I want to share with you some of the kids we've had born here this year and tell you a bit about them! They're not in any particular order--just how Blogger uploaded them. The fist one pictured is Nancy, a Boer / Alpine cross doeling out of Dallas and Finbar. Dallas is one of the 3 Boer doe kids I got from Tanya Farris at Bulletcreek Ranch in exchange for one of my first Nubian bucks, Tripoli. Dallas is the most beautiful Boer doe I've laid my eyes on and has an udder that most dairy goat breeders would envy. I love the look of her, but she doesn't love the look of me. She's never liked me. Since I'm not set up to manage Boers like most folks manage Boers I think I will keep her baby and sell her to someone who can manage her more easily. We shall see. Nothing is set in stone just yet.
This buckling (above) and the one below are two of the triplets from Myrtle and Mozart. I repeated the breeding to Mozart because I loved last year's kids so much! I had hoped for does, but got 3 bucks instead. The two here (cou blanc and cou clair) are going to be missionaries! Yes, that's right! There is an orphanage in Mexico that the Jessie Brooks Foundation will be working with. Besides the Gospel, one of the greatest needs the children have there is nutritional. They can't afford milk. However, they have loads of lush vegetation for goats to eat, and missionaries will be taking a herd of dairy goats to be a part of the mission to the orphans. The orphanage manager will keep one of these bucklings as a herdsire for his private herd at his home. The other will be part of the orphanage herd. James 1:27 states that pure and undefiled religion is caring for the orphans and widows. I had no idea that I could minister to orphans with dairy goats! I'm very excited about this! If you have any desire to assist these missionaries, I can get you in contact with them. There are and will be many continuing needs for the establishment of their work in Naranjos De Afuera.
The next buckling (below) is the other of the triplets. I love his color--a pattern known as Sundgau, which is black with white socks and facial markings. He is still here and if I can convince David to let me keep him until breeding season, I will use him! This breeding is over 16% line bred upon some phenomenal animals both in terms of conformation and milk production. Myrtle, the dam, has the richest, creamiest milk I have ever had, and if I can work more of that kind of milk into my herd then all the better! However, if someone wants him, David would prefer that I sell him. I really do have plenty of bucks as it is!
The next photo is of Celeste. My first doeling out of Starling and Handel. She is just a few minutes old in this photo (you can tell her umbilical cord is still wet!). She is such a love! She will be staying here!
This photo is kinda morbid, fair warning. It is the buckling that was born to Starling and Handel--Celeste's brother. That is one of those huge Sam's size Huggies boxes, and he completely fills it up. He was born alive, but had inhaled birth fluids. I worked on him some, and then when Starling needed me, I handed him to my mom to finish working on him. Starling was quite scared being a first time mom and delivering such a large kid. She rolled on her back and screamed and needed help! She still had Celeste inside her, too. My mom offered to take the buck kid and work on him while I helped Starling, but wasn't up to doing what I had showed her to empty his lungs, unfortunately. By the time I got back to him, he was dead. When you have animals, learning to deal with death is just part of the bargain. He was a beautiful little guy, don't you think?!
These three kids are triplet doelings out of Savannah. Savannah is a sister to Dallas, the mother of Nancy, the doeling in the first photo of this post. The kids will be named after my mom and her sisters. Jane has the black head. June has the blonde head. JoAnne is the all black looking kid. She's actually a *really* dark bay/chamoisee like an Oberhasli but you can't tell unless you get right up on her that only her legs and face are solid black and the rest is a dark dark red. Savannah has never liked me a whole lot either, but she is doing better now.
I still have Adelaide, the first Alpine doe born here (a full sibling to the triplet bucklings above) due to kid next month. I just pulled blood on Isabella, the doe that aborted on Christmas day, to send in and find out if she got bred back. If so, she will kid this summer. Marie, my polled Boer/Alpine/Nubian cross doe might be bred, but she just might be fat. I tried pulling blood on her to send in for pregnancy testing and I can't seem to find the Boer veins. So, we may have a surprise in a month and we may not!
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