Are You Kidding Me?!

Yes, a pun was intended, probably the puniest I could think of.  Anyway, many thoughts of what the title of this blog should be, "How Not To Be A Goat Rancher" "Goats Gone Wild" "March Kidding in January" "Not So Perfect Kidding Storm" "Just When You Think You Have Your Goat Program Figured Out."

It all started on January 26, 2012...well, maybe a little bit before that... lets back up a little.  Before we headed out to the Dude Ranchers Convention in Cody, Wy we saw a few does that had bags that seemed more developed then they should have been for when their kidding dates were.  Occasionally the bucklings from that year will get one or two does bred, it's happened before, so we got them up and put them in a kidding pasture and didn't think much more about it.

We returned from Wy to find that none of the does we caught had kidded out but still looked "early".  No worries, no big deal right?  Then 1/26/12 rolled around.  We had some hikers come to the office at the ranch and say they saw a brand new baby goat and its mom waaaay up by the "goat cave".  Okay, we missed one... Barry and I head up that direction in the truck and sure enough there is a first time mother black purebred Kiko doe with a little black buckling.  Catching a goat out in the open on our 350 acres is a bit tricky at times. It takes the other goats and some corn to cause confusion in the new mother and over crowding so you can grab a leg or a horn.  It's not the easiest task but it works.

I grab my little bucket of corn (doesn't take much corn, especially in the winter) and start calling the goats down from the hillside.  They can't see me but are calling back so I decide I better hike up the hill so they don't head down to the arena/catch area.  When I hike up part of the way, to my surprise there is another first time mother, purebred Kiko doe and her buckling kid.   We catch the two new mom's and tie one of them in the back of the truck, put a baby in the bucket and one in the cab of the truck.  With Barry sitting on the tool box holding the second mom's horns to contain her, we head down to the kidding pasture at the ranch.

 We decided after that we should get the goats up again and look at bags one more time.  This is not a full proof way to see if a goat is close to kidding time but it helps.  Some does don't really show a bag until they kid... those are the sneaky ones.  

As I pulled goats out of the herd to put in kidding pastures I started to get a panicked feeling.  I kept finding goat after goat that was going to kid... it seemed more than 1/2 the herd was separated out.  What gave me the panicked feeling was the fact it is winter.  I sometimes will breed 5 - 10 registered goats for possible breeding bucks for people to purchase, I can handle that if the weather goes bad but more than 1/2 of our herd?!  YIKES!  Fortunately we have been blessed with very mild weather this year.  

The other part that kind of was bothersome... all that planned breeding.  We have three new bucks and we will have very few kids from them.  At this point all I can do is learn and laugh from this experience.
 

So what have I learned?
1.  Get those bucklings up no later than 3 months on the date.  We castrated all but six bucklings and those six bucklings had a lot of fun.  The bucklings were born April and May... I have never experienced such aggressive young bucklings.  I have never had young Spanish bucklings before and I have never had those bloodlines of young Kiko bucks, who I noticed their sires were very aggressive breeders (extra).

2. Just because it is HOT, like 108 degrees, does not mean that does will not come into heat and young bucklings won't breed.

3. Nursing does in HOT weather, young and old, do and will get pregnant.

Today is February 7, 2012 and we have 105 kids born with 4 that did not make it and one bottle kid.  The positive side to all of this is that we will have some really nice commercial doelings to offer for sale this year that will be ready to breed for spring kids for next year.  AND the weather couldn't have been better!

Live and learn, live and learn! 

Out and About

The last few days the weather has been spring like.  Not to go outside and enjoy it would be silly on my part, so today one of my activities was following around the goats and taking photos.  I think they got tired of me showing up everywhere they went.

Winter alway has the goats on the move looking for food.  They always start with the hay we roll out for the them and the horses.

100% NZ line-bred Blue Son Doe - Bred to a Generator son for Feb. kidding.

Spanish doe

This is one of my favorite goats.  She a 3/4 Kiko doe from our breed-up program.   She does a great job of raising good kids. 

Purebred Blue's Son Doe bred to the Generator buck for a Feb. kidding.

Purebred daughter of Super Sport looking extra pregnant.  She is not due until March.  

