bucks from Katie. She must be proving that she CAN have bucks after having 3 pregnancies with 4 doe kids. A proof that I never really needed but that okay - lots more kids to come!

An Extra Breed

2011-01-31T23:37:00.001-08:00

If you know our herd at all (or you have been to the website), you know we have 3 distinct breeds on the property – and of course our beloved grade does. Now 3 breeds is actually quite a few for 1 herd because of all the different sire service it requires but we each have our own personal love of certain breeds and so as a result we have 3: Lamancha, Saanen, Toggenburg (sometimes shorthand called Togg).

Right now on the property we have 1 additional breed – an Alpine. A good friend of ours was looking for a way to have her Alpine dry yearlings in milk. Ideally you want your does to be bred by the time they are two. After that, you cannot show them until they are milking. Additionally as a doe gets older, the first kidding process gets harder on her body. A two year old first freshener doesn’t really have a terrible time of it, but it can be extremely hard on a 5 year old first freshener. Partly I think this has to do with joints beginging to fuse together making the body change and kidding process harder. Because our friend is away at school right now, burdening her parents with the responsibility of milking and managing kids seemed a bit much to ask. So her choices were wait another year or breed really late and try for kids born after she got back from school.

We bought Brazil, our older Lamancha buck, last January after all our does were already bred. So we had to wait until this fall to use him. Well, understandable we wanted to use him on as many animal as possible so that we would have plenty of doe kids from him to improve our herd. Well, suddenly we had this great idea. Why don’t we lease her alpine does and breed them for ½ Lamancha kids. We’ll keep the kids and she can have milking does. Everybody wins!

Although we tried to breed 2 does early only one settled so only 1 Alpine has joined the herd for a few months. Her “sisters” remain at our friend’s house until they are much closer to kidding. Ziggy came because she is due at the beginning of February with the rest of our kidding storm. Ziggy is a broken sungau. This means she is black with white facial strips like the toggenburgs with a large white belt over her barrel. It is really funny to see her stand next to the other toggs. She has a bit of an appearance like she is just the wrong color. She is the only black and white doe out there (Argentina is solid black) so she stands out a bit. Additionally she has a different personality from the other does. Every time she does something quirky we have just decided to term it she is pulling and “Alpine”. Like when she refused to eat hay with all the little girls… who are maybe ½ her size. Or when she follows us around wondering when we are going to put out “her” flake of hay. Or the fact that she hold her tail nearly over her rump – all the time. Okay so maybe this are not all “Alpine” traits, but it is sure funny to have a different breed around for a while – hopefully her kids will have their sire’s laid back personality :)

The week before kidding starts

2011-01-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

It’s amazing to me how you can re-watch a movie and the thing that sticks out to you is the thing that is most appropriate a few weeks later. At home we get by with less than the modern day technological advances (because let’s face it, which is more important, living with you happy well-fed goats or having cable or internet?) and we watch quite a few movies as a result. A few weeks ago we were re-watching an episode of Everwood that had this closing line about the moment in a production before the curtain goes up. In so many ways I feel like that is the way it is before kidding season. I suppose there are lots of other “waiting” metaphors, but this one seem to just fit somehow. The breath you hold. The scenarios fly before your eyes. Yes, the week before kidding season feels similar to right before a curtain rises.

It isn’t like waiting for the report card or test result. Yes, something could go wrong during kidding season. More than likely something at some point will go wrong. Last year we had 2 boys die one week after they were born no matter how hard we tried to save them. One kid died at birth from a broken neck. Sad but true, sometimes things happen. With all the first fresheners this year, something is bound to happen. But you don’t think about those things. You don’t sit and worry and dread the results. There is so much excitement and anticipation it is hard to get too worried about what will go wrong – we’ll solve those problems when we get there.

Similarly it isn’t the same as waiting for Christmas morning. Kidding isn’t a one day event where after you open the presents you go back to normal in a few days. The next eight months of our lives will be filled with milking, graining, feeding, clipping, showing, and everything else that comes with the show herd that makes my life so exciting and so full. It has possibilities as you evaluate 2011 kids for 2012 offspring. It has choices to make and you cull down your herd (because if I kept everyone – no one would get fed. Well, maybe Ysis but she is pushy like that). You admire the udders on your 2010 kids as first fresheners and you comment on how much better your older does look after another lactation.

Usually I have one doe who I am really excited about – this year I don’t know if I could limit it to just one; or even if I could limit it to just one goat per breed. What will the grade kids look like? Will I finally get color in my 1^st generation Lamanchas? Will Arabica kids be long and tall? Will Auric put dairy character on Alba’s amazing frame? Will Fritter’s kids be togg colored or Saanen colored? Will Xymphony have a doe kid AND a buck kid so we can breed in her dairy frame to the rest of the herd? What will Brazil do for all the goats in the herd? What will Alpine-Lamanchas look like (and more importantly what will they act like)?

No, I think the only way to really describe it is the hush before the curtain rises. You plan. You’ve picked out the best bucks as sires and taken as much care with graining and vaccinations that you could have for these kids. You practice. (I won’t lie, my first kidding season was quite a bit more stressful than this coming one. I know what to expect – I’m aware of the risks but I’m familiar with the solutions). You prepare.( Kidding supplies stocked and at easy reach). Then you hold your breath as it is time to watch the curtain rise and for the show to begin.

Davis Goat Day

2011-01-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

In January ever year, UC Davis hosts a goat day full of talks and hands on activities, but personally I think the best part is getting to see everyone. I know that we are not actually held up in our houses as if we were snowed in or something, but the drastic difference of seeing everyone nearly every week at a show during the summer then not seeing anyone at all during the winter months is pretty strange. Regardless, Goat day is that great opportunity to come out and listen to what is happening in all the latest research and then socialize and finally have some hands on discussions.

The problem every year is that there never seems like enough time to catch up with everyone. This year I spend the majority of the afternoon in a training session to become a DHIA tester. DHIA, which stands for Dairy herd Improvement Association, is an official agency which is set up to test milk and licenses testers to weigh milk on site and then collect samples to send in to the agency. This year a group of us with a total of 4 herd are all going to put our animals on test and test each other herds. Why would you want to test? Well, just like with showing and LA, it is important to test so that you can have official records for your animals to see how they compare to the rest of the country. Even if you never what to compare with the rest of the country, you want to know if you are choosing good bucks and are improving each daughter from her dam. You can’t tell for certain if you are making improvement until you test to see where you are starting. I am really excited to set a base level and see where our animals go in the future.

The only unfortunate thing was the training took most of the afternoon so I didn’t get to see as many people as I could. Oh well, something to look forward to this spring and summer.

Little Growing Udders

2011-01-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Look at that little udder!!

3 weeks until the first kids start arriving! As we eagerly await their arrival another of my favorite things to watch in preparation of kidding is the developing udders on the first fresheners. Although showing them as a dry animal gives you a hint to their potential, this is really what it is all about – what type of udder they have. As you can see our girls are showing adorable little udders and we can’t wait to see them as the develop more and more.

Baby bumps

2011-01-08T16:09:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I went out to feed goats and “bumped” bellies for goat babies. I could feel babies in almost all of our Feb fresheners!! Legs, spine, head, rumps, REAL baby goats!! I just love this part – although you don’t have kids yet, you can feel them and some even kick you back. You know that you are really going to have lots of fluffy, bouncy kids in just a month!

