Bummed about Skittles

Blue Run Farm · #1 01/14/13, 11:07 AM

So I had the vet out on Friday, because I was more and more convinced that Skittles was not pregnant. I really was hoping to be wrong. I was right, no babies

Skittles is the doe that had a tiny bit of pink/streaky discharge a while back and I posted when I was worried she was miscarrying. She never did have any more, no real red blood. But now no babies either. She is two years old and this is her second year of not having kids for me. Her first year, I could not catch her in season to take her to a buck. We had a problem with cocci that year and she was a May baby, so I thought she might need another year to grow and didn't push to get her bred. This year I turned her out with a very cooperative buckling. He definitely covered her at least once (that I saw).

So now I don't know if that tiny discharge was a miscarriage (would have to be really early, so he would have to have caught her a good bit later than the breeding I saw). Or something else and she never took at all, meaning she could just be plain old infertile or he just didn't "get the job done" because he was young

What would cause a doe that is not preggo to have bloody discharge?

I think it is too late to try again for this year, isn't it? I don't have a buck anymore and I really can't keep her for another year to try again when I feel like I will fail. We can't afford to keep animals that are non-productive as pets. But I can't stand to think about putting her in the freezer. We butcher the bucklings, but I have had her for two years now, with a name. It is different. Ugh!

Anyone want a cute doe for a pet/companion? I'd give her away free to a HT member. I guess I could try to place her as a companion if I sell any doelings this year (which I am hoping to do). I can't sell her as a breeding animal, knowing that she may be unable to conceive, but maybe someone else will be able to get her bred if they try. Of course, she was the first bred and supposed to get me back into milk while I wait for the other two to kid. Now I have to keep buying milk through the end of March!

The good news is, both of the other girls we bred this year took. So we have babies due March 13 and 30. Skittles' younger full sister, Cookie, is the one due March 30. Cookie is a year younger, but we also had no cocci troubles this year, after switching to BayCox for our preventative. Cookie is also polled, so I am really hoping for some polled doelings from her (so she'll give me one giant horned buckling, lol). March is so far away!!!

lasergrl · #2 01/14/13, 03:32 PM

Get a CIDR, pg600 and lute and try again in a month. Thats what I would do before moving her along.
There are so many things that can cause miscarriage that may be fine next season, like toxo ect.

Sherry in Iowa · #3 01/14/13, 03:57 PM

Sorry it didn't work out. She'd be a great companion pet!

Backfourty,MI. · #4 01/14/13, 05:51 PM

I agree with Lasergirl. I wouldn't give up on her yet. Lute & try again. Depending on the goats the 2 young one's I decided to hold off another year to breed are still coming in heat every month. One of them just started again today. I don't think it's too late yet .

Minelson · #5 01/14/13, 07:24 PM

Cookie will have 2 darling doelings!! And Skittles needs more time.

GoatJunkie · #6 01/14/13, 10:34 PM

There seem to be a number of variables that indicate more than a sterile doe. I'd give her a few more chances.... You seem attached to her. I think you'd be bummed to get rid of her and them hear about her kidding elsewhere....

Blue Run Farm · #7 01/15/13, 09:58 AM

Thanks guys! I can't do the CIDRs here, too expensive for us. We only have 4 does and I have to be really careful about expenses. I am attached to her, in that I really don't want her to be eaten, but I was planning to sell her as a milker once she freshened. We have to stay down to 4 does at a time and I am keeping her full sister who is polled (Skittles is disbudded). I also plan to keep at least one doeling from this year, in order to increase my ratio of registered to grade. Skittles is grade and her conformation isn't as nice as her sister Cookie's.

I might be able to borrow a buck from my neighbor if she has any that are still in rut (maybe a Nubian) and give it one more try. If I could find her a great pet home, that would really be the way to go I think. But I just worry so much about the possibility of a pet goat becoming a neglected goat, you know? And I don't want that for her, she deserves better (they all do) and I feel responsible to make sure that doesn't happen. I had hoped that by breeding her and selling her as a first freshener, she would go as a milk goat instead of a pet. In my experience, I find that people who are milking their goats are more likely to be educated and take better care of them than someone who just thinks it is "cool" to have a pet goat or wants something to eat weeds.

Blue Run Farm · #8 01/15/13, 10:02 AM

Rereading my above post, I think that is the reason I am not a "good" farmer. I am too emotional about my animals, lol. If I was purely logical, I would take her to the auction, get a little cash, and walk away. But I can't do that, I feel that by bringing her into the world I have a responsibility to do my best to make sure she is taken care of. Even the bucklings that we eat have a better life than most pet goats around here, and when the time comes, their end is instant. I feel better about eating them than the meat at the supermarket that comes from animals that did not have such a happy life, ya know?

punchiepal · #9 01/15/13, 03:20 PM

We went through this type of thing this year. Two does that just didn't measure up on the milking sheets. Yeah, we could have taken them to auction for quick cash but those places make me cringe. Could have tried to sell them as they were registered and someone might buy them but that, to me, that isn't ethical. What it came down to for us is that just like every buck should not remain a buck for breeding, not every doe should be bred for kids. It wasn't an easy decision but I still feel it was the right one.

