# Wehner Homestead 2018 Breeding



## Wehner Homestead (May 13, 2018)

I get to start a goat breeding thread!! I meant to start it before the fact but anyway, it’s a necessity now. 

Knight covered Caramel today. DH witnessed the act three times while they were together on two occasions. Since they are both ND, 145 days will be 10/5. This will be her 2F. She kidded with twin bucklings April 2017. 

We will be watching to see if she shows signs of cycling or if she’s bred. I may do a blood test to get a definite result. 

Getting excited about fall babies. This will help us to have plenty of milk through the winter for DD2. 

More breedings will occur this fall and into each winter for 2019. 

I’ll try to get a good pic of Knight and a pic of Caramel to post.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 14, 2018)

Exposed Caramel again this morning as Knight (who is two pens over, had jumped into the pen with Diamond’s bucklings to be closer) and I wanted to make sure she had been covered. She was very annoyed by his advances and wouldn’t stand. You’d have thought I deflated his hot air balloon! Either way, I’m thinking he got the job done and we shall see.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 30, 2018)

Caramel and Diamond were butting heads last night. That isn’t typical and means that one or both is cycling. We aren’t planning on breeding Diamond until sometime next year but need to make sure Caramel is bred. 

We did let her out with Knight for a few minutes last night and this morning. He seemed somewhat interested but she wasn’t flirty at all and didn’t even consider standing.

I think we will send blood on her when we send in Blossom’s blood work soon so that we know one way or the other.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 24, 2018)

Caramel is graduating to the kidding thread!!


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 24, 2018)

I need to finalize the rest of my breeding plans for the year...thinking just Blossom if she passes her testing and Snowflake because I want another doe out of her so bad. 

Come January, I’ll breed Jasmine, Sparkle, and CeCe. 

Diamond is up in the air. Depends on if her supply gives out when Jasmine is weaned. Currently, she gives the least milk of the three. (Snowflake and Nellie milk just over 2 cups and Diamond is just under one cup.)


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## Southern by choice (Aug 24, 2018)

Just an FYI. If you are breeding CeCe and sparkle for mini's I would do it sooner only because Standard breeds really have a much harder time kidding in summer and kids have a harder time as well.
We breed a lot of Lamanchas and all the ones bred for late kiddings struggle and have a hard time.  If we breed the two Raina does to Kiegh for minis we will be breeding right after the state fair. I would rather breed early October then early November but we have 25 goats going to fair and to much going on to add breeding in the mix. 3 shows between now and then as well.
No more standards kidding after March. This will be early April. I still don't like it but will do it if we decide to breed those two. 
We are going to focus on minis this year because I will not be retaining but 3 goats next year 1 will be from Mariah/Black Tie - same breeding that produced Cece. The other two will be minis.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 24, 2018)

Southern by choice said:


> Just an FYI. If you are breeding CeCe and sparkle for mini's I would do it sooner only because Standard breeds really have a much harder time kidding in summer and kids have a harder time as well.
> We breed a lot of Lamanchas and all the ones bred for late kiddings struggle and have a hard time.  If we breed the two Raina does to Kiegh for minis we will be breeding right after the state fair. I would rather breed early October then early November but we have 25 goats going to fair and to much going on to add breeding in the mix. 3 shows between now and then as well.
> No more standards kidding after March. This will be early April. I still don't like it but will do it if we decide to breed those two.
> We are going to focus on minis this year because I will not be retaining but 3 goats next year 1 will be from Mariah/Black Tie - same breeding that produced Cece. The other two will be minis.




I can do that! I just thought you wanted me to wait until they were older.


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## Southern by choice (Aug 24, 2018)

For standards  I'd wait til next year. For 1st gen minis just make sure weight is good and hip width is good.
We are starting to prep our does now for the ones we will breed. 
Just before breeding we will also give selenium.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 24, 2018)

Southern by choice said:


> For standards  I'd wait til next year. For 1st gen minis just make sure weight is good and hip width is good.
> We are starting to prep our does now for the ones we will breed.
> Just before breeding we will also give selenium.