THE END

Searching for Mr. Right...

Four years ago we decided we wanted to raise registered AKC Anatolian Shepherds.  Back when we started with the brush goats, a big group of wethers, we had a Pyrenees who was "adopted" by a neighbor (that is along and interesting story - not the time nor the place to explain).  Who was then replaced, after his "adoption", by Rabies, an Anatolian cross (looked all Anatolian).   We really liked that he had short hair and stayed cool in the summer not to mention his great athletic ability and the no questions asked when it came to taking care of business. Later after Rabies passed and we re-started our goat venture (another story) we purchased a pair of unregistered Anatolians, Jo and Mischief, from a couple out of TX.

Hondo - 21 month old raised with goats.  Tall and well muscled

As our goat herd grew we knew we were going to have to find another dog (or two) to add.  That is when we decided we wanted to raise this wonderful breed.  Much searching went on to find the right female.  To my surprise a lot of Anatolian breeders 1. do not raise them as LGD and 2. Are extremely picky about whom their dogs go to.  I understand being picky, they are a different type of breed and are not for everyone, but occasionally it felt more political... the contracts that came with the dog seemed more detailed than adopting a child.  I won't go any further into that...

We found Ookii (pronounced Okie and means Big in Japanese) at Dream Catcher Farms in TX - she was raised with goats and children, which makes for a good fit for our ranch.  Did I mention our dogs have to be very tolerant of strangers, this is not an easy fit sometimes - again another story.

We decided to wait on the male thinking we might breed to an outside dog.  This also allowed Ookii to turn 2 for her OFA certification which came out as good.  During that two years we purchased a male that didn't work out and ended up with another female as a replacement.  Horizon Farms Amazing Grace.  She is a beautiful dog.

Jasper - 11 months old, raised with bottle kids and does and kids (bonus points there)

So now we have two registered females and no "Mr. Right".  If we were going to do this, the time is now. Ookii is now 4 and Gracie 1(she won't be bred until she is two and her OFA test done).

I have three dogs I am considering right now... it is hard to choose, they are all different and very nice in their own right.  There are so many different "types" of Anatolians if you have not noticed.  Some have more of a Mastiff type body, others are long and lean and then you have the inbetweens.

Gideon - 21 months old - raised with goats very stout.

Now we are just deciding on who we like the best and we have to  factor in who will work the best in our situation.  The dog needs to be aloof to strangers but not eat them because even though you tell the people running around our ranch DO NOT PET OR FEED THE BIG GOAT DOGS they will.  

Keep checking back to see who Mr. Right will be!  

Organizing the 2011 Doelings

Most breeders probably all ready put their does up for sale and have been sold out for over a month.  Me, nope.  I drug my feet thinking I didn't have that many (read post before this) to sell.  With the culling of quite a few older does I figured I was keeping most of them.  After getting everything up, separating the doelings and taking the wethers off to market I realized I had a lot more than I thought.  Also after the drought this summer and talking with my husband we decided there was no need for keeping an extra amount either.  

___________________________________________

These are the two NZ Bucks I used last breeding season.

Black Buck: DAR Kareem O Wheat

Red Spotted Buck: DAR Diamond Trout

All of our registered stock this year will have to be DNA tested regardless of the %.  We turned both bucks in at the same time with the does due to not having enough pens. 

___________________________________________

So yesterday I had the task of "organizing" the doelings into groups. 

1. Replacements: Who and how many.

2. Who to sell: A. Who to sell as registered stock.

                        B. Who to sell as commercial.

                        C. Who will go straight to market.

1/2 Kiko doeling that we will be retaining.

Sire: NZ Kiko Dam: PB Spanish - she is one of my favorites to look at. 

She did not get her spots from the 

Spanish side believe it or not.  I am pretty sure he sire is

DAR Diamond Trout. 

The DNA test will let me know if I am right. 

Purebred Doeling we will be retaining.

Another Purebred doeling we will be retaining.

FOR SALE

This is just a few of the ones we have offered for sale

FOR SALE: 7/8 AKGA Doeling (papers pending)

She comes from a line of dams that have made excellent mothers. 

