Trying Again for Year Around Milk

A year around supply of fresh goat milk has been one of my self-reliance goals. I know some folks like to take a break from milking, but for our chosen diet, I need fresh milk all year long. This is mostly for my kefir grains, which need milk to stay alive. If I don't have my own source, then I have to buy milk. Seems better to always have my own available!

There are two ways to accomplish year around milk. I've blogged about these before, so I won't go into a long explanation (see "Year Around Milk" and "Dry Days Ahead"). For me, the best option is to breed at opposite times of the year: in the fall for spring kidding and in the spring for fall kidding.

Standard size dairy goats can't do this because they are seasonal breeders, but Kinders are aseasonal breeders. Even though they are half Nubian, they inherit the ability to breed in any season from their Pygmy genetics. This is one of the reasons I chose the breed, and one of the reasons I think they are the perfect homestead goat! (Pardon my prejudice, LOL. Just ask me and I'll tell you all the reasons!)

Unfortunately, this isn't as easy as it sounds! Fall heats are always the strongest with the rest of the year being more subtle. So far my several attempts to produce fall kids have been unsuccessful. But this spring I'm going to try again. Hopefully, I've learned more about detecting subtle heats and will have success.

My candidates are:

Iris

 and

Colby

Miracle

and

Hudson

The best way to guarantee success would be to leave the girls with their prospective suitors for at least three weeks or more. The boys love this but I find it upsets all of the does terribly with a whole lot of hollering going on. It's less stressful for them to just visit for an afternoon for a couple of days in a row with a followup visit three weeks later. More predictable kidding too. But, since that hasn't worked well for me for spring breedings, I may try extended visits instead. Wish me Good Providence!

Trying Again for Year Around Milk © April 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Year Around Milk

We don't drink much milk, but sometimes nothing
beats an ice cold glass with freshly baked cookies.

One question I had when we first started producing our own food, was how to have a year around supply of everything. In the beginning I canned, froze, or dehydrated all the vegetables, fruits, and eggs I could. As we shifted toward a more seasonal model of living, I began to build my menus around what was producing well rather than what was stocked in the pantry.

This shift in eating habits shifted other things as well. By that time I had learned what grows well for me and what doesn't. Initially I wanted to grow a large variety of foods, but by focusing more on seasonal eating I realized I didn't have to grow dozens of different fruits and vegetables, because our variety is seasonal. Just about the time we're tired of one thing, it's done and something else is ready to eat.

I used to freeze and dehydrate a lot of eggs, but now I use
them if I've got them, or plan meals without them if I don't.

I can have variety in other ways too. For example, I save both watermelon and cantaloupe seeds, but we can only eat so much melon. Rather than devote a large amount of garden space to growing both, I grow watermelons one year and cantaloupes the next. Planting every other year also works well for things that tend to cross-pollinate, such as cantaloupes and honeydews.

I still preserve foods, but by focusing more on extending my gardening season, I can preserve less, which is a time and energy saver. Even so, I combine my biennial plantings with my food preservation plan. One year I grow enough green beans to can two years worth. The next year I grow enough black turtle beans to dry two years worth. These space and work savers help me manage my time and energy better.

And then there's milk. The traditional way of preserving milk is as cheese. It's a rare person who doesn't love cheese, after all, and most folks like to take a break from milking. However, fresh milk is one thing I would really like a daily supply of. Why? Two reasons. Most importantly, feeding my kefir. Secondly, because I find it easier to make fresh cheeses to eat as we need them, rather than going through the business of waxing, aging, and storing them (things challenging to do in our hot humid climate).

Still waiting...

So what are the options for having a year around supply of milk? Dairy animals require a two-month break at the end of their pregnancies to let them put all their nutrients into their soon-to-be-born young. One way to keep the milk supply going is to stagger breeding and birthing. In fact, that's what I tried to do this year. Last year Anna was bred a little later than the others, in hopes she'd still be giving milk while they are dry. Alas, she's pretty much dried up herself now, with less than a month until my first due date. So that's an experiment that didn't quite work out as I hoped.
 
