Southern's (Southern By Choice) Journal- FLOODED!

[Southern by choice]

Thank you all!
Had some down time the last few days... well sort of.

Been a bit concerned as we have been waiting for does to go into heat... we hit August but completely missed September.
Buttttttttttttttttt. we hit OCTOBER!

Bred Ruby the Nuby
Bred Star a Lamancha
Bred Zephyr a Lamancha

Ok so our breeding line up which I had all planned out... went right out the window... last second I changed the buck for 2 of the breedings.

On a bizarre note- I know we have all heard of "milk"bucks... not sure how I really feel about it- kind of gross to me but many say they produce better milking does.
One of our bucks has a milkbuck closely related but my daughter informed me Zephyr's (lamancha) Great Granddad actually went on milktest

5-00 305 3261 101
LA 4-5 91 V E E June 2008

His udder is crazy! It is an udder.
Like I said- kinda creepy to me, but a buck that milks 3261 pounds of milk -dang! I cannot imagine milking a buck especially not in rut!

Zephyr is being bred for mini's. We were going to breed to a different buck an F-1 but last second we changed things up. I am glad . It will mean no gopher ears , and only elf ears but thats ok. I don't aim for Ears over everything else. I also will keep a doe if she has one.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Not sure I would want to milk a buck!! But it would be a great conversation starter

 

[OneFineAcre]

Yes that is a bizarre note indeed
Not too sure how I would feel about that either

 

[Southern by choice]

Yeah it's weird... look at his udder! Yes it even sounds funny saying that!

All our Lamanchas have Pure Joy in their line which is his daughter.
Hoping by the time we go on milktest it will show those genetics passed down. LOL

Go to "Thrill"
http://www.luckystarfarm.com/referencebucks1.html

 

[bonbean01]

Okay .... now that is just....wrong!

 

[Latestarter]

X2... wrong just doesn't cover it...

 

[babsbag]

I agree that it is wrong and personally I don't think that it is something that should be encouraged. If a doe had male parts in addition to female she would be considered a freak and certainly not bred, even though it might be useful. I would consider it a genetic abnormality and a fault. To have a little milk, ok, hormones do things; but to be on milk test....next thing you know someone will start breeding specifically for milking bucks.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Creepy, lol!

 

[Southern by choice]

I agree that it is wrong and personally I don't think that it is something that should be encouraged. If a doe had male parts in addition to female she would be considered a freak and certainly not bred, even though it might be useful. I would consider it a genetic abnormality and a fault. To have a little milk, ok, hormones do things; but to be on milk test....next thing you know someone will start breeding specifically for milking bucks.

I don't think they breed for it... but what we are seeing is quite a few of the heavy milklines will have this. I agree... it is creepy... so far no offspring that we have or people we know have had this show up. A few generations removed from it hopefully.

Very "ick" really. LOL

Anyway I wanted to update-
FINALLY got "Lucy" our ND bred today Lil brat is very difficult in showing anything. Quiet, no flagging... she just happened to be laying by the pens that we currently have bucks in. The 2 mature bucks were wooing her LOUDLY. She will be a first timer. VERY excited about what she can do...
We also FINALLY got Cici bred... she was doing the same thing.

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On another note I just want to say how happy I am with my girls!
Ever since we started with goats parasite resistance has been our big focus. It has really been our priority. Some goats we have brought in had a hard time adjusting but we have found after a year they thrive like our homegrown goats do. Only one time on the farm did we have to worm everyone across the board and it didn't matter what their count was. It was when we had the 9 months of rain and our grasses couldn't be mowed so hey stayed wet then add hot humid -

The other thing is how great they are all doing with their lactation. Millie's daughter Trouble (trouble is a mini) has been in milk since January2015 is a first freshener and is still going strong -she is like her momma. No dewormers... we have reduced her to once a day milking but really not sure if she will dry up or not. Doesn't look like it... Trouble is bred for Jan. 22 babies... she just thrives... but getting quite plump for only 2 months bred.

Some of our other does tha were bred for Jan kids I am watching closely. They are already looking large and it is a concern because trips/quads are common in their lines. Trips are fine but quads and quints scare me a little.

Hoping for a doe year. Geesh we need one.

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Ruby is our only Nubian. I love her to pieces! There is no other goat like her. I will probably never have another like her. She is my love love love! When we first got her she was so scared of the dogs. After awhile she LOVED the dogs. They are her "best friends". We think Ruby thinks she is a dog. Seriously.

Was calling one of the dogs over and she always comes with the dogs ALWAYS. It is so funny.

Ruby is 138 lbs and gentle as can be! Here she is with Not Leo pup beside her. See... she really thinks she is a dog. Oh, and you MUST give a hug, and a kiss. Ruby insists on a kiss. You hurt her feelings if you don't.
See what I mean? The "Goat-Dog"

...and now the hug- she actually prefers bear hugs

Waiting for her kiss!

See... always insisting on kisses!

"Lucy" Finally bred today!

Millie- good ole Millie Hardiest goat I have ever seen.

And cuz he is my baby! Chunk aka Wilson. Do his "Uncle D's" bunny puppy. Winter coat growing back in... 18 months and my boy.

Well that is all for now.
I have been enjoying being able to be on here lately... not sure how long it will last but I do miss it.

 

[Southern by choice]

@Calendula
these are for you-
these are pics of different Nigies NONE get feed while pregnant. Hay only (forage of course too). All goats vary in how they show but this should give you an idea of what they can look like a month or less before kidding. Fat goats have complications, are more prone to having a hard time conceiving as well. If your vet thinks they are fine don't pack the pounds on. Some vets will NOT tell a person if their goats are FAT! Nicer way is saying they are a "bit over-conditioned" or sometimes "a little fleshy". One of our vets tells us some of our goats are FAT. I tell my vet well nothing I can do... they get no grain/feed just hay and forage. BTW- none are fat

For us I really think they maintain on hay alone is because we do not have parasite issues. New goats that are mature seem to need food as it takes them a year to adjust to forage etc.

this doe was 3 months into gestation... she had 2 more to go. look how big she is... no grain/feed. she ended up with triplets. this doe was a 3rd freshener... she will get super fat on feed... we even have to limit feed when in milk as she will just get super fat.

This doe was a First freshener... this is 2 weeks before she kidded.
She had Quads. Two 1lb 10 oz kids and Two 3lb 3oz kids. No grain.

This is a 2nd freshener... this is her in labor. Not a great pic but you can see she isn't a beachball. She was "dropped" by this time. She had twins. They were LARGE for Nigies. A whopping 5.0 lbs each. Big Babies... when you look at the kids you will see their eyes are a bit odd- them the pressure and pushing to get their big noggins through... took a few days for those eyes to look right. NO grain- HAY only and they were that big. No way she should have grain during gestation if the kids got any bigger she wouldn't be able to pass them Fortunately she wasn't a first timer. Her first kid was a single and the kid was big. Always makes me nervous.

Here is how we pull... we use our guardians to help. They are very fast at cleaning and drying kids off. The kids immediately bond to the dogs. They think it's "mommy". We help too!
These guardians (pyrs) are under 1 year old. They are awesome!
The mature Anatolian came over too.