I live in the city and have two ND does. Both kidded in June, one had twins (boy/girl) and the other a single buckling. I have sold the boys as pets and am left deciding what to do about the doeling. I am of course in love with her because she was the first goat born here and she is adorable (what baby goat isn't).
Now the city says we can only have two dwarf goats, hence my dilemma. The doe who had the single is a nice goat and she had a beautiful buckling. She has become very bossy since our little herd has grown, and is pretty mean to the other doe.
Ok to the point. Doe with twins is milking 1 lb a day so far (just started milking Tuesday) and the other one is milking 1/2lb (lesson learned to milk earlier with single kids). They are both really really good on the stand seeing as I have never milked and this is their first year (they are both 2 yrs).
The doeling is by Prairie Woods PB Checotah, mom is by Heaven Hollow's buck. I am excited to see how he improves her mom's traits.
Since we can only have two, what are the pros and cons to keeping mother and daughter? I plan on rebreeding the mom to the same buck and would obviously wait to breed her daughter. Eventually I would like my daughter to show 4H (she is only a year) but do not want to get crazy with showing (I was a horse show crazed kid, not doing that again).
I can post pictures if that helps (I know horse conformation, not goats).
Thanks!
Replies
Thanks Glenna. According to the law I can keep her for six months without getting in trouble. Unfortunately I have a terrible neighbor down the street who thinks my backyard is her business and she has called the city numerous times about us. I can petition to get a livestock permit for $100 a year but I honestly don't want to go through the process. I have to put a sign in my front yard stating that I am petitioning for a permit and then have to get signatures and then have a hearing. I know she wouldn't show up at the hearing because she always calls anonymously. Very annoying. I find it interesting that she doesn't call about the neighbor three doors down from her who has a very loud rooster (not allowed in city limits).
I have some time still to figure it out. Just curious as to the pros and cons of keeping mom and daughter together.
Glenna Rose said:
I will tell you what I have done - but don't tell the city! I am limited to three, including dogs. Since I have no dogs, that isn't an issue. Initially, I bought two does, one due at the end of that month. I lucked out and she had a single doeling so I had no decisions to make. (Mom wasn't so lucky with a 4.5 lb. baby to deliver, learned to never hope for a single again!)
The following spring, the survivors included one doeling. I have kept her. As she reached adulthood, I would need to make a decision which I still haven't made. I have a over-size yard and my argument would be that the little one is not yet an adult so doesn't count. (I was on the committee and it was three adults.) A year ago, my girls presented me with two sets of triplet girls! I doubt that it takes a math genius to figure out that gave me a total of ten! Oops. One buyer wanted all three of the first litter so I sold them all since I had that does's girl from the year before - one of them, however, had all the promise of being an outstanding doe and would be only a pet. Next, I had to make a very difficult decision as to who to sell next. I chose to offer my senior doe and two babies as a package, wanting to keep her tiny baby. However, Tiny Baby might never be big enough to breed so common sense said to let her go. What I ultimately did was to give the buyers the choice of which three they wanted which would leave me with mom or one of her daughters. I knew the buyers really wanted Tiny Baby (everyone did!) and both other doelings had promise of being good milkers. That left me with four now. Through a non-settling on one doe and a miscarriage by the other one, there are no babies this year so I am "skating by" with my four, none of which I want to part with. To let any of them go is going to be a really difficult decision.
Our code is part of a complaint-driven system which means if no one complains, it isn't an issue. What I am doing is nothing at this point unless I am contacted. Since all my neighbors love the goats, I don't anticipate there being a problem. I had hoped by now the two bred last year would have shown some indication of what they would be as milkers. Since neither kidded, that leaves me with three does that have not kidded (the two who were supposed to this year and last year's baby).
I cannot tell you to ignore the law, but you might look at it more closely to see exactly how it is worded. It sounds like worst case scenario, they can tell you to re-home one and then you have to make a decision. In my case, the one that would likely be the one to go is the one I wanted most to keep - the first baby born here. However, she is the one that miscarried her first pregnancy after not settling the first year and is now a three-year-old who would be four when she kids *if* she does next spring. She is also overweight which compounds the breeding issue. She is also the most social and the one that I can do anything with. When I milked her the one time after she miscarried, it was very easy and she has the promise of being a good milker . . . but she has to have kids first!
Frankly, I am surprised you are limited to two - most cities that allow them allow three. You might consider working to get them to change it to three using other cities (such as Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, as examples). Because of the nature of goats, a limit of three is better than two since you need two for each other, something that they might not be aware of - so many people are not. They are not like dogs in that they need a buddy of their own species; for them it is not an option.
As to which of the second litter of triplets to keep, I asked my goat person to evaluate them, she chose the two younger ones with the one that the buyers not choosing being her favorite. Truthfully, I have very high hopes for this little girl and plan to have her bred to an outstanding buck, the son of who I wanted my older does bred to (and did one but the doeling in that litter died at ten days old); sadly he died later that summer. The son who has the promise of his dad's abilities and whose sister had already won three blue ribbons during her first freshening spring! I have already sent test results to the breeder so when that little girl comes into heat (and I can catch her!) we shall take the hour drive for her to visit him
I wish you the very, very best luck with the decisions. Hopefully, you will discover that three will be okay.