In theory, Nubian goats are seasonal breeders. The bucks go in rut and the does start cycling in August. They will continue until about January. So at this point I have no idea is P cycled while in with Nephi or not. If she did, then we will have a big surprise in July! Why did I say in theory? Well, occasionally Nubians will cycle later or earlier and the males will go into rut or stay in rut later. My vet swears that they ONLY cycle breed from August to January. I have friends that occasionally have kids in September or November. People cannot start to know or predict the secrets of God and I think it is interesting that we keep trying!
So, with no kids due this year and one doe down, it was prefect time to increase our herd. We had planned to keep one buck as companion for Nephi and we needed one doe to replace Lilly. We drove 6 hours to a breeder that has good bloodlines and sometimes cheap prices. It was a long and uncomfortable drive with my neck still in the healing process.
When we got to her place, she first showed me a little doe, that in her opinion, had some issues. She is the youngest of 4, has ear control and a mild under bite. Being the 4th of 4, she is very small. She is a month old when we see her and she is the size of a newborn. Ear control is not considered a 'fault' during showing but many people do not want a Nubian that can move her ears. If that wasn't enough, she also has a mild under bite (think of a bulldog but she isn't that bad and her teeth don't show). Her degree of under bite is also not an official fault but many people would not buy this girl based on those two things. So the chances of this girl getting a good home are almost as small as she is. I asked her price and was surprised that she wouldn't find a home since she was almost free. Here is my catch, she has fantastic bloodlines! Did I say fantastic? I meant amazingly fantastic! Her issues are genetic but as long as she is not directly bred to another Saada buck, she won't pass those traits on to her kids. If her faults were more severe, it would be a gamble, but with this girl, it isn't a gamble. Especially with my ace in the hole; Nephi! She is the idea doe to breed to Nephi whose bloodlines have strong facial structures. We got her; meet Summer's Pearl Moon, or Pearl for short.
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| How can you not love that face?! As she grows, her ears will lay flat and her bite will even out quite a bit. |
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| She jumped up on the chair to look out the window with ease. This girl is going to be a handful! |
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| Chewing on my rug |
After taking Pearl, we moved on to see the other does that we had originally come to see. There were 7 doelings in 3 different barns. We immediately discarded any from barn 1 since they were too closely related to Nephi. We picked one from barn 2 and took her to barn 3 for comparison. It was funny because as we talked I got the distinct impression that this lady did not want to let me buy to girl we picked from barn 2. When I strait out asked her what was going on she said that she quoted me a price before she realized what a good milker the Mom would be and now that she knows, she can get twice the price. This little doe has 1 sister, so the money take from selling these two would be quite high (almost as much as what we paid for R's Bella!). I told her that we wanted that doeling and asked if she wanted me to pay the higher price. She said no, she quoted me a price and would stand by that price (the only honorable thing this woman has ever done and since she increased the quoted price when I bought Nephi, we are now even!). So, we have Prairie's Dawn Light.
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| Dawn is on the left near the door. She was dam raised for the first 3 weeks so she is a bit skittish. We are working hard on her friendliness. |
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| She is very curious and extremely loud! She has great bone structure and we are very happy to have gotten her for the original price! I love the markings on her face, R says she has black racing stripes. |
Our final adventure was finding a buck friend for Nephi. We wanted one with a different set of bloodlines so we would have more choices and combinations for breeding and we would be able to offer a wider variety of lines to people in our area that want to breed. There were only 2 barns with bucks. We went from barn 1 to barn 2 and had an idea that we wanted a buck in barn 1. As we were talking in barn 2 a little goat ran up and started chewing on my pant leg. I pushed it away and we continued to talk. We started walking back to barn 1 when this little goat showed back up and started chewing on my pants again. I pushed it away and started walking faster. I almost made it to the corner of barn 1 when the little goat shows back up and stands on my boot. I started walking and it balanced on my boot and would not get off! I pushed it off with my foot and we walked the rest of the way into barn 1 so we could look at the little black buck. He would make such a great addition to our herd. Nephi is light brown and a black buck would even us out! Perfect. Then the little goat jumped on my boot again. So I asked, whats the deal with this one? It is beautiful! She said 'Oh, he is for sale also. He is the last of 3 and is quite a bit smaller than the others.' He? He?! He! He was dark chocolate brown with black trimming and a small white spot on his head. Oh, she says he is out of a blue roan doe who is out of a blue roan buck so he will probably throw some blue roans. Blue roan like my sweet Lilly goat! Sold! Meet Helaman, our last addition to our small herd.
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| Nice wide chest on this boy and he is only 2 weeks old. |
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| He is such a nice color and is very friendly. |
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| Heleman is the first one to greet me and even though he is the smallest, he eats the most! Isn't he a doll?! |
All in all our trip was a success. I am glad that we took Pearl. Her future was uncertain and I am sure the sale barn would have been her final destination. She will blend well into our program. Dawn is a gem and has great lines and a nice broad chest. Helaman has the best look of any buck I have seen. I think he looks better than Nephi did at that age. We are excited to see how they all grow and mature. We have a herd of 6; Lacey, Nephi, P, Pearl, Dawn and Helaman. This year will be interesting!
We will breed Lacey and P to Nephi in fall. That will allow the kids a year to mature. I am excited to see what kind of babies they throw but I also want them to get big and strong first. Having 4 does will let us breed two each year and give the others a year off.
I have people lined up this year for kids but we don't have kids to sell! I hope they will wait until next year, but if not... That is the plan Heavenly Father has!
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