The Buck Conundrum

I have a problem with bringing bucks to the farm.  They get sick. They die.

Sam

Seriously, I cannot seem to keep them healthy.

Grover Street (had pneumonia; I sold him and he apparently really bulked up)

For the first however many years, I know now it was copper.

Boeris Van de Yell

That’s why I didn’t get a new buck for several years as I tried to figure out the copper.  Then I finally brought Benji to the farm.

Benji

That didn’t work out well. So I don’t know what to do because I still need new blood.  I have two bucks, but they are both Osboer bucks.

Xerxes is a Fionn baby

One option would be to buy a buck and just sell it after the breeding season.  But I’m not sure I like bringing bucks here and selling them because every new goat I bring comes with the possibility of new health risks.

Frodo is a Fionn grandbaby

The other option is to see if I can keep a Benji buck if I have one that is nice looking because the boys who are born here seem to do just fine.  That’s not totally new blood, but the only Benji baby I’ve kept is Ostara, and Sidney or LilyAnn would be a good option for keeping a Benji buck.

Sidney is bred to Benji

I guess we’ll have to just wait and see what happens with the Benji kids before I have to worry about it.

Moving a Couple of Goats

I have given up on Trace. I’ll just consider her a freemartin since I’ve tried really hard to breed her, and she’s still coming into heat and yelling at the boys.

Trace (Zinnia and Penelope to the right)

Zinnia did not come back into heat last week, so I assume she’s bred for June (we’ll see).

Zinnia

That means, I can move them out of the pen and only have two goats to feed up there. That makes it easier for me.

Frodo and Penelope

Unfortunately, when I tried letting them out Saturday morning, the gate was frozen shut.

So I had to wait until I did chores.  I snagged Trace and Zinnia and put them in with the main herd.  That means fighting.  Seriously.

Zinnia, Bubbles and Trace

They drive me crazy.

At one point Trace picked a fight with Hilda (pictured above), which she soon regretted.

Zinnia, Bubbles and Trace were the last ones fighting by the time I got my camera out there.

I’d really like to let Penelope out too.  And take Antigone out of the buck room.

Antigone

Then I could put Xerxes and Frodo together in the buck room.

Frodo

But if we get cold again, or rainy and icky, I’m a little worried that Frodo wouldn’t go inside because he’s afraid of Xerxes.

Xerxes

It might be wise on his part, but they are coming out of rut and should be able to get along by now. Anyhow, I guess I’ll wait a little longer before putting the two boys back together. Besides, I’ve had enough fighting for a while.

Getting Round

It’s hard to believe that spring break is just a little over a month away.  And Easter weekend is only about seven weeks away.  That means, I’m starting to pay attention to who is looking round.

Venus

Purl

2TC

Athena

Flora

Sidney

Daisy

Perdita

Aphrodite

Tansy

Soon, I’ll do some udder checks (much to their annoyance) to try and confirm who is due.