Anna gave me milk for about seven months, but some does don't dry up as quickly. Some will produce milk for as long as two years or more. These individuals make good candidates for breeding every other year. With an extended lactation, it's possible to "milk through" the breeding and kidding season without taking a break. Some Kinders are capable of this, but none of my goats so far has had this trait.

The other option for me would be to breed twice a year. Once for spring kiddings, and six months later for fall kids. Most goat babies are born in spring after a fall breeding. Kinders are aseasonal breeders, however, which means they can conceive and kid any time of year. If I bred half my girls in fall and the other half in spring, it seems I'd have a better chance at having year around milk.

Jessie, Cinnamon, Anna, Violet, Ellie, and Daisy

So that's the plan, assuming no one gives birth to quads and needs all her milk to feed them. I have one yearling doe that will probably be ready to breed late this spring. If that works out, maybe next year I'll achieve my goal for year around milk.

Year Around Milk © Jan 2018 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Dry Days Ahead

Nope, I'm not referring to the weather (over 12 inches of rain in the past 6 weeks) but to milk. It's customary to dry up a dairy goat about two months before she kids. Daphne is hopefully due at the end of February, so December is the month to dry her up.

Daphne

Actually, she dried herself up. Milk production just dropped until it was less than a cup per day, so I stopped milking. I've had this happen with mature does before and can't help but wonder if they know they need to do this for the kids growing inside them.

I admit that it's nice to have a break from milking, but I'd still like to have a year-round milk supply. This is mostly to keep my kefir alive, but it's also nice to have extra to feed the pigs. On top of that, I was in the middle of experimenting with quick cheeses, and had to stop when the milk stopped.

Cheese is the traditional way of preserving milk.
Happily, this year's came out very well (so far).

I found a neat little book at the library entitled One-Hour Cheese by Claudia Lucero, and it's been fun working through the quick cheese recipes. I think quick cheeses would be wonderful for my summer cheese making, especially considering how much trouble I seem to have with my hard cheeses (wax cracking being the latest - with both bees and cheese. More on that another time).

One to the thing I love about Kinder goats is that they can go into heat any time of year (aseasonal breeders). To ensure a year-round milk supply, all I have to do is breed them at different times of the year. Before I sold her, I intended to keep Helen in milk until Daphne kidded. But I think seven does is too many to overwinter, so Helen was the one to go, which leaves me milkless.

So Daphne should kid at the end of February, with four of my first fresheners due in April and May. Those will be my busy months, hopefully. I don't do pregnancy testing so we'll just have to wait and see.

I'll save Violet for a late summer or early fall kidding.

Violet

That will hopefully ensure next winter's milk supply. At least that's my plan. Only time will tell as to whether or not the goats will agree to cooperate.

Dry Days Ahead © December 2015 by
Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Autumn Goat Action

Even though Kinders are aseasonal breeders (can breed year around), autumn still seems to be a favored time for breeding. I'm not sure if it's because it's a traditional time or if spring is a nice time to have kids, but it seems most Kinders are bred to kid in the spring. I like my kids to be born as the weather is just beginning to warm up, because I'm more concerned about hypothermia than coccidiosis (which is more prevalent in warm weather). According to this article, "The Dual Purposes of the Kinder Goat" by Sandra Mauerhan, preliminary research indicates that Kinders bred between August and December produce more triplets, quads, quints, even sextuplets. Breeding between January and July produces more singles and twins. Maybe that's another reason most breeders prefer fall.

Discussing their wannabe suitor?

Anyway, I've been keeping an eye on my girls in anticipation of them going into heat. I currently have seven does, although five of them are still under one year of age. The recommended breeding age for Kinders is eight months, as long as they are physically mature. (The 80 pounds doesn't apply because this breed is smaller than standard size goats.)

Finally, I found Daphne standing at the fence hollering and wagging her tail for the boys.

Daphne refused to smile for the camera

My observations had targeted her for September 1st, but that came and went with no signs of heat, so I was getting a bit anxious. Her intended for this year is Clark, my younger buck.

