# New Goats Arriving Today!



## Southern by choice (Oct 18, 2014)

Very excited! We have one, possibly 2 goats coming today!
Dh and DD left out to get them. It has been a month of talking with the breeders, referrals, waiting on testing results copies, a drive to the farm and FINALLY they will be coming today!

We know we are getting one doe, and I guess they will decide on the other doe once they get there. LOL Betcha they come home with 2.
My DD is with DH.

I don't _need_ two but there again it is always nice to have 2 while they have to be in quarantine for a month. They just do better with a buddy coming into a new herd.

I don't care so much for their names but not sure if we will change them or not.
Will try to post pics when they get here. Hopefully it won't be dark out.


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## goats&moregoats (Oct 18, 2014)

Congratsulations....waiting for those pictures


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## OneFineAcre (Oct 18, 2014)

What you got?


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## Hens and Roos (Oct 18, 2014)




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## Southern by choice (Oct 18, 2014)

& 

So they got home late. Already dark! I hate bringing a goat home in the dark.  PICS tomorrow I promise! 

They came home with just the one. We will probably go back and get the other one at a later date.

My DD is prety good and keeps getting better at evaluating. She called while they were there, the 2nd goat was looking pretty pale in the eyelids and had some tapeworm. Tapeworm is no biggy but DD knows PALE eyes! Tapes don't cause pale eyes.I was proud of her as she was very thoughtful... she decided to bring a fecal home first so we could look at the EPG count and type of parasite/s. Her thinking was if the goat has a really high load then the stress of the move would cause an even bigger bloom and that is not good for the goat.
Glad she put her obsession with goats to the side and did the smart thing. 
The 2nd goat has a super load! Have already contacted the breeder.
The load was high enough that she should be hit with Safeguard first for 3 days then the Ivermec Plus. Do not want the goat to bleed internally. We may not get the second goat- we will see. 
The dam of the goat we brought home has the best parasite resistance of their whole herd. Her eyes are good but we will do a fecal tomorrow am to see load. Too late and dark right now.

Breeder is really upset. She is a really neat person and takes such good care of her animals it was a shocker for her. 

BTW- They are LAMANCHAS! 

I guess I should have said that in my original post. 

Maybe I could hold you all over by showing a pic of our pretty Nubian!


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## animalmom (Oct 19, 2014)

Well maybe, just maybe you could have held us off with the picture of your pretty Nubian, but not now.

Pictures, dag nabit!  Pretty please and thank you.  Some of us who raise Nigerians have a very soft spot in our hearts for Lamanchas... especially with elf ears.


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## Southern by choice (Oct 19, 2014)

LOL I finally got pics this am- BUT she was not very cooperative! 
She is a sweetheart but wants to walk right over and give a kiss!
I need to resize the photos before I can put them up.

No elf ears on her she is not a mini.
I too like the 1st and 2nd gen mini mancha elf ears...so cute
What is a hoot is the 1st gen Mini Nubian  Totally straight out! Airplane ears!

Ok so here is our new  Lamancha doeling 7  months old













And "Ruby" who is the most loving adorable dog ever. Oops I meant GOAT! She walks at a heal like a dog! Get this- she doesn't make a sound! 












Ruby needs more work on her feet- they were kinda overgrown and she had foot mites when we got her. Taking a little off at a time. She is a love. Never thought I would have a goat with LONG ears.  She actually belongs to my littlest D. Ruby ALWAYS gives a kiss. She loves bear hugs and rubs on her face. She will watch me wherever I go on the farm as if she wants to just walk around with me. I think she just might do that, seriously she walks at heal like a dog!


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## OneFineAcre (Oct 19, 2014)

Congrats
Christmas came early this year


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## Southern by choice (Oct 19, 2014)

Thanks we are very blessed.

The Lamancha is out of lil orchard and lucky star and the Nubian is out of In the reds and  J-nels.

They have good pedigrees and excellent milk lines. Since we are doing mini's we wanted them to be really solid milkers.


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## goats&moregoats (Oct 19, 2014)

Congrats!


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## kinder (Oct 19, 2014)

That's Great !! And they look so nice and solid. Congrats !!


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## MsDeb (Oct 19, 2014)

Great pics!  I didn't realize until we got them that goats are really hard to photograph.  They really want to get eye to eye with the camera don't they!