If you want to try this at home with your own does, get a helper (or do this on calm does at the feeder). Come up from behind them and gently wrap your arms around their belly in front of their udder but behind their barrel. Gently lift up or press into their stomach. You (obviously) want to be gentle but depending on how far along your doe is the kids will be large and easier to find and you may need to push a bit into the stomach. Sometimes applying pressure then releasing (but keeping your hand there) and the kid will kick back! Some people can estimate how many kids the doe is carrying, although I have not been as successful at this. I just like the feeling that my goat is actually pregnant and I am not going to be severely disappointed after 150 days of waiting.

One more month! I’m sure there will be more blogs on expected kids to come!

End of 2010

2010-12-31T22:31:00.000-08:00

Wow. It is really hard to believe that 2010 has finally come to the end. It was sure a big year for the herd, or at least me in particular. Before this year I have never had more than 5 goats kid on my watch. Never have I bred more than 9 goats (which was how many we bred in 2009). Really this was amazing to have 18 goats born on our property, acquire 5 other goats sold. Once I thought my herd was huge when it was 12 goats, now it is 22!

In addition to gaining goats we watched goats leave too. Willow, who was born the first spring I was away at college and managed to stay through all the herd fluctuations left after kidding this year. Although it seems sad to see her go, reality says she fit so poorly in with the herd that she needed to leave. We also sold more wethers for butcher than ever before including one that went as a company barbeque. To me this was really cool because it is great to see goats being used in such a public way. If people enjoy the barbeque there – maybe they will really start thinking of eating goat as a common meat. Finally we did lose 3 kids last spring do to a variety of things. I know it must seem strange how I have no problem selling older wethers for meat but it is sad to lose kids but I think that the wethers had a great life and then it was over but the kids often didn’t have a chance to live at all.

Besides the herd member changes we really did have a great show season. I personally finished 1 doe and she now holds the title of champion. We finished the buck we bought in January and he holds the Grand Champion title in his name. We knew he was amazing when we purchased him just by looking at what his offspring have done, but to have him hold that title is even better since now everyone else can also see how impressive he is. We have used him quite a bit this season, so hopefully we will have quite a few kids from him too. Besides our 2 finished champions one of Jenn’s Togg does is looking beautiful and got quite a few nods from judges. Unfortunately she was a first freshener so they couldn’t give her the champion title, but this next year we expect great things from her. Three of our kids won their jr champion titles as well and all three will freshen this spring. Arizona and Azalea are two of our favorite kids and I am really excited to see what type of udder they will have. Honestly with very few exceptions I am really excited about the whole 2010 kids crop. I think we are starting to really make progress with our breeding program and hope that the inclusion of AI will help speed the progress along.

We purchased our AI equipment in summer 2009 so 2010 was the first set of kids we have out of the AI breedings. Three does kids was better than we could have imagined! And such beautiful kids too! They were all Lamanchas so, since we had 2 lamancha bucks on the property this fall, we ventured into other breeds. Notoriously the saanens have been our “problem” breed. Before this year I have had to re-bred Saanens almost every year, thus when my doe settled by AI, I could not have been more excited. If this works – maybe there will be more AI Saanens to come. Next year I think we try to take on the Toggs. We haven’t succeeded with the AI-ing the Toggs, but maybe next year will be the year. Or maybe next year we actually purchase a Togg buck.

On a final note, we sent 4 children to the county fair as our 4Hers this year. As of fall registration we nearly tripled our 4H project. Hopefully we can send maybe even 10 children to the county fair this year. Nothing is more exciting than seeing those kids get all excited about their kids. Maybe in a year or two the children will have animals they own instead of lease but one step at a time.

Overall I think it has been a pretty good year for Cadence Dairy Goats. Thanks for reading and checking out the blog regularly. It is so exciting that in the one year since I started this blog I can actually see people checking out the page and reading it. It is you guys that encourage me to keep writing! Thanks!!

Lamancha Girls Relaxing

2010-12-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just come upon a picture you just have to capture. The does in this picture (L-R, Argentina, Alaska, Arizona) were just so cute snuggled up together. Alaska and Arizona are twins sisters and we often see them lying around together. But adding Argentina to the mix was just too adorable not to take a picture of. Bellies full, all at different gestational stages, just enjoying the winter sunshine.

Breeding Little Bit

2010-12-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!
She was only supposed to be the thing we fed out for a few months. She wasn’t supposed to stay!

Sigh, well I’m afraid we might have actually gotten attached to her (hides head) and were really curious about what her milk production will be like so we … deep breath… bred her. Little Bit or Acorn (although that name didn’t really stick) was bred Tuesday to an incredible handsome Nigerian Buck up in our good friend’s herd, Castle Rock Farm.
Because apparently if 20 other standard size goats kidding wasn’t enough we will be having a mini-milker next year.
On the plus side with Nubian on one side and Nigerian on the other the side should mean some incredible milk producing genes. Even though nothing out of her will be registered, it doesn’t mean that we didn’t choose the best young buck in the pasture whose dam scored 90 at Linear this year and who is milking the highest amount of the herd. If she has any daughters, those girls should also be some milk producing fiends.

Anyone need a mini milker?

But hey, everyone needs a few “special” goats right?

I love my Bucks

2010-12-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

Okay I have to admit it
I LOVE MY BUCKS.
I see people all over the internet who talk about how annoying bucks are and how gross they are and how much they smell– but really how many human are annoying and gross and smell? I’ll bet we can all name a few. But none of that is why I love having bucks. It is because of how easy they make breeding season when the does don’t settle.
I don’t ever want to go through another breeding season without a buck. By this I don’t mean a male goat nearby who just happens to still be intact – but a good, well-bred buck that I don’t feel bad about crossing to any one of my does. As a 4Her I never had a buck around and it was so frustrating first trying to identify when the does were in heat and second if they had taken or if we had to re-bred them. Now, with a buck on the property it is VERY clear when they are in heat and even if I am not sure you can let the buck out and he can check. A few weeks ago the doe I AI’ed looked like she had mucus or fluid on her tail. I panic – maybe she didn’t take, maybe she was recycling. Well I let Arabica out, he looked at her and then ran over to the feeder to see if anything was in it. Wheeew., just me being paranoid.
This feeling was once again re-enforced when Keegan came back into heat (!#!#$!~!@#) again. Of course it was the middle of the week and of course it was already dark and raining. So what do you do? Well it is December and she really needs to get bred – good thing we have 2 amazing bucks already on the property. Yes they will be grade kids but hopefully she will be bred and we do not have to worry about her any more. Plus it will be another chance to see kids out of our buck. However… next year – we need a Togg buck for all these non-settling togg does.

Just a December update

2010-12-15T10:15:00.001-08:00

I really love writing about my herd and when the inspiration hits telling everyone else about the herd as well. The irony of course is that last week (when I had finals and papers to write) I was totally inspired to write blog entries. I controlled myself and worked on my finals. Now that finals are over and I actually have a little time to write – now I can’t think of anything to say.
I think part of the problem is the weather. When the weather is warm and sunny the goats are happy and they lay out in the sun and they look of round and full of kids and life is good. When the weather is cold and rainy – well let’s just say they are not as happy. Granted they are much drier then they have been some years and they are all warm and fluffed up, but happy? No goat is happy if there is rain around. Thankfully we have a little extra space this year so we were able to move the 2 goats in the really muddy pen out and let the pen dry a bit. They look grateful for this at least.
The rest of the goings-on are really just continuing the saga of breeding season. At least count everyone has been “bred”. The Saanens have all come back with positive pregnancy tests – and no jr kids in the mix! All the older Lamanchas were confirmed pregnant. Argentina we think is pregnant but didn’t take on the first breeding, Artemis – well I am not holding my breath for her. Four of the seven doe due with grade kids have come back pregnant. Of course they are all due within 3 days of each other. The other three are all due on the same day 2.5 months later so it looks like we will have sr and jr kids – and not intermediate grade kids (shrug). The homebred Toggs have been confirmed pregnant with no problems. Yodel, who did not look pregnant until like a week and a half before she kidded last year, look huge! This scares me just a little. The two purchased Toggs have been bred – now cross your fingers, toes, eyes, everything that they settle. I definitely don’t want to rebreed them one more time.
Yep, that’s it for now. Hopefully I will be a bit more insprired this weekend or think of some good stories to tell. Until then it is really a sit back and enjoy the rain and the warmth inside the house.

