Sunday, February 20, 2011

1993 First Breeding Experience



We borrowed a buck, a fat, donut-fed Nubian cross youngster named Bob, for our first breeding.  Bob stayed in the old goat-pen, while Sally and Lyla had the barn and barnyard.  We intended to breed Sally, but felt that at six months old, Lyla was too young.

Bob escaped one day.  I was standing right next to the does as he ran up and mounted Lyla, so I hauled him off -- he couldn't have been on top of her for more than a couple of seconds.  I dutifully recorded the date -- just in case -- but we really couldn't think that this had actually been a "breeding".  ( We had never had a buck at that point and had never seen goats breed before.)  Five months later, Lyla presented us with a single kid.  Sally, who had been bred the next day, produced twins, a lop-eared buck kid and a lovely cream-and-black doeling that we named Celeste.

It never fails to amaze me that farm-raised kids (the human kind, I mean) have unplanned pregnancies.  They must know how easily it happens!!!!

1 comment:

  1. Interesting... but yes I too know it happens that quickly! My does had triplets last time that it happened that way! He mounted and no more than he did, our renter saw him and thew at stick at him which caused him to get down as fast as he had gotten up. But 5 months later, she presented me with three...

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