Noted and thank you!!


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 27, 2018)

We’ve considered what was mentioned above and will be breeding CeCe and Sparkle in October for March kids.

I’ve mostly figured out who I want them bred to but some of it depends on if Theo is mature enough to get CeCe bred. I’m already trying to figure out a couple options to give him the height boost that he will need.

The plan is for King to breed Sparkle. I absolutely love the escutcheons that he put on Nellie’s daughters. They haven’t freshened yet since they were just born in April but I’m really excited to see what else he improved.

I’ll try to get updated pictures of these goats soon!


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 10, 2018)

Getting ready to start breeding here for spring 2019 kids. Looking at 3 groups of 2:

Group 1: asap!
~Blossom (pending test results!) to King (Mini Nubians) I’m not sure how many times Blossom has freshened. I know of 2 that I’ve been able to track down. 
~Diamond to Theo (Theo’s first kids! Diamond’s 3F, she’s currently dry.) 

Group 2: Mini Lamanchas for April (both FF) 
CeCe to Theo
Sparkle to King

Group 3: late May/early June
Snowflake to King (for 2F, hoping for does!) 
Jasmine to King (FF, needs escutcheon improved)


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## Goatgirl47 (Oct 17, 2018)

Awww, Blossom!  I remember her from your other thread. Praying the results will come back negative!

I would love to see some pictures of your crew when/if you have the chance!


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## Mini Horses (Oct 18, 2018)

Yeah, I've been wondering about Blossom..... 

I'm a Nubian fan.  First goat I owned was an ole gal who needed a home and she got one!  She had twins in the oven and no one knew, LOL.   All was well with that and goats were then part of life!   Blossom reminds me of her & they both needed  a farm to love them.

Love my Saanens though.  Have those & SxNubs.  Excellent milk and milkers.  Lot of it, too.   When you get to milk Blossom you will need a large pail.  Gallon a day.


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 29, 2018)

Well...nothing like disruption to the best laid plans! 

Blossom will not be kidding. See her thread but basically we’ve decided it’s in her best interest to just be a pet so she will be going to a pet home. 

Jasmine was cycling and I thought we’d see if she was really in. To top it off, she’s almost the same size as her dam. I really want to improve her escutcheon and King seems to be capable of that. We did a breeding in our barn aisle on 10/17. That makes Jasmine due first on 3/16.

Diamond was Theo’s first date! They used the barn aisle too on 10/27. That makes Diamond due 3/26. 

We also had an escape issue.  Knight jumped three fences on 10/20 and got in with Nellie, Snowflake, Diamond, Jasmine, Ariel, Elly, Perdy, Beauty, Leah, and Summer. I could’ve kicked his butt!!!! 

The boys got outside pens built on Saturday. I’ll put details in my journal. Should eliminate escape issues. 

Gotta lutalyse the 6 younger girls as they are too small. I could deal with the older four being bred and won’t stress if they did. That due date would be 3/19.


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## Wehner Homestead (Nov 6, 2018)

Trying to decide if Sparkle and CeCe, our Lamancha girls born in February are big enough to breed for Minis. DH assisted with obtaining weights and pics a week ago that I’m just now getting around to posting. 

CeCe 77#
Sparkle 64# 
(DH said these weights are accurate up to 3# each weigh based on trial and error of a scale that’s more than 20 years old and is zeroed by hand.) 

I had him take a variety of pictures. Several were an attempt to show their size also. For those that don’t know, CeCe is black and Sparkle is the Chamoisee. They came from @Southern by choice and @Goat Whisperer. They are spoiled bottle baby sweethearts that want hugs and give kisses. 

The following are attempts to show their width. I know that’s hard to do! 




 

 

 

 

 

 

Cont’d on next post.