Straw - with a bit of goat philosophy

2010-12-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today we bought straw to fill up all the beds as the rains begin to arrive. If you have goats then you must know how they react when you put straw down in their pen, if you don’t then let me elaborate.
You’ve heard the phrase “the grass is greener on the other side” goats abide by this law. If it is new or you are holding it then it must be good – better in fact than anything they have in front of them. This means that all that new and exciting straw you just put down MUST taste better than anything they could possibly have in their hay feeders. So what if you just laid it down on the mud, so what if it has water damage and if their normal hay looked like that they would turn up their noses at it. It’s new, it’s exciting! It must be good!
The other thing I love about putting out straw is that it takes so little work. You put some out and the goats immediately jump on top, paw at it, and really spread it everywhere. You don’t have to do it – they do it all for you. And they look so much cleaner and warmer afterwards. There is nothing like seeing them curled up in the straw all warm while the rain pours down outside. All curled up for a warm winters nap…

Thankful

2010-11-27T23:22:00.000-08:00

I think it is always important to keep in mind things we are grateful for, but it’s especially important at thanksgiving. So as a special holiday treat I thought I would make a list of things to be thankful for here:
- A beautiful home with a pasture – this time last year the girls were all standing out in mud
- Not one but TWO bucks out in the pasture. Every day I’m grateful to have these and I can’t wait for kids next year
- The capabilities and space to breed 20 goats
- 8 doe kids born last year
- Two does settled by AI last year who provided us with doe kids, and one doe settled this year
- Enough feed to feed the goats
- 4Hers who are excited about goats
- Most of breeding season done
- Clean water, clean goats, shelters to keep everyone dry.

I’m sure there are more but I am just too tired to think of it now.

Some good news and some not as good news

2010-11-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Next round of pregnancy tests came back today - an even split between the does open and does pregnant. I try to look at the on the bright side every time a doe comes back open. Maybe it is good because we can use a better buck, maybe it is good because we can have kids in a different age bracket. Reality is that I hate does coming back open. So instead of looking on the bright side of the open does – I am choosing to look at the conception rates we have And boy am I excited about those!!!!!

First one of our Alpine-Lamancha crosses are on its way. On the down side, we had hoped 2 of them were due at the beginning of February. Instead of more senior kids (yay!) we will have more junior kids (sigh). The best way I can look at it is that 1 more Brazil daughter is 1 more than we would have had before.

Speaking of Brazil kids, the next positive test we got was Alaska. Of all our Lamancha kids this year – she is definitely one of the prettiest, and she is bred to Brazil. In fact she is the only 2010 kids bred to Brazil. These are kids to really be excited about so I really am glad that she settled with immediate kids. Unfortunately, Ysis’ daughter Artemis – also bred Lamancha for my (starlet lace) first Lamancha kids – came back open. This wasn’t too surprising since we thought we might have seen a heat 3 weeks later and rebred her as such. Still it would have been nice if that second heat was a false heat instead of a real one. Once again, I have to remind myself that Artemis is on the smaller side and really she could use some more growing time. Plus the buck that we bred her to (Arabica) is on site – we can always rebred her again until she settles. Even if she didn’t settled she really would do fine as a dry yearling – selfishly I really want Lamancha kids but I also understand that with goats patience is part of the lifestyle.

I have left the best news for last– the doe I MOST wanted to bred settled!!!! We bred Zinfandel AI – no wait that isn’t exactly right – I bred Zinfandel AI. My first successfully settled doe by AI!!!! I can’t believe it! Sure things could all still go wrong but you know how excited I am!!! (Perhaps you can tell by the exclamation points). Now I feel like I can try this again next year. My ideal cross is with Azalea and some really pretty genetics I have in the tank. Maybe next year it will happen!!

The only other interesting thing to talk about is our Togg girls. I posted last week that they both came back open. We brought both of them into heat this weekend and looked at AI’ing both of them. When we tried to pass an AI gun on Lanney it worked no problem. Maybe she just wasn’t have good heats because she showed the best heat we have seen on her all year. We chose to use some of our nicer (more expensive) semen on her because she was so strongly in heat. Hopefully we will end up with some really nice kids from this cross. Maybe next year we will even have a new Togg herd sire… wouldn’t that be nice!!

Not all Senior kids

2010-11-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want it. We got the results back from Lanney and Keegan’s pregnancy tests. Sadly neither were pregnant yet. I’m glad that we got to use Jessie on the 2 Liberty Ranch toggs and single grade, but I really wish we could have bred these two girls to him too. Such a pretty cross that would have been. Now it is time to make the decision if April kids are more important, full togg kids, or just making sure she gets bred… sometimes these things are harder than they look.

First it is 1 round of AI since no one has a buck around then maybe it will be Lamancha-burgs

The rest of our early October girls got their tests sent off as well. Hopefully we will know by next week who is really bred and who we still need to get bred. Can you imagine if they are all bred? Mostly older kids! Ah what a dream.

Planning breeding season

2010-11-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

It’s really hard to believe that it is November 4th and we are nearly done with breeding season. Don’t mistake my meaning – these are animals we are talking about and certainly they can come back into heat if they want to, BUT of the 16 animals who live full time at our house (who we were planning to breed) all 16 of them have been bred at least once!! This means that possible we could not even have to take a Thanksgiving trip to get a goat bred. I don’t even remember the last time I have not had to breed a goat over that weekend.

So I guess it would be fun to talk a little bit about how we choose which bucks to use for our girls. Of course it varies from year to year because our circumstances change so much from year to year but there are similarities each year.

Believe it or not, choosing what buck to use starts long before fall. Really I think it starts late spring or summer. This is when everyone starts coming out to shows and starts mingling again. Not to say that we don’t talk to people over winter – but usually kidding season keeps everyone so busy that visiting is out of the question. So you suddenly start talking about what bucks people have or what they are planning on purchasing. You might get the opportunity to see one of the bucks at a buck show, but more likely you are able to see his mother, sister, and possible even daughters. The other thing that happens over the summer is you are able to get an idea about your doe. Listening to what different judges like or dislike about your goats is such a critically important part of the show. If you hear the same thing over and over again then you know what you need to go looking for in a buck – or possible in his female relatives (daughter, mother, etc.)

Then, faster than you know it, summer wraps up and fall is upon us. Now you have to decide when you want to breed her. Of course some of that is dependent on when your doe comes into heat but if you start seeing heats in August you need to know when you want kids. Maybe you want January or February kids – these will most likely be the largest at the show, but they will also be born in (most likely) the coldest time of the year. Maybe you want March kids – usually not the smallest kids at the show but born when it is a little warmer (usually the largest class of kids). Or maybe you want to wait for later kids. Born when there is less rain and school left but could be the smallest kids at the show. You will want to take extra care of your May kids if you live in a place where it is 80°F during the day and then drops down to 45°F at night. This can bring a whole other set of challenges. Regardless of when you want kids – start marking and recording heats early so that you are prepared when your doe is ready to be bred.

