Well this is the first time that we are selling our Nigerian Dwarf Goat kids. It is so hard to decide who to sale. My goals are to have good milking and breeding quality. However, when it comes down to deciding it's so hard. So what do you do? Plus: the fact that if you keep one doeling, you need to keep two because you can't put them in with the adults. Same goes with the bucklings. So what in the world do you do??? At this point, we have four doelings and three bucklings. Two of the four doelings are non-registered. I realize that they don't sale for much and my son has fell in love with one of them. So I decided to keep her and one of the registered doelings. So that is a set choice.
The next step is this: I have one buck. He is all black with a tiny amount of white on the top of his head. He does have pretty blue eyes. However, I am concerned about inbreeding. Plus: all of the kids are black and white, except one little tan buckling. I question myself about keeping him for breeding in the future with the other goats that are not related. Because he is really cute. If I keep him, then I have to keep another buckling. So what do you do? I have had many people interested in purchasing the little tan buck because he is really cute. However, everybody wants wethers and not for breeding quality. I have looked around to purchase another buck for breeding, but they are hard to find. Especially, one that is not black and white.
There is also the problem that the buck is by himself. He tries to mate with everybody, including me and the other buck (which is now 7 months old). He drives them insane. Originally, we got Pedro to be a companion to the buck. But all he does is chase him around the stall, which scares Pedro to death. Plus: he has horns and Pedro doesn't. The buck is aggressive with nipping at his back end, like he does with the does. Any suggestions?
If you can offer any advice, I would be so greatful.
Thanks,
Tammy
Replies
I defiantly have those that capture my heart at birth. Even the little guys. We feel that we have to make the decision fairly soon so that our young boys understand that one or more will be leaving. I know that the longer we do this the more they will understand and that is part of the reason for having animals and growing, fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats. Thanks for the encouragement! We need to put our goals and qualifications in writing so that I don’t deviate from the plan. The are so fun and precious!
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
The vast majority of bucks get wethered and sold as pets, and that's a good thing. Because a buck can have dozens of kids a year, they should only be the best that we have.
I used to try to keep does that seemed to have good conformation, but that is nearly impossible to tell when they're babies. They change SO much! Now I just keep the sweetest does whose mothers I adore (because of their great production, teats, udder, and personality). Initially, they are all adorable, but as the weeks pass, some of them weasel their way into my heart. It's not at all scientific or professional, but it works for me. Too many times in the past I kept does that were beautiful or whatever, but I wasn't really crazy about them. And as it turns out, my doe that has the best production, best personality, and throws the best kids actually has the lowest classification score in my herd. She is a VG, so she's not ugly, but she is the most valuable goat in the herd to me, even though she was always last when we were showing.
So, it really depends on what is important to you. Because we milk all of our goats, I realized after a couple years that every goat had to have good teats, production, and personality. I have no idea what teats and production will be like when they're babies, but I can judge personality. If they don't have the teats or production after they freshen, then they get sold. I keep more kids than I need, and after they freshen, I sell those that are on the bottom for production. I know that's not ideal because goats increase production a LOT from their first to second and even from second to third freshenings, but you gotta have some criteria for choosing, and at least for now, this is what I'm doing. There is also a pretty big market in my area for does in milk.
Christina said:
How do I decide who the best is to keep and who is not one to keep? Who to wether and who should not? When to sell and not to sell? I have decided I will not sell bottle babies, I want them dam raised when they leave. I too would keep them all…
Tammy said:
I think the big question you need to ask first is, " what can we afford?" Second," what are our goals with goats?" And third" what will make the whole operation easy to manage?"
Sometimes we leave common sense in the dirt and then have too many goats and too many problems leaving the whole goat keeping operation at a place where we hate what we are doing.
Keeping goats should be fun and rewarding, not tedious and costly.