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.

Terrific Twosomes

For some reason I got to thinking about my old ladies and how I don’t often keep both kids from twins, but two of my oldest goats are twins–Stormy and Litha, born in 2008.

Litha in 2015

They are the first set of two I kept because I just couldn’t decide which one to keep.  Then I had an epiphany and realized I could keep them both if I wanted to.  So I did.

Stormy from 2017

There are only two other sets of twins left in full:  Bonnie and Blaze (b. 2011)

Blaze and Bonnie from 2012

and Sidney and LilyAnn (although they are two of a set of triplets).  Honestly, their brother was the only nice one of the bunch.  Dang sweet boys.

Sidney, Andy and LilyAnn (front) in 2017

Anyhow.  I kept Flower and Bud (b. 2010), and Flower is still here.

Flower and Bud in 2016

Casey is here, but I just lost Cookie earlier in the fall.  They were also two of a set of three.

Casey and Cookie (b. 2011) in May 2019

I still have Coral (2011), but we lost her twin, Clover, last year.

Clover and Coral from 2011

Haley (b. 2011) lost her (triplet) sister Harley last year also.

Haley and Harley in 2012

I kept two sets who are both gone now–Maggie and Marley.

Maggie and Marley (my original “tail count” kids from 2009)

And Pistol and Vinnie.

Dolly with Pistol and Vinnie in 2010

I sometimes can’t believe how long I’ve been raising goats now.  They certainly do have a way of stealing your heart.

Merry Christmas

Some ghosts of Christmas past and one of Christmas present.

Millie

Marley

MJ

Bob

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.