Wow, all that and we haven’t even picked out bucks yet. Here at our farm we then have to decide if we want to try AI or live service on the doe. Sometime that is an easy choice. If it is a kid (breeding to be a yearling milker) we don’t even try AI. If it is a doe who had a really rough kidding last spring we also opt for live service to give her a better change to conceive. Finally we consider what bucks are around to use when weighting our options. For our Lamanchas last year we had plenty of AI straws but not a lot of close by bucks to use – so we AI’ed our two older does and drove to a live buck for the kid. On the other hand this year we have not 1 but 2 bucks on the property to use – you better believe that we used them this year! In the same manner last year we leased a Saanen buck and used him on 3 does – but this year we tried AI on the yearling milker instead.

Finally we decide which buck to use. Let’s take for example the two Saanen kids we were breeding. Since they are both kids we didn’t want to AI them and since we didn’t want to cross them that meant finding a buck to use. So first I look at their strengths and weaknesses. Alba for example is very strong in general appearance but I would love to see her with more dairy character. Then I thought about my choices of bucks. One buck that I have wanted to get a daughter out of for a long time lives over on the coast. We have two does in the herd who are 2x bred on him (he is on both sides of the pedigree) and they are very dairy individuals – almost to a fault. Also he is an older buck – meaning that although I love some of the young animals around me I may not get a chance to breed to him again. Finally I make sure I go to the adgagenetics.org website and use their planning to check the inbreeding coefficient. Although I know my pedigrees well – there could always be something unexpected. Generally I try to keep the inbreeding under 10% unless there is an intentional reason for having it higher. Also you want to make sure that the animals who are contributing the most are strong animals. Of course all my careful planning and preparation can go all wrong when the animals decided not to cooperate. With my other Saanen doe Azalea I had planned to breed her to a beautiful older buck who I thought would really improve on her type. Sadly when we got there he refused to service her. Then you have to decide if it is more important to have that cross or to have kids at that time. Since I had armed myself with information on the other bucks on the property I was fully prepared to select a different animal and knew what type they came from and what they would throw – but if I hadn’t already known it might have been a lot more difficult. So that is my final piece of advice – go to any breeders house knowing what your other option are if your animals refuse to cooperate.

First Preg tests!

2010-10-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hurray! The Pregnancy tests results are back for all of our does bred in September and they will all confirmed pregnant! Now I can let out the breath I have been holding. Wheeewwwww.
Granted we may end up with all bucks or something horrible could happen, but at least I don't have to sit around worrying if I am missing silent heats on all of these does because 9 out of 19 done ain't bad.

Deja vu?

2010-10-27T11:37:00.001-07:00

First let me apologize for the lack of quality pictures. The danger of storing all you photos on SD card is that when you want them they are not around. This top picture was taken back in Fall 2008. That was the time when 3/5 (that is, 3 of our 5 goats) of the herd was in Salinas. It was actually quite fun because they got lots of attention we would run around with them all over the school's farm. The Togg is Yodel, the blackish Lamancha is Yucatan, and the Sancha is Ysis. This bottom picture was taken on Sunday after we had penned everyone up Saturday for the first big rainstorm of the year. 3 of the kids got out and were in the pasture by themselves (enjoying the feeder until we let everyone else out). It caught my eye because it reminded me of something... then it hit me:
The Togg in the picture is Annie - Yodel's daughter
The blackish Lamancha is Argentina - Yucatan's daughter
The Sancha is Artemis - Ysis' daughter

Doesn't it amaze everyone else this little moments in life? Reminds you how much things change and how much they stay the same

Do you like her?

2010-10-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

Now that life is calm enough and all we can do is sit around worrying if a doe settled or not we really have time to evaluate the herd. All summer we have heard what the judges had to say about them, we saw them stand at the top of the line and we saw them stand at the bottom of the line (less than previously maybe, but the occurrences were still there). We have a good idea of that their worst faults are (especially the milkers) and what we love about them and yet we still play the "what do you think of her?" game.
The nice part is that all the does who have made it to the fall are nice enough in their own right, but knowing how many does were are breeding means we have the start thinking about who will go in the spring. It is sad at some level, but at the same time I know that none of the goats are not eligible for sale if something comes along.
So how is it done? Well take a doe for example - currently my most often subject is Thistle. What do we like about her? Well I love how deep she is and how strong she is on her feet and legs. What do I dislike? Well lets start with how I wish her mammary system was better, but what I really don't like is how much trouble she had last year after kidding. We have a show herd - this means that if a doe ends up with such a horrible freshening that she can't show - she will have a hard time fitting into the herd. But then I really like her daughter. Azalea is one of the nicest does kids we had this year... If you like the kids a doe gives you is that enough reason to keep her and at what point does she have enough daughters to pass on her good traits. It really leaves you to sit about and ponder what is a good doe?

What do you want your herd to look like? What do you like about each doe and what would you like to change? Fall is the perfect time to really sit around and evaluate the does. It makes the spring - when you are overwhelmed with kids to choose from - easier when you already have your list of who is staying or who has to shape-up or head out.

Ready for Convention?

2010-10-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Personally I think that some goat keepers have it easy. No, it isn't that they have better goats or they feed differently, it is because they work at a job or live in an area where having Dairy goats is considered normal and no one looks at them strange when they say they have to go home to milk. Or better yet, when they plan their spring so that they can successfully kid out the herd.
Now, for the rest of us there is little more exciting that National Convention. Maybe National Show, but since only one of these two are coming up - I can only get excited about one of them.

Convention is one of the times when you can totally geek out with all the other goat people. I have friends across the country and this is the one time you get to see them. Talk about breedings that worked for you, exciting purchases you made and bucks you hope to use. Maybe you are more like the real me where you sit back and watch the people. People you only know by name or by names of herds you respect and admire but you get to see real people (I doubt I'll ever be brave enough to talk to them but still)

Then of course there is the training conference. Even as I sit here I am reciting the DQ's in my head. The weekend is definitely going to be fun!

Senior kids anyone?

2010-10-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Are you holding your breath too? The twelve does we bred should have come back into heat this week is they were going to... and the envelope please.
The doe (Zinfandel) that we AI'ed came back into heat. Keegan - our Togg yearling milker - showed signs of heat but not certain. Artemis came back into heat (we were not sure if she was bred but Arabica got out while she had stuff on her tail) Lanney was still showing signs of heat.
BUT... That means that of the does we bred Kaluha, Ziggy, Ysis, Xymphony, Fritter, Arizona, Thistle, Katie, Zaire, and Yodel most likely settled.
You have to say it really quietly and really fast so no one hears you. We will do a blood test is a week or so, but until then keep those fingers crossed and hold your breath! (dontcha just LOVE breeding season)
Oh and if you would like to finish catching up - Azalea and Alaska were also bred, but later so we don't know if they settled yet.

Who says Dairy goats are just for milking?

2010-09-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

I hate driving. Lets be truly honest about this, I just hate driving some place and especially for only one reason. So when given the opportunity I always try to batch trips together. So when we made plans to take Azalea (Jan 2010 Saanen kid) over to the breeder in the mountains we thought we would leave her for a few hours and go hiking while she hung out with the buck and we bred her again in a few hours. Well... things have a funny way of working out. The buck we wanted to use refused to service her so we changed our plans (after a certain twinge of disappointment) and used a younger buck instead. Now at this point it just seemed silly to leave her there as she was coming out of heat and rebreeding her in a few hours wasn't going to accomplish much. Since we didn't really want to give up the hike we just took her with us!

She spent a lot of the time back behind us whining about the walk. Especially on the up-hill portion. Really Azalea! You have 2 extra legs to keep up with!

"There is NO WAY you are making me cross this creek!!!" of course once she realized she could drink the water and stop panting, there was a little less complaining. Even though she still wouldn't cross the creek.

