Devonviolet Acres

[Devonviolet]

I promised someone that I would post photos of our purebred Myotonic goats. So here you go:

This is our 4 year old buck - Danny Boy. He is the sweetest boy! We just love him!!!

This is Melody. She is two years old. Last year she gave us a girl and a boy. This year she gave us two girls.

This is Dan the Man - Melody’s boy born April of last year.

This is Sonata, from Melody, also born April of last year.

This is two year old Crescent. She had two girls last year, and two boys this year.

This is Danielle, born in April of 2021 to Crescent.

This is Soxy, (Danielle’s sister) also born April 2021 to Crescent.

I have almost reached my limit for photos in this post. So I will post this year’s kids in the next post.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

LOVE them! I've recently purchased 2 Reg Myotonic bucks. They'll get used this year. At this point I'll be using them on some Nubian/Kiko cross does and hoping for the best.

My guys are a bit vertically challenged at this point, but they're only 7 months old. Hoping they get a bit more height. How tall is your Danny Boy?

 

[Devonviolet]

LOVE them! I've recently purchased 2 Reg Myotonic bucks. They'll get used this year. At this point I'll be using them with on some Nubian/Kiko cross does and hoping for the best.

My guys are a bit vertically challenged at this point, but they're only 7 months old. Hoping they get a bit more height. How tall is your Danny Boy?

Sorry, I’ve never measured Danny Boy, so I couldn’t telll you how tall he is.

At 7 months, they still have a lot of growing to do. If I’m not mistaken, they really aren’t fully mature until two years old. Although, they can get a smaller goat pregnant at 3 months. Danny Boy wasn’t fully muscled/bulked out until he was about 2 years old.

Here he is at 3-1/2 years old:

I wouldn’t worry about them being “vertically challenged”. When Danny Boy was about 9 months old, He was able to get our 10 month old Nubian and year old LaMancha does pregnant. Where there’s a WILL, there’s a WAY!!!

It’s hilarious to watch! If she’s prime, she will stand still while he mounts her. After about five (or so times of him doing his thing), he falls over on his side and then his feet go up in the air! It’s hard not to laugh!

I tell people, “It’s like he rolls over and lights up a cigarette”. Okay . . . all done!

The first time we put Melody with Danny boy, she kept going over in the corner where the water bucket was. The first time he got her, she put her head in the bucket and lifted, pouring water all over her self. Then she stood there with this water bucket on her head until he left. She went back two more times and stood there with the water bucket on her head. It was just hilarious!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The first time we put Melody with Danny boy, she kept going over in the corner where the water bucket was. The first time he got her, she put her head in the bucket and lifted, pouring water all over her self. Then she stood there with this water bucket on her head until he left. She went back two more times and stood there with the water bucket on her head. It was just hilarious!

I would have paid money to see that, lol!

I'm still not accustomed to these guys locking up and falling over. The other day I left the garden gate open for just a second and they followed me in. I had the water hose in my hand so I turned around and yelled at them and gave them a good squirt. So, instead of leaving the garden like any other goat would do - they locked up and fell over. They are forcing me to be a more patient goat owner!

 

[Devonviolet]

This year we had three does have twins:
Crescent went first with twin boys. We will be wethering them and keep them until they are about one year old and will then have them butchered.

Here are Crescent and her twin boys after I turned Melody and Crescent with their twins in with the general population. They were all thrilled to be eating fresh grass!

Melody went a week later with twin girls. I love this photo! It’s like a “Mini-Me” shot. The spot on her eye reminded me of a peach. So I named her Peaches & Cream. Their goat hut is actually a 275 gallon water tote with the top cut off. It has a vent hole up high for ventilation and makes a perfect shelter.

Here she is again

Here is her sister. DH named her Rockstar. She is absolutely gorgeous!!!

Our last doe to kid was Crystal, who was a year old last March. She is registered also and we bought her from a breeder near Greenville, TX (about an hour West of here). I just KNEW she was going to be an excellent mama goat, and she IS.

When Crescent kidded in March, Krystal was just fascinated by her kids! All of the other goats were off nibbling grass in the pasture. That Crystal stood on the other side of the pasture fence just staring at Crescent’s babies! She just couldn’t take her eyes off of them! And sure enough!!! She has proven to be an amazing mama goat! Here she is staring at Crescent’s kids. She was just ENAMORED!!!

Here is a better shot of Crystal - just look at those beautiful eyes and coloring!!!

Crystal had a girl and boy

The boy is definitely bigger than the girl. He is the one with black mixed in with the brown on top of his head.

Here is a cool shot of some of the goats and dogs in the pasture, after melody and Crescent with their kids were turned inHere is a cool shot of all the goats and dogs in the pasture, after melody and Crescent with their kids were turned in with the rest of the goats.

 

[Devonviolet]

Well, they did it again!!! Twice in one day!!!

Tonight - around 10:30, I heard our two amazing Maremma’s barking like crazy! Since I was already in my pajamas, I asked DH to go check on them.

It turned out there was a rat snake entwined in the fencing that goes from the goat yard into the chicken run. It was caught and couldn’t get out. That means it was headed toward the nest boxes, to eat all our eggs.

At first DH thought it was 5 or 6 feet long. But, once he managed to unwind it from the fencing, and held it up, it was at least 7 feet long! It was the biggest snake we have seen since we moved here 7-1/2 years ago.

Full disclosure: This morning DH measured the snake and It was exactly six feet long.. I guess in the dark it looked bigger.

 

[Ridgetop]

Very pretty! What do you use myotonic goats for? I would be afraid to keep anything that couldn't run away from a predator, even with the LGDs. Our sheep run to the dogs for protection.

 

[Devonviolet]

Very pretty! What do you use myotonic goats for? I would be afraid to keep anything that couldn't run away from a predator, even with the LGDs. Our sheep run to the dogs for protection.

Myotonic goats are meat goats because they develop muscles when they stiffen up. Yes, they can’t run away from predators, but when there is even a hint of a threat, Violet barks a certain bark and they run for the goat shed. Deo herds them in and stands across the opening, until Violet stands down. Then they all come out and go out to graze again. We have had our Maremma’s since we got our first goats, 7+ years ago. There used to be coyote and pig prints close in. Now the coyotes cross the hay field 300 feet out from the property line, out of respect for those BIG white dogs!!!

We plan to wether the boys and when they are about 15-18 months, we will get them butchered and put them in the freezer. We will sell the females for breeding.

 

[Ridgetop]

Isn't the meat tough at that age?

 

[Devonviolet]

Isn't the meat tough at that age?

Myotonic goats mature more slowly than say Boer goats or dairy goats. So, the meat will be more tender at an older age.

If you are comparing them to sheep/lamb, for sure Myotonic meat will be more tender than lamb at the same age. A lot of times, butchers will just make goat burgers, rather than standard cuts. If we are cooking goat burgers, they are delicious at that age. However, to get the most tender goat meat, we cook our goat meat in our InstantPot, and make a gravy from the broth. Stewed goat meat is yummy too.