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.

Xerxes’ Kids

I know I’ve said before that I never know what size of kid I’m going to get from Xerxes. He is a pretty big buck.

Xerxes Osboer

His dad was a big buck.

Fionn

However, his mom was quite small and fine in her build.

Coffee with Mocha and Java (2012)

I kept him because I thought I’d be more likely to get small kids from him with his mom being sooo small.  But I never know what I’m going to get from him.

Butterscotch and Scooter (from Reva and Xerxes)

This might illustrate the extremes.  Onyx was born last March; Purl was born last June.  They are both Xerxes girls.

Onyx and Purl

They both have big moms.

Hilda (Purl’s maa) and Victoria (Onyx’s maa)

They are the only two girls I kept from Xerxes last year.  Honestly, Onyx is the smallest and Purl is the largest of the girls I kept last year.

2TC (my oopsie girl who came from Tootles); behind her is Joy, another small Xerxes girl.

In the photo below, Coral (10 1/2 years old) is in front; three yearlings are in the middle (2TC, Popcorn, and Purl) and two-year-old Venus and Penelope are in the back.  Purl is a big girl.

I seriously never know what I’m going to get from him.

The Osboers

I had someone ask me about my Osboer goats, and it made me realize that I haven’t talked about last names in a long time.  My first buck was a three-quarters Boer goat who came with the name Ozzy.  He was named after Ozzy Osbourne, and I changed that to reflect his breed.  He became Ozzy Osboer.

Ozzy Osboer

All of his kids had that last name, and after I sold him, I kept one of his kids, Goliath.

Goliath Osboer

I still have one of Goliath’s kids–Flower.

Flower Osboer

I still have tons of Osboer goats though because I will always have a buck.  After Goliath was Marley.

Marley

The only kid of his left on the farm is Myson.

Myson Osboer

Marley’s boy, Fionn, has given me more kids than any other buck.  Before I lost him, he gave me 229 kids.

Fionn Osboer

In the last few years, I kept some of his girls.  There are quite a few of his descendants on the farm, including a couple of oopsie grandbabies.

Bubbles Osboer

I also have two of his bucks.  The first is Xerxes.

Xerxes Osboer

I’ve already kept a few of Xerxes kids too.

The acrobatic Purl Osboer (Myson looking on)

The second is Fionn’s last buck, Freddie.

Freddie Osboer

I’ll keep Freddie for another year, but his little buck, Frodo, will be used to make my perfect kid.  My hope is that this perfect kid will be a buck.  It will be my 7th generation of Osboer bucks.

Frodo Osboer

In addition to my Osboer bucks, I’ve had several other lines.  I’ll share those tomorrow.