Sorry, the picture was a little blurry, but I love the fact that I caught her nibbling as we walked along. I wish I could take the goats out more. They are so fun to have along on the hike. I think it helps them bond to us, since we are the portion of their herd present. Maybe we will take this trail again but with one or two more of them in tow.

Breeding season frenzy

2010-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

So this week, assuming that the week starts Sunday and finishes Saturday, we bred 12 does. Yes you read that right. 12. . .

On first thought you are thinking "OMG what is wrong with these people" but let's take it from a rational point of view (and of course with a list - I really like lists in case you couldn't tell from earlier posts).
1. We still have at least 7 does to breed who need to be bred later anyway
2. If you kid a lot of does at once then if you need to foster kids (triplets and singles) it is much easier plus you use up a whole weekend and then are not sitting around every weekend wondering when they will kid.
3. At least 1 of those does was a first attempted at AI which means OF COURSE she won't take (contrary to both does last year who took on the first try) and chances are a few other one will come back into heat.
4. Sr kids do better then jr kids (proven by all 3 kids who got their jr leg this year were sr kids)
5. We only have the togg buck for a limited time and we would hate to wait on any of the togg does and then have them re-cycle once he is gone.
6. And most importantly we are a little bit crazy.

So... who's up for a party at my house in 5 months?

Weeding

2010-09-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

So picture this scenario - your landlord tells you you have too many weeds. You of course don't own a mower so what to you do? Obviously you get your goats to work for you! The whole pasture emptied! (see the small side yard on the left side of the house? That's where they all hiding) We even let the little girls out! Boy were they excited.

Everyone really munched and devoured the weeds. I will post an after picture at some point but it was completely barren by the time they finished. Talking about using your resources!

Kaylinn comes to the goat show!

2010-09-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

Kaylinn showing Arizona! How cool is that!

Breeding Season is almost here (already!!)

2010-08-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

I’m having a hard time believing it is already breeding season. With the addition of Acorn, 7 or so weeks ago, I feel like we can’t possibly be getting close to the time for breeding, we are still milking and feeding kids! And we still have a few more shows! Ah, well, seasons begin to change whether I like it or not. The girls and boys are all coming into season and the air near the buck pens are beginning to smell strongly…

The breeding list for 2011 kids has been updated with the current plan. Of course this is just a plan and could change as we get closer to actually breeding them.

We will be leasing a Togg buck this year and all the toggs (including our two newest acquisitions) will be bred for Togg kids. The Lamanchas will be split between Arabica and Brazil, with Brazil for the older does and Arabica for the younger does. Most of the Saanens we will take else ware to breed although we are going to try breeding Zinfandel AI for a few rounds. We are also really excited to use Brazil for several sets of grade kids. Besides Ysis – who would have grade kids regardless – we will be breeding Thistle for Saanchas (Saanen-Lamancha) which should look like adorable mini Ysises. Additionally, we are leasing 4 Alpines from Tori Kennedy and breeding them all Lamancha. Hopefully there will be some nice grade kids who come from this cross.

Even though it does not possible seem like it could be late enough for breeding animals, it is exciting to plan for all the kids next year, and we should have a lot! With the total as it is now, possible up to 19 does kidding!!

Little girls growing up

2010-08-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

I promise I will write about state fair at some point, but I had to post this picture this morning. I am working on a 365 project (where you take a picture every day for a year) and not surprisingly the goats show up in a lot of my pictures. Well this was too precious not to share. Katie on the left with Alaska in the middle and Arizona on the right. Wow they grow up fast don't they? Already the "little girls" are almost as tall as their mother. We keep asking in jest "so you think they will be big enough to breed this fall?" but seriously it always amazes me that slightly more than 6 months ago this girls were the size of Acorn (yes the Nubian-Nigerian has a name of sorts) and were cuddling on our laps. Now they are inching towards 100lbs and are almost one of the "big girls". In 6 months or so everything will start over and we will have a whole new crop of little girls in the pasture.

Just in case you are wondering, the kids are enjoying a brief vacation from the weaning pen. You can see on the other side of the feeder Ysis and Artemis eating side by side. It is sweet to see the kids cuddled up against their mothers. I didn't get a picture of it, but right behind me at the other feeder Thistle and Azalea were standing together eating and Fritter has not left her mother's sight since she has been allowed back in. I know that they will all act this way again once we finish weaning and drying off, at least until new babies arrive keeping this years mothers and next years new mothers busy.

New Champion and New Kid

2010-07-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

What a Weekend!!! This last weekend was the Central Coast California show, better known as the Watsonville show. It is almost certainly my favorite show of the year. It was one of the first that I ever attended and remains one of the most laid-back relaxed shows. Additionally we always get to help out in the show ring. This is better than being ringside and watching because you can chat with people and make sure the show moves smoothly. The judges love it when you help and you have a reason to be in the ring.

So the highlight of the weekend really came when Ysis, my Lamancha-Saanen grade won grand champion in the recorded grade division. Not only that, but it was under Karen Senn and Chris Strickland, two judges who I greatly respect. This means she has acquired the highly sought after title of Champion!!! She will have CH before her name from now on. Ever since I started in Dairy goats so many years ago I never knew if I would ever make it to that level. To actually have a doe who has the title of Champion seemed so unobtainable. Even several days later it seems amazing to me and words barely do justice to my excitement. Her daughter also won her dry leg this weekend, which means she is also one step closer to being a finished champion. To make the weekend complete we even brought home a new kid. A small Nubian cross was born to one of the breeders this weekend. She is out of a doe who was supposed to be a dry yearling. The breeder did not even know she was bred until she when into labor that morning. The mother did not want her and did not have any milk to feed her with so a short negotiation later and she was coming home with us. There goes my “summer does not have any breeding or kidding in it” theory. She really is adorable. Currently she sleeps in the bath tube and gets taken outside to eat and pee. Of course she smells delightfully like a kid as well. Such a sweetheart! Already she has many home offers, we’ll just see where she ends up!

She really is quite a lovely little thing

Sleeping in the bath tube means she peers out at you if you make noise

Showmanship!!!

2010-06-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

As I go out to pick tomatoes from my garden and I see the pen of weanlings I know that it must be summer time! And with summer time come 3 things in my dairy goat world: 1. Lots of milking 2. No repro related work for a whole 2 months 3. County Fairs!!! So in honor of county fairs I am dedicating a whole post to Showmanship. As a showmanship exhibitor once and now a showmanship judge I have compiled a list of do's and do not's every exhibitor should know. The top 10 things to know or have done before you enter the showmanship ring (first 5 are essential for all, especially beginners and the second 5 are important for advanced and if you want to do really well) 1. That your animal is CLEAN and well trained - Remember - 40pt that your animal is well fitted, in good condition, well clipped, and very clean! If you don't make this, you probably don't make the top 1/2 2. Where the judge is at ALL times (goat, ground, judge on the move - make it your mantra!) Never be caught on the wrong side. Alert and courteous at all times. 3. How to set you animal up quickly and properly - don't overstretch or scrunch the animal and whenever you stop, even if it because a goat 2 in front of you had to pee, set your goat up! 4. Body Parts (breeds of goats) - Absolute necessity, I am almost guaranteed to ask. 5. Maneuvers through the ring - know how to move in an out of line and do it smoothly. (the next 5 things you should learn) 6. Scorecard!!!! - do you know the major point categories? This is my #1 way to divide close placings 7. How to handle the acquisition of a new animal and how to act when the judge approaches you. 8. Setting up right feet, setting up to best advantage ANY animal - if I hand you another animal can you set up a milker as well as a kid? 9. Evaluation of your animal and be able to evaluate another persons animal - the ever present "what do you like and what would you like to change" about your animals and of course any other animal you get handed. 10. Defects, DQ’s, and any other rules from the guidebook - if you know everything else backwards and forwards and you are ready to go for the big showmanship classes, start memorizing this! Ok, so what are the top 5 mistakes of showmanship? Here is what NOT to do: 1. DO NOT GREASE YOUR ANIMAL! 2. Do not forget to trim and clean the insides of the ears, the fore udder, the armpits, and between the hooves. 3. Do not stand on the wrong side of the animal because you were not paying attention, as the judge was moving. Don’t walk behind or over the goat to switch sides. (or behind the line, ever) 4. Do not bring an animal into the ring with a web collar or a collar that is too loose and can pull over the neck. Use only a small professional, unobtrusive leash on a Nigerian. 5. Do not try to trim your goats’ hooves on the day of the show – nothing worse than a lame goat.