Clark. It's hard to get good photos of the boys this time of year. When they're
in rut, they're scruffy, scrawny, and stinky with their minds only on one thing.

They happily spent the day together so I've got Feb. 23 circled as her potential due date, especially if she doesn't go into heat (which would be about now, so far so good). Who else do I have in mind for Clark when they are a little older?

Stella is now six months old.

Jessie is seven months.

This is because my other buck Randy is their sire.

Randy is Stella's and Jessie's sire.

Speaking of Randy, he got put to work as well, because when I checked on Daphne and Clark I found Lini right there at the fence where they were, with her tail wagging like crazy.

Lini is 10 months old. What are they looking at? The raccoon.

So she got to go visit Randy. They were both very interested in one another. I thought all was well until the next time I went outside. Lini had somehow slipped through the gate and was in with the two bucklings destined to become chevon. They were taking full advantage of the situation!

The reason they're for chevon is because they are not breeding quality.

What's the big deal, you might ask? For some folks it might be no big deal at all, but when one is breeding registered goats, the breeder must know the sire in order to apply for registration papers. The advantage to that is a much higher selling price for registered goats.

I had three choices. I could just say "Oh well" and chalk this up as a lost year for my Kinder breeding, I could ask the vet for a prescription of Lutalyse to terminate a possible pregnancy (if there was one), or I could wait and have DNA testing done.

While I waited for the vet to return my call, I researched DNA paternity testing for goats. Apparently it's quite common because a lot of labs offer the service! I learned it can be done with either blood or root hairs. The latter one was the least expensive and is done by UC Davis for $40 per animal (link here, for anyone interested.) That would not be my first choice because it would mean one dam, three possible sires, plus however many kids times $40 each. Why would all the kids have to be tested? Because those multiple births mean multiple ovulations, which means a batch of kids could all have different daddys!

So Lini will get another date with Randy sometime in the future. As will my last two girls,

Violet is six months old. She'll have to grow up a bit to become a mama.

and

Luki, 7 months old. She's one of the hardest to photograph
because any time she sees me she comes to get petted. 

That's my plan, assuming the goats will cooperate!

 Autumn Goat Action © Oct. 2015
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Determining Pregnancy in Goats

Is she or isn't she? That's always the question after an attempted breeding. Even a seemingly successful mating can turn out unsuccessful. One year I thought I had kids coming and dried up my does only to have no kids. It was a disappointment to say the least. This year I'm hoping Surprise is bred to Gruffy. If she is, it would mean my first homegrown Kinder kids! The blessed event would take place around March 13. That means I need to dry her up in January. If she isn't, I want to know too, so I can continue to give her and Gruffy a chance. And if all else is a fail, there's no sense drying her up at all.

So, I've been researching pregnancy testing for goats. The only ways to positively confirm a goat pregnancy are either with a laboratory test or an ultrasound. If the doe doesn't go into heat again, there's a good chance she's pregnant, but I've seen Surprise flirt and tease the bucks when a later delivery date showed she was already pregnant. The signs and symptoms visible to the goat keeper (increased girth size and abdominal movement) are not accurate because a full, active rumen will cause the same things.

One way is to have a blood test done by a veterinarian. We had one done about 2.5 years ago for $25. In addition, there are labs out there which will do the testing for less if you provide the vials of blood. That means you either have to draw the blood yourself or have someone do it for you. Here are a few options for those wishing to go that route, along with links and other relevant information.

Labs which perform blood tests:

• BioPRYN by BioTracking ($6.50 plus blood tubes. For an additional fee can have the same sample tested for CAE.)
• DG29 Complete Test Kits by Genex (6 kits for $32)

Labs which test blood serum or milk:

• Progesterone Testing by Rocky Mountain Instrumental Labs ($20)

Home test kit for progesterone (blood or milk):

• BOVIPREG by TwilCanada Inc. (10 kits for $50 plus shipping)

How to draw blood on a goat:

• Simple picture tutorial at Goat Connection
• Detailed tutorial with pictures at The Adventures of Noodleville

Ultrasound machines usually run around $4500, plus require training to learn. One that is often mentioned by goat owners is Preg-Tone. It costs about $475 and some say it gives accurate results.