Blue Run Farm · #10 01/15/13, 04:03 PM

Punchiepal, that's exactly it! I really like this doe as an individual, but she's not really a valuable animal. I feel like if I can't get her bred (or at least not without a lot of difficulty), then how can I sell her as a breeding/milking animal? That is too dishonest and not in her best interest either (someone buys her, can't get her bred either, and ships her to the auction). But I can't keep her as a non-producer either. And continuing to beat my head against the wall for an animal that is not proven as a milker seems counterproductive. So I am coming to the sad conclusion that maybe she is just not meant to be a breeding animal. It shouldn't be this difficult and if it is, maybe someone is trying to tell me something. It just sucks! Part of me wants to give it one more try, but part of me is saying get out now before I get even more attached. I guess time will tell. Maybe the perfect home will fall into my lap and make the decision easier. Yeah, right!

TRAILRIDER · #11 01/15/13, 04:04 PM

Neither of my two does got pregnant last year. I took them to the breeder and left them for a week, they were definately covered and I paid a stud fee. It was very disappointing. The good part is, it gave me a reason to buy another doe in milk!

Flash forward to this year. I still have the same two does, and two more. I also have my own bucks. I held each doe while they were covered so I know they were bred, how many times on what days etc. My alpine x nubian doe who is my best milker looks very pregnant and should be due Feb 3rd. We'll probably have an ice storm!
My togg doe sometimes looks pregnant, but I doubt it : ( She might surprise me though, so we're getting ready. She would be due Jan 22nd. The other two should be due mid - late April. Can only guess on those.

I know how disappointing it can be. Good luck to you, enjoy the babies you do get.

Minelson · #12 01/15/13, 04:21 PM

Maybe Beccachow would be interested. She is in Maryland and would be a great, loving pet home

beccachow · #13 01/15/13, 04:34 PM

Ok, I will PM you.

NOthing but loving pets here.

Minelson · #14 01/15/13, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beccachow

Ok, I will PM you.

NOthing but loving pets here.

Keep us posted!!

beccachow · #15 01/15/13, 04:43 PM

Minelson, you are an enabler.

! I just told DD about the *possiblility* of adding one more sweetie to the herd. She likes the name Skittles.

Minelson · #16 01/15/13, 05:35 PM

Blue run farm...can you please post a picture of Skittles

Blue Run Farm · #17 01/15/13, 05:51 PM

Ack! No pics on this computer, but I will try to get some tomorrow. Beccachow, I would feel so much better if you took her as a pet, I feel like I "know" you from on here and know you'd be a great home. Checking my PMs now!

beccachow · #18 01/16/13, 10:52 AM

So it turns out we live like 40-45 minutes apart; plenty close for visits to her girl.

Otter · #19 01/16/13, 11:10 AM

Looks like I'm late to the party and she has a good home with Beccachow - yay!

But tell me do I have this right? Her first year, you didn't breed her, and then this year she had a month with a buckling and may have miscarried for unknown reasons (a good, hard headbutt from another goat would do it)
I don't know as I'd give up on her as sterile and unbreedable just yet - it sounds to me like she had basically one chance at it. Or am I reading wrong?

Blue Run Farm · #20 01/16/13, 11:48 AM

Otter, yes and no. The first year, I gave it multiple tries and couldn't catch her in season with the buck rag (every day I was out there with that smelly thing for months, lol). Figured she was a slow maturer and needed more time. The second year she was in with the (young) buck for over 2 months. I saw him cover her, so he was doing his part, though it is certainly possible that he was not yet shooting a full load. And she may or may not have miscarried, again I am so uncertain here.

I'm not really giving up on her as sterile and unbreedable per se. I know there is a good chance she may be able to have kids. But she doesn't really fit with my plans going forward and I don't feel comfortable selling her on as a breeding animal when I have so many uncertainties about her fertility. Not that she couldn't be fertile for someone else, but that if she turns out not to be, then I knowingly sold them an animal I had doubts about. And I just don't feel that is ethical. If we were talking about a valuable purebred animal that I really wanted the genetics from, I would certainly keep trying.

I have two other does kidding in March and plans to keep at least one doeling. Since our max is 4, that means I have to get rid of one anyway and Skittles is the one that I had already decided to sell after kidding was over. So to keep her and keep trying when she is going to be sold anyway seems like an awful lot of heartache for an uncertain outcome. I can't afford to keep dumping money into her year after year for little to no return. Much as I would love to, I can't treat them as pets, though in some ways I do anyway. So a great pet home is the perfect solution. Becky wants a pet, not a breeding animal, and knows going in that Skittles *may* not be fertile. That is not an issue since she will be a pet. And I just want to know that even though I can't keep her, she will be taken care of and be happy. Becky can give her an excellent home and make her the pet that I can't afford to keep her as. So it's a win win if it all works out. Fingers crossed!