Almost a marathon

2010-06-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

The past two weekend have been a whirlwind of goat shows. First their was REDGA. Really this show is the place to be on Memorial Day weekend. All the big names in Northern CA come over and bring out their best goats. Such a beautiful show it actually moved the judge to tears and the amazingness of the animals. Needless to say I do not yet have the quality of animals that I expect to be standing in those champion line-up. So imagine my surprise when Ysis took GCH again! Not only does that give her a second milking leg (only 1 more until champion!) but she got to stand in a beautiful line-up again. Amusingly with the 4 goats in her class, she actually stood in every single place in one of the rings. Once again our 4Hers were able to come and help show the goats they are taking to the Fair this month. Even more fun, there was a 4Her who was from a different county who is really excited about Saanens (the breed I raise) so I was able to let her try taking one of my Saanens into showmanship and try it out. Overall one of the best REDGA weekends! The weekend finished with the acquisition of two new goat kids. Two does from Bill Davis' outstanding herd with bloodlines based in Nan Wojcik's Cisco herd. These two girls are so people friendly that perhaps "needy" might be a better term for them. They are really sweet and want as much love and attention we can give them. I really think they have even grown in the week that we have had them. This last weekend we continued the goat show marathon with a show up in Humboldt. On a map, Humboldt looks like it is just a ways up there. Wow, that is a long drive. And such an extremely different climate too. Here in the valley it was warm and sunny, up in Humboldt it was cloudy and overcast. I am a staunch believer in washing my goats before they go the show ring. Even I conceded that bathing them in that weather was crazy. The show itself was quite enjoyable and we were able to put one champion leg on Brazil. Azalea, who we took along in an attempt to fill out the Saanen jr show took RGCH twice behind a doe who went best in show in two different rings. The only down side of the show was the 6.5 hour drive home after leaving at 8pm at night. It was not, however as late as the night before when the show did not end until 10pm at night! Wow! that was a long show. The weekends ahead have a slowing of the goat shows, but the big shows like Watsonville and State fair still remain.

Start the Show Season!

2010-05-18T09:42:00.001-07:00

Showing With Kidding season in the rear view mirror, we move into the next of the three dairy goat seasons – show season. Or, the reward for the years hard work. The first show of the season started with the Plymouth DGA show. This is such a fun show because it is only an hour away. Not only do we get to go up the day of, we get to come home at a reasonable time as well. Plus, for the last few years Jenn and I have been the ring stewards. This is probably my favorite job because you get the best seat in the house and people have to actually listen to you. This year the show was particularly fun because we brought some of our first year 4Hers with us. This was their first exposure to a goat show and I really think they enjoyed themselves. Not only did they get to show our goats, they helped lots of other breeders show their as well. Nothing like handling national show winning quality animals to get you excited about goats! To top it all off we were able to put a dry leg on my favorite of Jenn’s kids this year – Arizona. The way it works in the dairy goat shows, in case anyone doesn’t know, is that to become a permanent champion and have the “CH” designation on the goats papers you need to acquire 3 grand champion wins (we call them legs). All of the wins must be over 10 animals and at least 2 of the wins need to be when the goat is milking. The 3rd win can occur when the goat is still a kid or dry yearling. Most of the time this is the first win and it lets you know just how nice the kid is because she already has her first leg. There are a few other clauses and variations but really this is a huge step for Arizona. I can’t wait to see that happens in the next few years after she kids. The second show for our herd was a buck show where both Arabica and Brazil went. I was judging out in Idaho so I will have to let someone else write about this one. The next weekend (we have a crazy life) we went to our third show. The was a new show that we had not been to before. It was up in Red Bluff and it was holding the Togg specialty this year which was the deciding factor to go up instead of the show in Paso Robles where we have gone before. Not nearly as much fun as Plymouth but enjoyable in its own right. Zinfandel has held her own in both of the last 2 shows. As a yearling milker she is not really expected to beat the older does, but really she has something special and I really hope to see her bloom in the next few years. The star of this show was Ysis my grade Saanen/Lamancha 2 year old. Sat she came in 3rd and 2nd behind UC Davis’ beautiful does. We were not planning to stay for Sunday but we decided to go for it just for her at the last minute. In the first ring she took 1st in her class over a large class of 8 other does and then took RGCH to a 4yr old! I was really excited. In the second class she I employed all my showing magic and nearly cried when she was awarded GCH! My first unrestricted milking leg ever!!! I will write about the jr show later, because today it is all about her. The thrill of standing in the BIS line-up with a 9 yr old saanen who I admire greatly and Kastdemur’s Make7upYours who Arabica is 2x bred on was just a moment for the books. So exciting!!!! and what is more is we still have more shows to go this season. Here is to sleepless weekends and tired weeks for the thrill of it all!!

The Bonus of Bucks

2010-03-22T21:16:00.001-07:00

Had someone tried to convince me that I would voluntarily care for, pet and become attached to a buck even as recently as early 2009, I would have cringed and possibly emitted a cynical chuckle followed by a scoff. I have never been markedly fond of bucks - they served for the purpose of propagation of offspring. A necessary nuisance if you will. During my years of having a 4-H herd, I mostly took does to bucks, although at different times did own a Togg buck for one breeding season, then a LaMancha buck I won at a show raffle several years later. Beyond that, my interaction has predominantly been at the commercial dairy where I was employed during college and in most recent years, at shows throughout the US that I have been privileged to judge. A series of bucks over the last 8 months have served to alter my opinion to the better.

Pineapple was the first buck who served to at least mellow my opinion of bucks. Pineapple arrived in the middle of an August heat wave and reacting to this stress, while exiting from the truck, landed himself in the middle of a shrub in my front yard, effectively re-landscaping it before running up and down the block not once, but twice (this during a time of goat keeping on the edge of a 300,000 population city). Over time, however, this free spirited buck began to tame and would appeal for attention over the top of the livestock panels. By the time he returned home, he was so tame that, when the truck couldn’t make it up a steep, moss covered Santa Cruz mountain road, he agreeably hiked the last 1/4 mile with us up to his home.

Then in late January the opportunity to purchase Elm*Glen Brazil presented. Talking with Karen Senn, she warned me that he was spoiled and more than a little attention seeking. In the time since Brazil’s arrival, he is more docile than some of the does. After trimming his hooves yesterday, he placed his head in the crook of my elbow and closed his eyes as I rubbed his chin and neck. I mean, really, as smelly as he is, who could really resist that charm?

Early this month, thanks to Trinity Smith of Goat-San LaManchas, we brought home Arabica, a beautiful little buckling full of spunk. A bottle baby in our herd of dam-raised kids, Arabica lived the first 10 nights in the bathtub of our spare room. He would vociferously protest the outrage of being “abandoned” by his human mothers, leading to the shutting of the bathroom door. Arabica is truly the buck who has won over my heart. No matter how much a slobbering, hormone driven buck he becomes, chances are I will still have a deep attachment to the creature who drapes himself over my knee foraging for the bottle he know I must be hiding somewhere!

