Chat
We're gearing up for the next kidding season and I'm tracking the girls' heat cycles. I was worried I'd have to Lute Lilly. The shameless little hussy marched half a mile down to my neighbor's property three weeks ago in search of love and was teasing their bucks through the fence. I guess she's smart enough to know Pac-Man's embraces are impotent, and since all the other boys are related to her she wants nothing to do with them. I was worried that her little escapade might have resulted in an unwanted pregnancy, so I was very relieved when I heard her bellowing this morning. Lilly is normally a pretty quiet goat. On closer inspection she's definitely in heat, so I put Pac-Man in the girls' pen today to keep her company and keep her from beating the other girls. Lilly gets kind of wicked when she's in heat.
I love having Pac-Man around as a heat-o-meter and as someone to keep peace at times like this. He's such a gentle and kind goat. He's dominant among the girls (except sometimes with Nubbin), but he never beats them, bites them, or harasses them. He also helps settle them down so they don't become intent on going through or over fences when they're in heat.
I'm hoping Pac-Man will also tell me if Jezebel comes back in heat. Without him in the pen it might be hard to tell because if she cycles in again it will be this weekend while Lilly is also in heat, and Lilly so overbearing right now that I don't know if Jezebel will show signs as long as they're penned up together. Pac-Man will keep Lilly in line and will probably be affectionate with Jezebel if she cycles this weekend. I'm hoping she doesn't though. She was the one who teased Finn and then Snickers to the point of barging through the electric fence three weeks ago. They each spent a night with her, so if she comes into heat I'll be worried that there's something wrong with her and she might not be able to conceive. There's no reason why both of those bucklings couldn't have got her pregnant. I wasn't really wanting any of my bucks to breed Jezebel. I was kind of hoping to bring in some totally new blood to my herd that's not related to Lilly, but if Jezebel is pregnant I don't think I'll terminate it. Finn is an exceptionally nice buck and Snickers is very nice too, so a breeding by either one would not be a tragedy. If Finn's babies are as nice as he is then I may end up regretting it if he only bred Nubbin. Wouldn't it be funny if Jezebel had a kid from each sire! Snickers is the most "dairy" type goat in my herd (very like his father, Pac-Man). A doeling from him might do very well at shows, especially with the nice udders in Pac-Man's background. So that will be my wish for 2015--Jezebel will have two kids: a buckling from Finn and a doeling from Snickers.
I love having Pac-Man around as a heat-o-meter and as someone to keep peace at times like this. He's such a gentle and kind goat. He's dominant among the girls (except sometimes with Nubbin), but he never beats them, bites them, or harasses them. He also helps settle them down so they don't become intent on going through or over fences when they're in heat.
I'm hoping Pac-Man will also tell me if Jezebel comes back in heat. Without him in the pen it might be hard to tell because if she cycles in again it will be this weekend while Lilly is also in heat, and Lilly so overbearing right now that I don't know if Jezebel will show signs as long as they're penned up together. Pac-Man will keep Lilly in line and will probably be affectionate with Jezebel if she cycles this weekend. I'm hoping she doesn't though. She was the one who teased Finn and then Snickers to the point of barging through the electric fence three weeks ago. They each spent a night with her, so if she comes into heat I'll be worried that there's something wrong with her and she might not be able to conceive. There's no reason why both of those bucklings couldn't have got her pregnant. I wasn't really wanting any of my bucks to breed Jezebel. I was kind of hoping to bring in some totally new blood to my herd that's not related to Lilly, but if Jezebel is pregnant I don't think I'll terminate it. Finn is an exceptionally nice buck and Snickers is very nice too, so a breeding by either one would not be a tragedy. If Finn's babies are as nice as he is then I may end up regretting it if he only bred Nubbin. Wouldn't it be funny if Jezebel had a kid from each sire! Snickers is the most "dairy" type goat in my herd (very like his father, Pac-Man). A doeling from him might do very well at shows, especially with the nice udders in Pac-Man's background. So that will be my wish for 2015--Jezebel will have two kids: a buckling from Finn and a doeling from Snickers.