Over at  The Goat Spot Forum, I found a discussion about goat pregnancy tests and several "folk" tests for which there were varying opinions about accuracy. 

Bleach Test. Add 2cc of urine to 1 cup of bleach (WARNING: do not add bleach to urine). Bubbling or fizzing will occur as a reaction to the pH differences in the two liquids. Results are positive if the solution continues to foam, negative if it stops after about a minute. This is said to be 95-97% accurate, but would obviously require several trial attempts to learn about the foaming.

Dandelion Test. Place half a dozen dandelion leaves on a sheet of newspaper. Pour urine over leaves and wait 10 minutes. Results are said to be positive if the leaves form reddish blisters, negative if they don't.

Pine Sol Test. This one seems to be the most vague in terms of specific amounts and time. Add a bit of urine to a small jar filled with Pine Sol. A color change may indicate a possible positive result.

One thing that won't work is a human home pregnancy test kit. This is because it measures human chorionic gonadotropin, which goats obviously don't produce.

As you can see, there are quite a few choices available. I purchased red top blood tubes last year but never used them. I may give it a try this year on Surprise. I may try the folk tests on her too. I'll let you know what happens.

All of this and more is available in my The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos eBook How To Make a Buck Rag: and other good things to know about breeding your goats.

Determining Pregnancy in Goats © October 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

My First Kinder Buck

I am thrilled to announce that I have my first Kinder buck.

El Dorado Kinders Alabama

He's a three year old, third generation Kinder, and the first of two bucks I'm buying this year. His mother was his breeder's best milker and has a history of giving birth to multiples; quints last year, in fact. Whether those traits will pass on genetically remains to be seen, but to me it was a good recommendation when other factors, such as conformation, are equal.

Gruffy, our Pygmy, has really been giving him the business. The partial
horns you see are scurs. Scurs are horn growths that occur after disbudding.

He was hard to catch to load him up into my jeep and I think he's the least tame buck we've had so far. But then, bucks are not usually handled a lot like does are. He spent the first night in one of the goat stalls. The next morning I wormed him and we trimmed his hooves before letting him out, because I doubt we'll ever catch him again.

In his own mind, Gruffy's as big as a buffalo.

Alabama has two lovely ladies (Helen and Daphne) to breed this fall, which will mean Kinder kids this spring! His Certificate of Merit has been applied for, so that my kids will qualify for registry with the Kinder Goat Breeders Association. Breeders often don't apply for registry papers until after goats have been sold.

Not sure if we'll call him Alabama or come up with a nickname. We're trying
several on for size: Al, Ala, Bama, Sweetie, Lynyrd, Jeff, Teddy, Randy?

Buck number two is three months old and on his way from California. We're still working on shipping arrangements, but I hope to have an arrival announcement for him soon too.

My First Kinder Buck  © October 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

I Think I Was Wrong About Lily

I was standing in the buck pasture the other day, admiring my boys. Splash was standing next to Caleb and it occurred to me how close in size 4 and a half month old Splash is to Caleb. Caleb is a Kinder, mid-size between his Nubian and Pygmy parents. I had thought Splash was a Kinder too, born to Lily, one of my Nubian does and fathered by Gruffy, my Pygmy buck. But if he's a Kinder, I thought, shouldn't he be a lot smaller with those Pygmy genetics?

I realized that Splash's sisters weren't smaller than the Nubian/Kiko kids born to surprise. Ziggy and Zoey's half miniature breed kids were smaller than the standards. Shouldn't Lily's be too?

Lily and her girls on the left, Surprise on right with one of her twins in front.
There is no size difference with all the doelings. Shouldn't Kinders be smaller?