$350

FOR SALE: 3/4 PB Doeling (papers pending)

$300

______________________________________________

Purebred Spanish Doelings

Below are 2 of the 6 Spanish doelings we are offering for sale. All of them are black.  

Priced $200 each or $175 if you take them all.

_____________________________________________________

Commercial Does

We have about 11 commercial (non-registered) doelings for sale. 

$200 each or $175 for 5 or more. 

Sire: Spanish  Dam: PB Kiko

Purebred Doeling who is a triplet.

High % Kiko Doeling 

So if you haven't all ready purchased you doelings this season, give us a call!

870-715-2891 or e-mail at kiko@gohcr.com

A New Spanish Buck

We are excited to announce our purchase of a new Spanish buck.  A 2011 Buckling that is out of a Kensing bred doe and by a Weinheimer bred buck.  We put him in with 15 Koy Ranch bred does on Oct 21.  Barry likes his build and his type but is not excited about him not being black.  If the kids turn out like I think they will, I don't think he will mind. 

We have not come up with a name for him yet. 

In with some Koy Ranch Does.

How many doelings?

2011 Spanish Doeling

I take records, I write down birth weights and who was born when. I even tag everything when the kids are born... the trick I have found is looking BACK at your records and actually reading them.   This kidding season it felt like for every doe kid that  was born three buck kids were born next.  I kept thinking how we were going to have to keep every doe to replace older does I was getting rid of this year, plus the usual number of culls.  So I didn't look at the doe kids or count them as time went on... WELL, we pulled all of the doelings off the 350 acres to avoid them getting bred.  I don't like breeding does in the year they are born. 

The pen we put the doelings in.  Lots of food, although, not for long since there are so many of them.

As we were working the goats and separating the 2011 doelings my husband asked "How many of these do you have?"  My reply, "I had mostly bucks, there shouldn't be too many."  Then he asked "How many of these are you keeping?"  "Well, most of them because we got rid of so many does this year."  As the work went on the doeling number got bigger.  The pen we were putting them in was getting more and more crowded, to the point we had to use a different pen.

Some of the 2011 doelings

When all was done we counted the little girls and I had fifty two.  Hmmmm, fifty two?  I was thinking I had around 30 with some that would end up at the market.  Moral to the story:  It is important to read and use your records not just make them.

Crazy colored Kiko/Spanish doeling

What now?  Now I need to go through the doelings and figure out who I am keeping, who is worthy of being sold as breeding stock prospects and who is going to market.  

Purebred Doeling

Goat this and thats...

Mid Spring

I would say summer is now upon us.  The cool rainy days have stopped and the heat has arrived.  I think it was a bit rude of Mother Nature to go from one extreme to the other, but she does what she does and we have no say in it. :)

With all the rain we had some of the goats were very "challenged" while others took it in stride.  When extreme weather comes it lets you know who your real tough girls/guys are and who needs to go.  So some have been added to the culling list.

End of May

During this time of the year there is a lot more thinking about the goat program than doing.  The kids are starting to show more of what they have potential to be and the does are out just doing their job.  A lot are starting to put weight back on due to all of the summer forage (which is nice to see).  A few things I have thought about while watching the goats be goats:

1. I really need to update my website, and do it on a regular basis.  I usually am more involved with it but this year I have been very ho-hum about it.

2. I need to get back in the Goat Rancher.  Another, sigh, I didn't renew my breeder listing.  That is something that is important if I am going to sell any kind of breeding stock, duh!  AND I need to do a 1/4 page ad or something.

3. Breeding plans. I have decided I need to stager breeding better.  Breed the top does to kid out earlier and the first timers and commercials later when the weather is pretty okay (unless we get more rain and mud like this year, then it really does not matter). 

4. When should I go look for another Spanish buck?  We purchased two last year. One ready to go and the other was quite young and we only gave him a few does.  So I am thinking the older buck is going to find a new home (think he has found it), breed all the Spanish to the younger and then look for a buck for the year 2012 breeding season... my thoughts thus far.  

Spanish bucklings: always on the look out.

So as the summer goes on I will sit and think some more and come up with more plans for the future.  Before we know it, it will be time to gather up kids and take them off to market.  

Can't afford to wean these guys late or else I will have some unauthorized kids being born.