This said, I suppose I should be grateful I recently discovered my ginger salt bath scrub does a near miraculous job of removing buck “cologne” so I can continue to enjoy petting the boys after the start of breeding season. With their unique personalities, the bucks truly are a bonus to the herd.

The Good, The Bad, and The Update

2010-03-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a week since my last post so I thought it was time for a new one. Lets start with the general update - we are holding at 11 kids including the little buck we picked up last week. He also has a name finally: Goat-San Babys Morning Arabica. So (in case you are keeping score) we have: Azalea (and brother), Arizona, Alaska, Artemis (and brothers Atlas and Apollo), Apple Fritter (and brother), Argentina, and Arabica. We have also transitioned Arabica to spending his days outside in the goat pasture where he plays with all the other kids and learns to be a goat. He is helping up with milking too - by eating it all. I always feel happy when I am not wasting milk. The days are sunny, the nights are mild, spring is in the air. Working our way backwards - the bad part is my does are all trying to die on me. Thistle is back to fighting ketosis. She won't eat grain because - well if I knew then I could fix the problem. We had given her dextrose thinking she would fight it and her ketone levels had come way down - and now they are back up which is simply frusterating because you know part of the problem is she is too stubborn to eat grain. Then Ysis - my less moody Saancha cross - comes down with what we think is listeria and 1/2 of her face is paralyzed. Poor thing has food/cud falling out of her mouth. Still just as cheerful as ever she keeps putting food in to keep up. She seems to be getting better but only time will tell if she heals completely Finally the good - first the doe kids are growing so well. Not one has hit the ground that I am sorry for that breeding. Are there ones who are better than others? Sure. But really, this years kids have not made me sad at all. Now we are working on leading on a chain so the beautiful kids can show themselves off and not fling themselves to the ground at the first show. Secondly we pulled kids off does for the day to watch udders fill up. While I would love to say they were all perfect and large, they weren't. Especially a certain ketotic doe, but I guess that is to be expected. Katie (arizona and alaska's mom) certainly bagged up tremedously though - almost scares me how much milk those two must be consuming. Overall though pretty well attached udders all around. We will certainly repeat this experiment to see how the does look after a few rounds of bagging up. Well that is all I can think of for now.

Unexpected Surprises

2010-03-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

I never cease to be amazed by the goats, but this time around it was people who surprised me.

So Jenn and I were just sitting around Monday night when an email comes through from Trinity Smith of Goat-San Lamanchas offering us a new buck kid who was just born and has amazing genetics. Sire's dam was the national champion two times and the sire's sire's dam and dam's dam is a doe I have always been highly impressed with. We just bought a buck, but really, can you turn down that offer?

So off we went the next afternoon up to Redwood Hill Dairy to pick him up. After an almost 3 hour drive through traffic we are proud to say we have another buck here in the herd. It was an unanimous decision between us which one we wanted and we have great expectations for him.

He rode home at the feet of the passenger seat and slept most of the way home. I think it must have been a rather bumpy ride from his point of view because he was rather nauseous as scouring a bit when we got home. He had 1/2 a bottle of clear liquids instead of any milk to help his stomach stay calm and then spent the night in the bath tube - a warm, dry and cleanable location for baby goats.

As you can see he was excited about breakfast this morning. Just admiring he height and width to the escutcheon we are so excited to see what he does for our small herd. The added bonus is he is a beautiful color with several shades of brown and white.

After breakfast as we were getting ready for school he found himself a warm cozy spot. 2 minutes before this picture he was standing in the living room. I turn around only to discover he has found a sun spot. Well he didn't stay there too long, his first adventure in his new home - off to Jenn's 6th/7th grade class for love and attention (and to make sure he gets lunch).

Why Goats are Supposed to Have Twins

2010-03-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

This kidding season has been a significant improvement over last year, where three does kidded, each with a single kid (albeit all doe kids). In five kiddings, we've had 3 sets of twins, 1 set of triplets and one single kid.

The mind of a goat is an amazing thing. They can see a hole in a fence from 20 yards, enlarge the hole with a tenacity that should put mammals with opposable thumbs to shame and climb obstacles that would challenge some college athletes, but even goats have their limitations, one of which is the ability to count beyond TWO. Two digits on their hoof, anything beyond that exceeds their mental capabilities. Such was the case with Ysis, poor girls couldn't count the third triplet to save her life. After two ate, she was baffled by the appearance of a third kid seeking her udder and would walk off, convinced someone was coming back for seconds.

Yucatan's issues are a little different. Yucatan had a single kid. Yucatan is a dairy goat in the truest sense. Her body understands that milk production is the primary purpose of her existence. Now, Argentina was a good sized kid at birth and ate heartily since the day she was born, but not even that appetite can begin to keep up with mother's milk production. Yucatan is now feeding her own kid, plus supplementing milk for the triplets who waddle away from nursing.

The other problem with a single kid is similar to the problem humans have with "only children". They are spoiled and life revolves around them. Argentina, for her whole 10 pounds of body weight believes that SHE is princess of the pasture, proceeding, with gutsy indifference to the dramatic size difference, to push around the January born Saanen and LaMancha kids. And, should anyone challenge her authority, she bounces back to mother who will, of course, protect her little darling. Twin kids would never stoop to such levels. They have siblings of equal size, strength and maternal affection who would quickly stop such prima donna nonsense.

God gave goats two teats, two hoof digits to count with and the brains to cope with twins - no more, no less. Hopefully the remaining 4 does to kid take heed and deliver twins!

Kids Update

2010-03-02T19:44:00.001-08:00

Tuesday of a school week is not generally my most creative time of week, so forgive my generic title. It feels like life hasn't stopped moving at warp speed since before kidding season began.

Kidding season itself is exciting, the waiting is nerve-wracking. Unless, of course, you don't realize the doe is going to kid. Yucatan, my two year old LaMancha is a prime example. Rebekah and I had been watching her closely since mid-February when she started bagging up. We had two possible breeding date, both by AI. Sure, she was getting close, but her udder wasn't tight, tail head ligaments still present and accounted for, appetite healthy - nothing to suggest imminent birth, right? I got home during a rainstorm and immediately realized that Yucatan, typically very social, wasn't with the remainder of the herd at the gate. A quick search of the paddock revealed Yucatan hidden away in one of the shed stalls with a good sized, almost pure black kid, standing behind her. Dry, clean, fed and fluffed up. As a side note, this makes AI doe kid #3 for the year - twin doe kids from Katie - Arizona and Alaska, and now Argentina from Yucatan.

One of the older AI doe kids, Alaska, broke her leg about a month ago. The first week of the fracture was something of a trial and error to find the best splinting method on an active, spunky kid. Then two weeks in the splint and last week I removed it. At first she was hesitant to place weight on it, but this week, she's bounding around with only a slight bowing in of the front leg and thickening of the canon bone due to the callus , which will hopefully resolve with time.

Babies Everywhere

2010-02-22T14:22:00.001-08:00

It is amazing to see spring come and to see the kids grow. We are up to 5 does and 4 bucks and I thought it was time to post another set of pictures.

All the the kids get along well and sleep together in warm baby piles. Sometimes we find them in family groups and sometimes (like this picture caught) we find them all mixed together. I guess if I was a little kid growing up in wintertime I would want to find as many warm bodies to sleep beside.

