are you 'loyal' to your goats - or do you change animals?

[cathleenc]

Goats are so dang personable that it's too easy for me to treat them like pets. I KNOW they are livestock - and I also know how dear to my heart they become.

We have a small farm with minimal grazing and it's critical to not have too many grazing animals.

Having said that, my favorite goat, a 7 yr saanen mix, appears to not have been bred this season. She looks humongously pregnant! Huge! Waddles! Actis uncomfortable. She's grown in girth since getting her on Dec 1st by leaps and bounds. She was pretty malnourished and boney when we got her and while she does not look fat she clearly is not malnourished anymore.

We know she ran with the buck starting August 1 - till we got her on Dec 1st. That would make April 30th the last possible kidding date. Other than being hugely swollen, no other signs. No udder, no vulva swelling, nothing. The vet has seen her, a local goat dairy owner checked her out - everyone says she looks pregnant but no other signs.

Okay, so now what do I do? Do I keep her for a year and 'hope' to rebreed her in the fall? I won't have enough milk for my family till next year that way - and that's if she breeds. Do I dump her and get a doe in milk? Do I dump the buck I got for a herd sire and replace him with a third doe?

I was planning on keeping only 2 does and 1 buck. Breeding the does at very different times to try and keep milk for my human kids year around.

The 7 yr old saanen, Jessie, is really and truelly my favorite.

wwyd?

[southerngurl]

I'd probably sell the buck since you only have 2 does.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'd do a blood test to see if she's preggers. Or wait till May 15 or so.

THEN, you can make a decision.

[cathleenc]

Originally Posted by Rose

I'd do a blood test to see if she's preggers. Or wait till May 15 or so.

THEN, you can make a decision.

yeah, I'm not doing anything till after May 3rd or so. There is a 'chance' that the local goat dairy lady is going to retire - and she said something about perhaps placing one of her favorite does with me. Then again, she may not retire.

A local 4h kid is selling some pure nubians in milk today on craigslist and it's so hard to resist.....

[crazygoatgal]

A good piece of advice I got from the place where I bought my buck was...."Buy the best buck you can afford because a buck is HALF your herd". It makes sense and I listened and got myself a nice little boy last summer. So I would invest in a good buck.

[Didgery]

Why can't you have goat "pets?" Our girls are pets with benefits - milk, kids we can sell - but we do love them. One of them is definitely a lifer here, and the others will only be sold to wonderful homes if we get a doe kid that we just can't bear to part with. Seeing as I don't eat meat, I would never send a goat to slaughter or auction, and I would be very discriminating when giving a wether or infertile doe away. Too much can happen to a goat out there in the big world . . .

[mygoat]

Mine are pets and livestock at the same time. I'm loyal to them - in a sense. I do what's best for them AND the herd, AND as livestock. For example, I just butchered my two CAE pos. American Alpine ladies, who were very close to me - but I don't need positives in my herd, couldn't imagine selling them and spreading/putting them irresponsible hands... I'd butcher any that came back pos. for CL, CAE, or Johne's.

If you think you can find a good, responsible, pet home for that old doe, give her to one. But, good luck finding one. IMO, good pet homes for goats are few and far between.

If you're thinking of culling her, butchering her might be in her best interest. That way you can guarantee that she'll never be put into a bad situation. And, she'll give back to you with a bunch of meat. It's difficult to butcher the favorites - But what must be done, must be done.

That being said, I do have 4 mini does that will live out their lives here. Yes, they are breeding stock does, but they'll never be sold or butchered - ever. They've given me so much they deserve living their life out in comfort, even after they retire.

[Starsmom]

If you are only breeding for milk and kids to sell and you aren't super concerned about conformation, then you can always sell you buck each year and get a kid or yearling each year, use them and sell them. Less feed, you get your money you spent on him back and you get kids & milk. Also, new blood each year so no worries of too much inbreeding. Another thing you could do is find someone that has a nice buck that is willing to loan him to you. Alot of people don't like to do that though, since there is a risk of bringing disease into theirs & your herd. We have friends that we know and trust and we loan a buck to them each year to breed their does. They keep him a week or so and then bring him back. These are very good friends and I wouldn't do that for just anyone. You just need to consider all the options and decide what the best thing for you is.

[Freeholder]

I agree with those who said to wait a bit before making a decision about the doe. But, if she doesn't kid, I also agree with the person who suggest putting some meat in the freezer. Like you and most others, I'm pretty fond of my goats, and tend to make pets out of them. However, they MUST pay their way -- we just don't have the income to become a rescue home for goats or anything else. I'm giving my 2-year-old doe a second chance (she was bred for late Jan. kids and didn't kid, but my buck was loaned out, so I couldn't rebreed her until he came home a couple of weeks ago -- she was in heat Monday, so we may have fall milk, and that's a good thing), but if she was much older I might not have. And, the lady who had borrowed my buck has loaned me a milker until my doe kids, so we at least have milk coming in.

My current herd consists of the loaned doe (a reg. Alpine), my reg. Ober buck, a 2-year-old wether (full brother to my doe) -- he's for packing and carting, and my doe. Eventually I will have two does, the buck and the wether. No, it isn't very economical to keep a buck for just two does, however, I don't have another breeder close enough to use their buck on my does, so I have to keep my own buck. He also packs, and will help the wether, his son, pull a cart. So he isn't single purpose (I can justify it better that way, LOL!).

When we first moved here I got some Kinders, because I felt that with our small lot a small breed would suit us best, and they are dual-purpose for meat as well as milk. They have the best milk I've ever tasted, but when I wanted to start packing with goats, they were too small. So, very reluctantly, I've sold all of them, and switched over to the large breed goats again. I'm not into disposable animals, but they have to meet our needs, and not cost us more than they return, one way or another.

Kathleen