Herd Reduction Time

[Jan]

I promised myself I would not overload with goats this time around.  It was easy to do when I was younger and had lots of energy but now in order to do the herd and myself justice I need to keep the numbers small.  I sold a mama and her 4 week old babies yesterday.  She was a strong, stubborn gal and gave me grief when I tried to milk her.(so after a couple of rounds I quit as I didn't need her milk). She also spent a lot of time bashing the smaller does. She went to a family who thought her feistiness was great and had no trouble loading her and were not put off by her complaining. I am pleased. Her kids were beautiful and I will miss them.

Next Thursday their adult daughter coming for another mama and her two babies. Mama is a love but a FF so milking was hard.  Her babies are wild. Again they are thrilled with the wildness and are looking forward to the challenge of taming them down. 

That will leave me with my two milkers and two doelings and a wether. The wether is for sale in three weeks. I also have a wonderful mild buck and his doe companion.

All the remaining goats are mild mannered and easy going. 

If the wether sells and if the companion doe moves on I may get another milker from the breeder of my wonderful milker.

Seven is my magic number!

 

 

[Jan]

Ah, Deborah I did that when I was younger and had nubians but at 68 it is not feasible. I can make all the yogurt, cheese and ice cream we want and still have milk for coffee, cereal and drinking.  I was tempted to hang on to some of the babies I sold but there will be more in the fall so I can wait and see how it plays out.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Congratulations! I'm pretty sure I have too many goats, but I am having a terrible time parting with any of the adults. I keep staring at my list of does and just can't decide which ones to let go. But I don't need 17 milkers! And if my five dry yearlings freshen next year, as well as the five doelings I'm keeping this year, that brings me up to 27 milkers next year, which is crazy. And that doesn't include the two mini mancha does, which would bring me up to 29 milkers.

[Jan]

When we are done with sales this  week we will have two milkers, 2 doelings and their wether brother and one buck. my two does are giving 1 1/2 quarts once a day. The mother of the triplets will go to wice a day when she weans her kids and the other will be put in with the buck in a week or so to rebreed. We are a family of two (I'm retired) so a quart or two of milk is enough. We also trade a quart a week for eggs. The wether will be for sale after the 16th. I have a buyer who bought a wether last week and may take him.

[Kare]

So, is that 6 does and 1 buck?  I am thinking my number is 10 - 6 does, 2 bucks (so I can keep daughters and breed to the other buck and also offer buck services to those who buy from me) and 2 wethers (to train to pull carts, carry packs and tell me when does are in heat).. The 2 wethers are negotiable, but if we can afford them, we will keep them.

 

Also, if I get some SUPER producers, I may go down to 4 does, but I want to have an average of a gallon of milk per day.

[Anna Cummings]

I have a rather stubborn doe myself.  How much did you sell her for and how did you find someone to buy her?  Thanks!