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## Wehner Homestead (Nov 6, 2018)

Big enough to breed cont’d:

Trying to give an idea of CeCe’s size...


 

 

 

 

Cont’d...


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## Wehner Homestead (Nov 6, 2018)

Cont’d with Sparkle....


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## Wehner Homestead (Nov 6, 2018)

Showing off escutcheons while we are at it! 



 

 

Can you tell that taking these pics was quite eventful?! You can only imagine the bloopers! Overall we are extremely pleased and thankful for these two!


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## Latestarter (Nov 6, 2018)

What will you be breeding them to? I haven't heard tell of you owning a mini buck, so I'm assuming Nigie... That being the case, they are about the same size as my CB & CC were last year when they were bred by a full sized RJ... both kidded with no issues and no assistance. They look more than adequate in size to be bred IMO... But then I don't own minis and have no experience with them...


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 6, 2018)

Honestly, I would wait. Especially with Sparkle. She, IMO looks too immature to breed and doesn’t look to have the width throughout. Ideally, you want them to gain 10-15lbs a month. Their coats look extremely healthy and you take great care of your girls!!!

Every doe is different. Jane and Charlotte for example, once they hit around 5 months had a 10# difference from each other. Allure (born  5/4/18) weighed 65# on 9/24 and is one of triplets. Her sister is considerably smaller and weighed 56#. I’ll have to look at the others. I actually need to weigh them all again.


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## Southern by choice (Nov 6, 2018)

I agree with @Goat Whisperer 
We can get weights for Trudy, Mousse, Queen, Allure , and Poppy tomorrow. It is time to weigh them all again. We should have weighed them after fair but we have been so busy.
We had to lute a bunch so they have all been cycling making us and the bucks nuts! 
I am looking at Trudy and Dancing Queen... I really would like to breed them this year if possible for minis probably.
I can tell you I asked what Sparkles sister is weighing... my friend weighed her this evening because I though Sparkle looked small as well.
Her sister is 91# (scale weight)  
The girls look healthy they just look like they are growing more slowly.

LOL, because I know what it is like to get pics with goats that don't cooperate... I feel your pain.   I was getting a good chuckle. Hunched up, then swayed. Feet up under, sloped rear... oh yeah I know the joy of the bloopers. I think one time we took like 200 pics of 2 goats and not one pic was worth saving!


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## Wehner Homestead (Nov 6, 2018)

I’ll be holding them off. I’m not thrilled with the idea but want what’s in their best interest. <sigh> I definitely trust @Goat Whisperer and @Southern by choice because they know these lines.


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## Southern by choice (Nov 6, 2018)

CeCe has a good chance of being bred for minis but Sparkle... I'm thinking a no go. There is almost a 30# difference between her and her sister.
How are they doing with minerals? Cece I suspect is having some deficiency still as the baldness around her eyes. How are they doing with their minerals?
Their coats look great and shiny. What mineral are you using? 
We are still having issues with mineral intake here. Our goats are brats. Spoiled brats that is.


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## Wehner Homestead (Jan 17, 2019)

I haven’t kept this thread up to date very well at all. 

We have Jasmine (bred to King- hoping for improved escutcheon.) Day 145 is 3/11. All kids will be black/white as both parents are.

3/14 could be Day 145 for Snowflake or Nellie. Knight escaped and got in the doe pen. We then evicted them to the lean-to. Had to lute the little girls as I wouldn’t take a chance on them being bred yet. Not sure if either of the does in milk actually took though. 

5/14 is Day 145 for Diamond and King. These will also be black/white.

We will do more breeding as 2019 progresses and I’ll start a new thread and try to post pics with breeding pairs.


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## Wehner Homestead (Jan 24, 2019)

Well Snowflake didn’t take when Knight escaped. Her production has slacked off greatly so she needed rebred. Jasmine tried riding her last night so DH got King out and let him have a go at her. He got her twice. Day 145 will be 6/17. 

I think I’ll start a 2019 breeding thread for any further announcements.


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