Without a doubt, one of their favorite things to do is to play on this piece of plywood. Not only do they jump all over it and push each other off, but when they jump and leap, their hooves make noise. I'm guessing that all of their mom's also appreciate the fact that there are lots of them. They can entertain each other instead of pestering mom.

This is what happens when there are not enough playmates awake. Mom becomes the thing to climb on and play on. Now you can understand why the does like it when their kids all go play with each other instead of standing on her. Poor Thistle just wants to take a nap. She really thinks she is too old for this kid nonsense.

All the kids are fascinated by the horse who lives nearby. Are you a really big goat? Are you a dog like Hannah? They just don't get it. To be fair the horse doesn't really understand the kids either.

Baby pictures

2010-01-25T13:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I would add some pictures to complement Jenn's post below.

LaMancha AI Doe twins in the sunshine. Arizona on the left and Alaska on the Right

Saanen twins joining them in the sunshine as well. (Azalea on the Right)

Poor Thistle was pretty worn out after the tramatic kidding.

Katie keeping watch over her kids.

Little Saanen trying to join the group.

Floppy Heads and AI Kids

2010-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

This weekend hallmarked the 2010 kidding season, and, as always, its never dull when there are babies arriving.

Friday night, following 6 days of pounding, drenching rain, Thistle, the eldest of the Saanen does, was obviously in labor. Since it was still very, very muddy with a cold wind blowing, Rebekah and I had to devise alternate kidding locations and since it was getting dark, opted for the front of the hay shed where we could run electricity. We bedded it down, brought over a hog panel (shorter than cattle panels, but tall enough to keep a very pregnant doe in), ran an extension cord from the house, then introduced Thistle to her new "bedroom". Labor immediately stopped. After watching her for a bit, we returned to the house, bringing dinner out to the shed.

After dinner, there was still no sign of imminent birth, and while the contractions were returning, she was still restless and just not settling down to business. A quick check revealed no dilation of her cervix to speak of. Sigh. We opted to head for bed and check on progress during the night. At one in the morning, it was finally time to help things along. With much protest from the goat, it was discovered that the head of the first kid was not only back along his ribs, but flipped upside down, as proven by finding teeth of the top of the jaw instead of the expected location on the bottom of the jaw. With some help, the first kid arrived, a little buck. Moments later, sister came out on his heels. Final kid count, 1 buck, 1 doe, later named Azalea.

The next morning, as we had expected, Katie, my LaMancha 3 year old, had begun nesting in the back shed, kicking all the other does out. By 10:30, she was in active labor and less than an hour later, the first kid appeared. A doe kid, I was particularly thrilled since this was the first set of kids from last autumns attempts at AI breeding - a new addition to our repertoire of management tools. Arizona, as she soon was named, was quickly cleaned and cared for by her mother, but to me it was obvious that there was a second kid yet to be born. Coaxing by removal of Arizona produced feet, but no nose. Another fishing expedition yielded that this time, the kid's head had folded down between her front legs back toward her navel. Soon, a second squirming doe kid (Alaska) landed at her mother's feet.

A long weekend with two instances of "floppy heads", not to be confused with floppy kids, and a pair of AI twin doe kids to round it out. Oh, and more rain!

Rain and Wounds

2010-01-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was by far the worst storm we've seen in the Central Valley in at least a year. With more than an inch of rain in 6 hours, combined with gusts of wind +50 miles an hour, it was starting to resemble the Florida hurricanes, only with colder temperatures.

At Durham Ferry where I teach, the barns looked like an imagined scene from Noah's ark, and at 10 AM we sent all the students home due to power outage. Reaching home, not a soul came to the pasture gate to greet me as I pulled in, even though the rain had stopped falling. Not even a scoop of grain could entice the girls out of the shed into the sticky brown mud. As I dumped the grain into the bottom of the feeder (just a little snack for the girls) it became apparent that Thistle, Rebekah's Saanen 6 year old, who is due to kid this weekend was severely favoring one foot that was swollen, and upon examination, quite warm to the touch.

Now, it's not particularly easy to convince a 150lb. Saanen doe, heavy with kids, to go out through the mud at any time, but with a hurt foot, she was more than obstinate about making her way over to the gate where I could tie her to get a better look. I'm still not quite sure HOW she hurt herself, but it's obvious she either caught it, or pulled it up against a sharp object, tearing the hoof wall up near the coronary band. Talk about a freak accident. So needless to say, between torrential rain and goats getting into trouble, it was an interesting day...

First Fresheners

2010-01-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think my posts must remind people of a newbie because I get all excited about the small things. But then, in my mind it is the people who have put years and years of work into these animals who have the right to get so excited about them. After clipping the first 4 does who are due to freshen we can now sit back and observe their udder growth. On one doe this will be her third lactation, while it is not that her udder growth is less important, it is just that it is not as fun to speculate on as the younger does. It is the first fresheners who it is most exciting to watch. Will they have a nicer udder than their mother? Did their sire do any good for their udder? Will she have a pocket in the front? How tightly will that udder be held up there? All of these questions float around through my head as I stand and watch them eat their grain. Two of the first 4 to kid are animals who have left the herd and now returned. We didn't see them growing for many years, but now we get to see how their udders are looking and how they will come out? Sigh, just things to ponder as we sit around waiting for kids.

Buck Pictures

2009-12-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

Taking pictures of bucks is dangerous work. First the buck is smelly and then he is large, so unlike the does you want to touch him and irritate him as little as possible. We were able to borrow this buck so we wanted to get pictures of him before he left. Of course it meant that we had to work with him to the point of behaving. I swear in that first picture (bottom picture) he is thinking of all the ways he can make this an experience. Then of course he is demonstrating his powers. (middle picture) Finally we figured out if we walk him and then pause mid step he will actually look pretty nice. (top picture) I'm going to have to remember this for a certain doe is refuses to set up.

Kids Kicking - Rebekah

2009-12-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

It is the most exciting part of waiting for kids is feeling them kick. There is nothing quite like giant reassuance of knowing that indeed you goat is not making it up and they really are pregnant and the kids really are alive. Thistle is special to me because she was one of Rosie's first kids. When we bred her to be a 2yr old freshener she lost the kid. This was sad at the time but then she was used to feed her triplet sister and brothers when Rosie did not have enough milk. She is lovely but unfortunately she was cut in the great college reduction. Then last spring I was able to get her back from the people who I stole her to. Besides putting on a little weight she was in good condition and still looked lovely. We bred her to the buck on the property and she took in Aug but becuase of her last (and only) pregnacy I will admit I was holding my breath the whole time. What if she aborts this year again? What if I never get kids out of her? Then last weekend we were feeling for kids and there it was, the kicking. I can finally let out this giant sigh of relief becuase there is at least 1 live kid there. Maybe it will be a buck and I will be extremely diappointed, but maybe it will be a doe and I will actually have a kid out of her as a 6 year old milker. One can hope right?

Seasons - Rebekah

2009-12-08T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have come to determine that the dairy goat world is divided into 3 seasons. In the spring time there is kidding season which usually lasts from February to late May. Then there is show season that goes from late April until September. Finally there is breeding season which goes from August to December or January. Breeding season is always the longest and hardest of any of the season. Once a doe kids you no longer have to worry about her and can sit back and enjoy playing with and watching the new kids grow. During the show season you can plan ahead and prepare and be ready the day of the show. But during breeding season I feel like I am holding my breath. "When will she come into heat??" "Will she take this time?" "Will I have to re-bred her in 3 weeks?" "Is this a real heat cycle or is it a false heat?" Thank goodness for blood tests to confirm pregnancy, at least there is less guessing. Still we have 2 does that are having problems settling and 2 young does that we bred late so here I sit holding my breath that when I go out back there will be no little waggily tails