I went back to check my calendar. Sure enough, on the breeding date (October 31) that matched their birth date (March 31) I had put Lily in with Gruffy. I had a later date that indicated one of the boys break-outs, which meant it was whose guess as to who's the daddy. There was no such notation on that date. Still, I've been wrong before, so I went back through my blog posts. Sure enough, on the one dated Nov. 4, 2013 ("More Misadventures in Breeding") I mention a buck break-out with Lily.

What that means is, my Kinders are not Kinders!!! I thought I finally had my dream breed but apparently not. Now I have a beautiful Kinder buck with no Kinder doe to breed him to. The wind is knocked out of my goat plan sails. sigh

I Think I Was Wrong About Lily © August 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Well Ladies, Who's Gonna Be First?

Surprise?

Ziggy?

Lily?

Assuming my girls all settled, the first due date should be Surprise on or around March 26. She's the only one with a set date because she had only one visit with Hooper. Lily went into heat shortly after that, giving her a first potential due date of March 29. She seemed to go into heat again, however, so my calendar has a few more possibilities. Ditto for Ziggy whose first potential due date is April 9.

I do breed late with April and May being my preferred kidding months. I know a lot of folks start kidding in January and February, but I think those months are too cold. I don't really know why folks start their season in winter except, perhaps, so that the doelings can be bred the following fall. Does anyone have a good rationale to share? I'll stick with later kidding because every year there are sad stories about hypothermic kids. Some make it and some don't. I just want my kids to have the best chance possible, and staying warm is one way I can help do that.

So, two more weeks! Hopefully it will be happy and uneventful.

Ziggy says, "I'll never tell."

Well Ladies, Who's Gonna Be First? © March 2014 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

More Misadventures in Goat Breeding

Alphie and the gate.

Going into our fourth season of goat breeding, I'd like to be able to say that things are going smoothly, especially after the last two years.

Our first year was relatively problem free, with the exception of Jasmine's stillborn doeling. The following year was a disaster. It was my year to try for Kinders and neither Nubian doe was bred by my Pygmy buck. We ended up with no kids and no milk.

Gruffy, our Pygmy buck, with Sam trying to sneak up from behind.

Last year I bought a Kiko buck to breed the Nubians. His name was Elvis. I planned to breed Ziggy, my Nigerian Dwarf doe, to Gruffy, our Pygmy buck. Well, she would have nothing to do with him! She only had eyes for Elvis and he jumped two fences to get to her. And get to her he did. She had quads, three of which survived.

This year I bought another Kiko buck to replace Elvis and broaden my genetic base. The plan was to breed my adult does, the two Nubians (Surprise and Lily) and Ziggy to Hooper, the Kiko. Notice I said, "Plan was...."

Alphie, Gruffy, and Hooper

Earlier this month when Surprise went into heat, she had a visit with Hooper. I put her and Hooper in one pasture, and the other two bucks in another. Next, Ziggy went into heat so I put her in with Hooper.

Several hours later I went out to make rounds. I first went to check on Ziggy and Hooper. As I stood there, scanning the pasture, Ziggy ran by. Then Hooper ran by. Then Alphie ran by. Lastly, here came Gruffy, running as hard as his stumpy Pygmy legs would carry him. What happened???

Some of the girls: Ziggy, Daisy, Surprise, and Lily.

Turned out that the gate was slightly open. Hmm. I was positive I'd latched it properly, but apparently I hadn't. Now I would have to wait to see if Ziggy went into heat again. If she didn't, then it would be another guessing game of "Who's The Daddy?"

The other day, Lily went into heat. She and Gruffy were standing at the fence, and she didn't even want to come for dinner. On a whim, I thought, hey, maybe I could get some Kinder kids after all. I couldn't actually call them "Kinders," because the term has been trademarked by the Kinder Goat Breeders Association, but it's the qualities I'm after. Hooper and Alphie were busy off somewhere else anyway, so I put Lily in with Gruffy.

Alphie, Sam, and Gruffy (partially hidden by the post)

The next morning I step out onto the porch and look for Lily and Gruffy. First Lily runs by. Then Alphie runs by. Then Hooper runs by. And lastly, here comes poor old Gruffy, huffing and puffing to catch up.

