Quiet Day

Today was a quiet day, nice for a Sunday.  The new buck (Duke of Renfro, the LaMancha) was busy sorting out his surroundings. The herd seems to have coalesced overnight, happy to have a buck among them.  Apparently, a lot of the niggling and picking that was going on was due to the does being in season.  Now they have other things to think about!

We are still waiting for kids from the Nigerian Dwarf does -- they could be due anytime.  Their breeding date was unknown, so we've been expecting the babies for at least 6 weeks.  What that really means is that both of the little goats are probably expecting multiples.  Their mother had 4 her first season, 5 the second, 6 the third, 2 the fourth, and 1 last year.  So right now we are anticipating anywhere between 3 and 6 for each of the two girls.  The Nubian doe, Ginger,  may have been pregnant when we got her as well, so she may be expecting within the next 3 to 4 weeks, as the buck is paying her quite a bit of attention. That means she is either near kidding or is not currently pregnant.

Bodacious Bev proved today that she can clear a 4 foot fence with ease, especially if it stands between her and food.  As an unbred doe not in milk, she would normally eat with the buck and the other big girls that are neither milking nor pregnant.  She wanted to eat with the little girls and pregnant mamas today.  The girls in milk get fed on the milking stand, private dining.  She is gorgeous, an Oberhasli/LaMancha cross.  Her babies will be registerable as grade does once she settles (gets and stays pregnant).

Tomorrow or the next day will be Adventures in Buck Washing.  Poor Duke has sprayed himself so much he is quite sticky and nasty, but still wants to be everyone's friend -- so it's bath time for him!  I have no doubt he will be able to scent up again quickly enough to interest the does.  He is quite calm and sweet, just over a year old.  He appears to be white, but under his hair he has numerous spots on his skin, which indicates that he's truly a spotted buck, it's just that his hair color variations are so slight you cannot see them on his grown out hair.  That's good because we want him to throw a spotted baby with AmandaPanda.

We have a nice color spectrum right now -- from silver gray to dark brown, including light and dark chamoise (like deer color) and black and white spotted.  We should have an interesting color group of babies the end of March.

I am glad to finally have the basic herd settled.  My goal is to have a squad of milkers to provide me with milking therapy (!) and milk for cheese, butter, and yogurt.  And to supplement Griffin's Ark with milk for their needs.  Having all the does bred over just a couple of weeks means that when we have dry does, they'll be dry about the same time, which is poor planning in the long run.  We try to dry them up for 2 months before they kid.  On the other hand, Keelee, the Toggenburg, should be in milk then, and Gracie, the LaMancha/Saanen cross is due the end of January so she should also be in milk through that period.  If their performance picks up a little from this year, that will give us a gallon a day even during our "dry" period.

It's time to make butter now!  Tomorrow maybe we'll try cheese.