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## babsbag (Oct 20, 2014)

eye to eye...hmmm... mine would prefer to LICK or EAT the camera


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## Sumi (Oct 20, 2014)

Congrats! They are beautiful. Love the pics (hint, ehh, hint?)


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## Baymule (Oct 20, 2014)

Tempting, Southern, tempting....... Pointing out all the attributes of goats to me, then posting pictures of two drop dead gorgeous gals like that......


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## Goat Whisperer (Oct 20, 2014)

@Baymule you really are the goatie type IMO!


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## Southern by choice (Oct 20, 2014)

@Baymule  I know you like the taste of lamb- but remember you have to LIVE with those sheep thingys!

I think @Goat Whisperer is on to something!


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## OneFineAcre (Oct 20, 2014)

You know of course it is difficult to judge a animal from a pic
But Nubian is really nice from this angle
J-Nels wow
They haven't bred Nubians for years 
But they really knew their stuff


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## goatgurl (Oct 20, 2014)

@Southern by choice nice girls and lamanchas are great.  i know you have to be proud of DD for letting her common sense win out over her want to.  that's hard to do.
@Baymule you know you can have your sheep and goaties too.   my sheep and goats get along just fine, and of course we all know that lamanchas are the goat of choice, lol


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## Southern by choice (Oct 20, 2014)

Yeah , the Nubian is 4yrs old. She will be great for (littlest) DD. She loves goats and needed her own. 

@goatgurl  - This DD(Middle DD) partners with me and is pretty sharp! I adore my Lamanchas! I LOVE their milk! I will say the Nubian is quiet as a mouse and absolutely wonderful! Our Alpine is a love too! Although I love our Nigies and they are sweet they all have way more attitude than any of our "big" goats. 

Our sheep do NOT get along with our goats- they did at first and then they started ramming the goats. Uhhhh NO- I had pregnant goats and no way was I going to have aborted kids from our useless sheep.  We have the sheep for my (oldest) DD.
The sheep never got use to the LGD's either, they made some progress but once they started ramming the goats the dogs would try to stand in the way. So noow they live way back through 2 sets of woods in the very back pasture on about 3-4 acres. They have no dog for protection either. The most we can do with them is scratch their chin. Kinda boring really- and get wool. Sometimes they can be kinda cool but really wish my DD would give them up.
She is the only person in the family that is a sheeple- the rest of us are goaties! I think they'd make better rugs.

We are breeding the Nubian for mini's this year but I do know someone with a great Nubian buck for next year, although I am hesitant- It would be a driveway breeding AND I would have to test the buck first. $ out of my pocket for someone else's animal.
I may just need to find a good Nubian Buckling this coming kidding season and raise him up. HINT HINT anyone out there!
What's another buck at this point? It seems like we collect them! LOL
There is a nice Lamancha Buck that a breeder contacted me about- thought I might be interested- I am but there is only 1-2 of my Lamanchas I could use him on so I don't know.

I think we should wait til we move.


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## babsbag (Oct 20, 2014)

@Southern by choice  Pretty soon you will have more bucks than does.


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## animalmom (Oct 21, 2014)

Beautiful does!  Thanks for the pictures.


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## Baymule (Oct 21, 2014)

@Goat Whisperer and @goatgurl I have finally settled on what breed of sheep-I have chosen Dorpers. Now about goats....... what breed? what breed?


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## Southern by choice (Oct 21, 2014)

If I ever get sheep for meat I will be getting Dorpers. For my region I might need to do Dorper/Katahdin cross.


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## Baymule (Oct 21, 2014)

@Southern by choice ....... northeast Texas has some bodacious forest..... lakes, ponds, creeks and rivers...... hills...... pastures..... jobs.....


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## Goat Whisperer (Oct 21, 2014)

@Baymule you need to visit lots of farms farms and see what breed fits you! But I'm a sucker for Nigerian Dwarfs and Lamanchas and Alpines and Nubians and Mini's and some Oberhasli's  and the list goes on! 

Would you need dairy goats? 

How much milk would you need in a day? Do you want to make cheese and soap? Would you rather deal with smaller goats such as mini's or Nigi's, or larger goats? 

This may help narrow down the breed of goat that fits you. 

Oh, you don't _have _to stick with one breed of goat... why not several?


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## jodief100 (Oct 22, 2014)

They are beautiful.  Excellent call on the white eyes.  No need to ask for trouble.


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## Baymule (Oct 22, 2014)

@Goat Whisperer I will have to take your advice and go goat shopping.