I let poor Lily back in with the does and went to inspect the latch on the gate. Not only was it open, but some of the bolts were loose. Somebody had figured out how to open the gate! And the evidence points to -- Alphie! He was the one goat that was on the "wrong" side of the fence both times.

Not the most secure type of gate latch, to be sure.

So, now I have to wait and see who goes into heat again. I know both Ziggy and Lily wanted nothing more to do with the boys after their ordeals. If that lasts, then I know that I don't know who sired their kids. If they're interest picks up again, then I'll know I have another shot at my plans. After I fix the gate latch of course.

More Misadventures in Goat Breeding © November 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

New Kid on the Block

Or perhaps I should say new kid on the homestead. This is, .....well, he doesn't have a name yet.

White or cream with gold markings is common coloring
for Kikos. although they can be other colors as well.

We bought him several days ago. He's a spring born, mostly Kiko buckling, advertised as having a Kiko dam and 97% Kiko sire. I put him in with Alphie first. There has been a little head butting, but not much, since both of these little guys are missing their mamas.

Same age and height, but Alphie is a little chunkier.

They are the same age and size. Being young, I have a better chance of taming him than Elvis, who was older when we bought him. He needs to accept enough handling so that we can trim his hooves, give him his vaccinations, and tend to other needs should they arise.

I had hoped to let Alphie stay with Surprise for at least another month. Unfortunately, little bucks reach breeding maturity around two months of age. Alphie would nurse and then run around behind Surprise attempting to mount her with his breeding apparatus at the ready. Then he'd go after Lily. Neither doe was happy about this, so poor little Alphie now has to face the sad reality of Mama on the other side of the fence.

Surprise is less concerned about weaning than Alphie, but she obliges him by
hanging out with him by the fence. She's giving me a gallon of milk per day.

My plan has been to breed Surprise and Lily to one Kiko buck one year, and to another the next. I had hoped to find another full Kiko, like Elvis, but even unregistered they were out of my price range at this time. The offspring from these different matings will hopefully give me enough genetic diversity to experiment with the Nubian/Kiko cross over the next few years. What I'm hoping for, is a goat with the good milking qualities of the Nubian, and the stamina of the Kiko along with it's ability to thrive on forage alone. This is a concern for me because Surprise, in particular, puts everything into making milk so that it's hard to keep her in a healthy weight when she's in milk.

Gruffy and Elvis were curious about the newcomer.

Introductions to the "Big Boys" went smoothly. Elvis stands over the little guys and pushes them around a little, to demonstrate his dominance. They're all getting along pretty well, though Elvis tends to get a little rough at times. Even so, the new kid tends to gravitate toward Elvis, I reckon because Elvis's common Kiko coloring looks familiar. Will I keep Elvis?  No. He's currently listed on Craigslist.

The worst part is the screaming. Both little guys miss their mothers and will stand and bawl for hours, Alphie especially, since his mother is still in sight. They sound like a couple of little girls screaming bloody murder. I keep waiting for a police car to pull up and two officers to step out and ask me, "Ma'am, are you torturing children over here?"

And how about a few parting shots of the babies.

We've about decided on names: Rosie for the dark twin, Daisy for the other

Only Mama puts up with this.

Chickens are still a curiosity.

Lastly, the Ziggster.

Poor Ziggy, tired of being pregnant

No, she still hasn't delivered! Besides now, my last potential due date is June 7th.

New Kid on the Block © May 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Breeding Plans - Awry Again

Why again? Because this isn't the first time things haven't gone according to plan. The first time was when we had zero success trying to breed Kinders. Now we have five goats, two bucks and three does: a Kiko buck for my two Nubian does, and a Pygmy buck for my Nigerian. Eventually we'd like to have only one kind of goat, a dual purpose Kiko-Nubian crossbreed that I'm calling "Kikobians." We really like Gruffy however, our Pygmy buck, so we keep him as companion to Elvis. Since Ziggy, my Nigerian Dwarf, is our only source of milk right now, for the time being we have four breeds of goats. And if we're going to have them, we might as well breed them.

