This and That...

It is the second round of breeding season here. We bred 6 does for Feb and another 10 for March. Today Sports Kat was sold so we will be searching for a new buck to cover the rest of our herd. Maybe we will find him at the Cream of the Crop sale - we will be heading that direction this weekend....

We are trying out a new electric mat that they use for cattle and other livestock. So far so good.

Bringing the goats down to check them out and to continue training the spanish to come when we have a corn sack.

Some of the spanish doelings that have figured it out...

Spanish Goats Update

I got an e-mail from a friend the other day asking how our Spanish goats were working out. My reply, "After keeping them up for a month and feeding them every few days, to gentle them. We turned them out on the 350 acres and we normally only see 15 - 20 of the 52 we purchased." Yes, this is true. They are scattered all over the ranch. Have any died? I don't know - they are usually in groups of 2 - 10. The smaller groups are like deer, you better look quick or you might miss seeing them. Their black color does not help in finding them.

We did have goat hunt a week after we turned them out - we sent out 3 of our employees and Barry to hike around the property. We think we got a count of 40. The other evening one of our employees said he counted approx. w/ the Kiko herd - YEAH!

So they are here -just where is the question. :) To revisit the question, "How are the Spanish goats working out?" Anyway they want to work out is how they are working...

Watching me from a distance - there were about 7 in this group.

With the springs and creeks and all the forage there is no need for them to come out into the open.

Stay Away From Our Goats!

If you are a coyote this is what happens to you if you are roaming around in the middle of the day.

A place to work goats...

As you know it is about impossible to keep a goat in if your fence is not 100% up to par. It might keep them in for a while but after a day or so - they will find a way to get out, if there is a way.

We have come to a point where we have too many goats to catch in the smaller pen at the end of our arena. So it was tie to totally goat proof or as my husband Barry would say, make the arena goat resistant.

Deciding how to goat proof the gate on the corners.

Succor rod was welding around the bottom in places that were easy for goats to go under.

Barry cutting the end off of a rod.

Glen working on a panel that we will put up against the gates to cover the bottoms.

Spanish Quest...

Some of you, I know, are asking, "Why more goats?" and "Why go all that way to Texas?" and we say, "Why not?".

This week we closed so we could take the Annual employee lake trip and work on projects, like fence that the ice storm destroyed in Feb. Then Barry mentioned how he really wants MORE goats to eat MORE brush at the ranch. I guess my Kiko breeding up program is going too slow for him. :) We talked about it and had several ideas and then he mentioned how he really liked the black Spanish goat. So without much hesitation I got on the old computer and did some searching and found an ad in the Livestock Weekly for 100 spanish doelings... so a call was made and we were on our way several days later to West Texas. (I like to call it South TX because it is South of me but tech. it is West.)

Can you see the excitement on our faces!

Really we were having fun - I promise.

Koy Ranch, Eldorado Texas

Koy Adcock's mother started raising Spanish goats in 1991. She believed it to be the best way to clear her ranch of brush. Her mother really liked the black spanish goat. Koy said that her mother would sell a goat if it had just one white hair (and of course she culled for the other obvious things). After her passing Koy inherited the ranch and goat herd. She sticks to her mother's breeding program by using only black bucks on her black does. She says occasionally a doe will throw a kid with brown legs or a white spot. She doesn't keep many of them like that but if they are good goats they get to stay, at least for a while.

Koy did tell us this is the first time that doe kids have been sold for breeding stock out of this herd since it was started.

Koy, Marie & Tino (and their daughter).

Back in Arkansas on I-40

Time to unload.

Our goats checking out the new girls in town.

All the girls exploring their new surroundings.

They will spend a couple of days in this holding pen so they can settle in and not try to head back to Texas. We wouldn't want that!

Thank you Koy for offering these quality does!

Thank you Tino and family for your help and hard work - I need you guys to come help with my goats. :)

If you are looking for some good black spanish genetics Koy has more for sale. She can be reached at 325 -853-2272

Welcome to our new blog!

Welcome to the HCR Goat Blog! This will be a place I will share little events that might be going on with our goats and the ranch, photos and of course kidding season.... enjoy!