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## goats&moregoats (Oct 22, 2014)

I am a sucker for Nigerian Dwarfs and Pygmy. Don't know exactly what it is about them, but I just can't get enough.


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## OneFineAcre (Oct 22, 2014)

I hope we can "agree" that these are beautiful animals


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## Goat Whisperer (Oct 22, 2014)

I think everyone can agree that they are nice lookin' critters


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## Southern by choice (Oct 23, 2014)

Thanks everyone! I am pretty excited about them!
I kind of regret already breeding the nubian to my dwarf.
Yes, the goal was for mini nubians BUT she is so beautiful and she is turning 5 in Jan. I would love to keep a few Nubian does from her.
I could get some of her offspring  (2 year old does) but they were not raised with much handling and you can't even get near them. 
The does do have beautiful spots that momma passed on but  I cannot think they will adapt well and how would we milk them?
1st Gen Mini Nubians also have the dorkiest ears  but they are cute! I have someone who wants a doeling if we have one but not sure they understand that ear thing!
In the meantime we are still working on her hooves. They were in bad shape. Actually had to sedate her and work on them. She also had severe hoof mites. It is what it is- I cannot blame the breeder- as the breeder was taking care of an ill parent for 2 years hence the unfriendly does- 

The 2nd lamancha that we did not get yet... we will in a few weeks.
She is being treated for parasites ... hope she isn't going to be a parasite problem. 
The 2nd doe is unrelated to the first doe so that gives us some flexibility with breeding too.

I will wait til the other doe is here before pulling blood- saves us some $ running 2 at a time instead of 1. Quarantine will be a bit longer for them.


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## goatgurl (Oct 24, 2014)

@Southern by choice have you thought about AI for the Nubian and or the lamanchas.  i did that years ago and made real progress in my breeding program.  i had French alpines at the time and that was back when fairy's and giants ruled the earth.  not hard to learn to do or perhaps you could find someone in the area that does AI.  just do lots of homework to find the bucks you would like to use and go from there.  just be warned, it can be addictive tho, so many bucks to choose from
@Baymule,  dorpers are great sheep, good choice.  i have kathadins and like them real well to.  and as far as i am concerned lamanchas are great dairy goats, great personalities and wonderful milk.   raised French alpines years ago and they were good goats but i like the lamanchas milk better, all the Nubians I've ever had were good too, milk is good but they can be pretty noisy.  never had any of the other breeds but those that have them like them too.  i have no experience with the little breeds so you are going to have lots of homework and lots of decisions to make.  going to enjoy watching you decide, lol


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## Southern by choice (Nov 3, 2014)

@goatgurl I did AI years ago (about 30yrs ago I think) on canines. Goats are a little different and I would rather own my boys! LOL 
I LOVE MY BUCKS!  AI is smart- I just don't want to be the collector- been there done that.

I also like to know what the buck is like- not just "lines".
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I am pretty sure I won't be getting the second doe. I want her, yes, but my DD reminded me of something very important.

We have never held the philosophy of buying on lines alone. We always look at the whole goat.  In this case the lines are GREAT- but the parasite load was so high for such a young animal and there really wasn't a reason for it to be so high... not something we want. One of the biggest things we focus on is parasite resistance.
A goat can have a perfect udder, great confirmation, high output, titles and lines but if it is a parasite issue than it is a useless goat.

We have enough does at this time and I may retain a few with this seasons kiddings ... 

The bummer is I reallly liked this doe.


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## goatgurl (Nov 3, 2014)

@Southern by choice i so agree on looking at the whole goat but i also look at the lines to kind of hedge my bet on what I'm getting.  bought a beautiful doe some years back who had very little parasite resistance and she died of barberpole worms the year after i got her.  it happened so fast and none of the other does or the buck were affected.  i kept her daughters one of which showed good resistance and one who didn't.  the nonresistant went to freezer camp after the first year and the other produced another set of does both of who show much better resistance.  it has been a real pia to breed and cull these does.  if i had it to do over again i would have left her at the breeders and not fooled with the whole mess.
and with the AI yup I've been the one "holding the bag" when bucks were being collected many long years ago.  funny memories... i like the fact that you can add new blood but doing lots and lots of research is so important.  not just what a specific doe did but what her mother, aunts, sisters and brothers did and then go look up all that on the sires side too.  i loved it while i was doing it but i was big time into showing then.  priorities make such a difference


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