Elvis (foreground) & Gruffy (in the back). Wondering where the girls are.

Hopefully breeding is working according to plan. Both of my Nubian girls have had dates with Elvis, our Kiko. Ziggy has gone into heat several times, and each time I've put her in with Gruffy. Unfortunately, she doesn't care for Gruffy; she has a definite preference for Elvis. Considering their size difference however, I worry that a cross between these two would result in kids too large for little Ziggy to deliver without difficulty. Hence she cannot have the man she wants.

Ziggy went into heat again the other day. Again, I dragged put her in with Gruffy. Of course Elvis was watching and had much to say about it. To keep distractions to a minimum and everybody's mind focused on business, I separated these three by putting Gruffy and Ziggy in the woods, and Elvis in the front pasture. That's two fences and the buck pasture separating them. Satisfied with that arrangement, I went back into the house to paint the bathroom ceiling.

The Girls are more interested in something else.
Ziggy and Lily on the left, Surprise on the right.

Fast forward. I go out to check on things. I see Gruffy in the woods, but he's not hounding Ziggy as per usual. I wonder what he's staring at. A few more steps and I see what it is. It's Elvis in the woods! With Ziggy! Elvis had easily cleared two, 4-foot fences to get to her and was now busy keeping Gruffy away.  I can only guess as to what else has been going on.

Well, I went to fetch Ziggy who had had enough of the whole thing and was ready for her grain. Now I'm left to ponder the condition of all three of my does. Last year I blogged about a much anticipated kidding season, only to be disappointed when neither of my does was pregnant. It's impossible to verify without a blood test or ultrasound, and the fact that Surprise has become very thick around the middle may only be a very full rumen. Or fat. Her anticipated due date would be mid-March, assuming she settled. She hasn't gone into heat again, but I'm not counting on anything this year. Goats do have minds of their own.

Breeding Plans - Awry Again © January 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

How To Make A Buck Rag

A buck scented rag is one way to help determine if a doe is in heat. It seems as though this might be easy to tell, but I'm no expert. Common signs include vocalizing, tail wagging, increased aggressiveness, vaginal swelling and/or discharge, decreased milk supply. Some does are obvious, some are very subtle. If a doe is in heat and likes the scent of the buck rag, then she is in all likelihood ready for a visit. This could be helpful for someone who does not own a buck. Another option, some goatherds keep a wether with their does. He knows, and will try to mount them when their hormones are right.

I hadn't needed to worry about this until recently, because the boys and the girls were in adjacent pastures. When one of the does was in heat, she'd stand there at the fence flirting with the bucks. When we plowed and planted that field, I had to move the girls. They are now two fences away from the boys instead of one, nor are they in a direct line of sight. I thought a buck rag might help. So here is the how-to run down.

Start with a clean rag. I made this one from an old sock.

An old, clean rag

Find a cooperative buck.

Elvis...

Don't even think about it.

Gruffy....

Don't stop

Rub it around the base of his horns. This is where there are scent glands.

Place it in a lidded jar until needed.

Odoriferous buck rag, ready when needed

To test it out, I let all three of my girls take a whiff.

Lily...

What is that?

 Surprise...

Get that thing out of my face.

Ziggy...

I'll take care of it for you.

Well, I'm pretty sure Ziggy's not in heat but she loves to pull, mouth, and chew on fabric: my jacket, my shirt, my skirt, my shoelaces. So based on my quick test run, I can't tell you this works for sure. I do keep rough track on my calendar, so if and when the girls demonstrate signs of being in heat, I'll give it another try and report the results.

This and more can be found in my inexpensive eBook, How To Make a Buck Rag: and other good things to know about breeding your goats. Includes how to tell when your doe is in heat, when your buck is in rut, how to determine pregnancy, how to calculate due dates, and how to keep your boy in good condition for doing his job.

How To Make A Buck Rag © November 2012 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/