Latestarter's 2019 kidding

[kdogg331]

They can start their heat (on the seasonal breeds) any time after say August, and continue to cycle through January. Much depends on your latitude and weather I expect. My buck and wethers started showing interest in the girls in mid August. There are advantages and disadvantages to small ears, as there are with large ears...

IME with Lamanchas, at least mine, they don't really have a lot of meat on them... If I were to put any in the freezer, it would most likely be as all burger and the ribs. I don't think there's really enough meat on the ribs to make it worthwhile keeping them. All part of the reason I'm considering a kiko buck for next fall. By then I should be all set with doe numbers. 10 right now, so hopefully ~15 after spring kidding.

Wow that's a long cycle!! I guess I still have a lot to learn haha I figured it was only a few weeks or whatevrr whateverlike dogs and cats

And I can see where the ears could prevent frostbite in winter and can't get cut up

I thought the same thing until i got some and you know after a couple months.....thats just how that goat looks and your used to it. I ended up loving those little buttheads, the ears didnt really matter. Atm we only have 1 tog and the others are all boer/nubian.

That makes sense. I am sure I probably would get used to it eventually

 

[Latestarter]

I'll do as I've done in the past and dam raise unless the kid(s) gets rejected or can't figure out nursing for some reason, in which case I'll bottle feed. I share the milk from my best milker and may start doing so from a couple of others this next time around... Especially if I have a bottle calf or a couple of wiener piglets to feed. I handle the babies right after they're born and continue to do so every day at least twice a day, so they know me and accept me. My kids on the whole are very friendly and come right up to me for attention.

 

[Baymule]

Will Capitan Crunch and Fruit Loops go through a bottle? Only the best for LS's babies!

 

[Latestarter]

But you're right, I try to give them only the best

 

[Latestarter]

On Monday, Bang was flirting with RJ through the fence. Nothing as obvious as some of my other huzzies, but I got the feeling it was her time. I first had to catch her as she's not an extremely friendly doe, then I put her in with "the boys". She immediately started head butting the weathers and was mounted by RJ. He did the final thrust and fall off thing, and she did the arch the back and stand like that for 15 seconds doing kegels... I left her in there for several hours and I saw him bang her at least 2 other times. I'm assuming she is now bred. That makes three down... 2 to go. Still haven't seen CB or CC over flirting... I did put CB in with him back when I had April in with him and he did mount her but I don't know if he got her then or not... Guess time will tell. CC is a very silent breeder... she's so shy and quiet that I've never seen her in heat and I didn't see her get bred last year. She may have been bred before I separated the boys, but she doesn't appear to be gaining any weight or girth, so again,

 

[Latestarter]

Just glanced out the back window and CC was flirting with RJ through the fence. He was climbing the fence trying to figure out how to mount her and she backed up waving her tail at him... OK, good enough! Put on the slip ons, went and caught her up and brought her over and put her in with the boys. No hesitation whatsoever... RJ was climbing aboard her as she was trying to walk into his domain. He fell off her backside when he was done but I didn't see her arching her back though there was "drippage" coming from the appropriate receptacle... I left her in with him. I'm sure he'll get her at least once between now and dinner when I remove her. So she'll be due about 4/5/2019. One more to go, and right now it seems they are spaced about a week apart, one after the next. Plenty of time for mom/kid bonding.

 

[Baymule]

there's going to be a lot of kids at your farm!

 

[MiniSilkys]

I want to know more about the lute stuff.

 

[Latestarter]

https://www.drugs.com/vet/lutalyse-injection.html

 

[Latestarter]

OK... don't need any bashing thank you. Considered not saying anything but then thought better of it. What is... is. Premise the following with I own Lamanchas which are "seasonal" breeders so I didn't expect the yearlings to have a heat until it was "seasonal" time. I didn't expect heats to show up at 3-4 months of age. By the time I realized it was too late, it was too late. Considered luting them but was worried that it would do more harm than good if they were indeed already a month or more along. I got RJ separated when I saw he was showing interest but again... too late. Lesson learned for future application. All that being said, I'm of the belief that in a wild/natural situation, if a female animal comes into heat, she WILL get bred regardless of anything else including age, size, health, hip width, height, weight, etc, et al. Blackie and all the other yearlings are basically the same size as my smallest adult doe. Now, please join me in welcoming my 2 latest herd additions: Happy New Year!

Blackie had been bagging up for about 3-4 weeks and it was getting quite full over the past several days. She has also been very up & down over the past several days... like laying down next to the food bowl to finish eating, 1/2 way through the meal. This morning, I had to go check on her in the shelter at breakfast as she was the only one not out waiting. I noticed tail head drop, ligs gone, vaginal area distended, loose, leaking clear fluid. After breakfast, as she was hobbling her way back to the shelter, she was talking to her kids. I knew it would be today... part of the reason for buying and putting down new fresh shavings in there.

Babies and mom are doing well. When I found them, they were both mostly cleaned and dry. The silver doeling is bigger than the dark brown/black one. I believe she was born first but no real way to be certain. I've iodined both of their cords, held both and checked them over, praised Blackie for being such a good momma. Made sure teats worked & the weakest of the two (the dark one) got latched on and suckled. I haven't seen or had the silver one suckle yet. I will be back out to visit with them multiple times this evening and will make sure both have suckled before I go to bed tonight. I think Blackie is going to be a really good momma.