Sorry this took so long to update, I've been kind of busy lately, but any way, thought I'd say that Dana gave birth without a hitch, and we now have two insanely cute little bucklings (baby boy goats)! They look just like their mom, and they will be for sale in a few months, so if you are interested in getting one for a pet, please contact my mom at [email protected] for information concerning their family records, and ID. They are unofficially named Merry and Pippin, and they are being conditioned to people and having there hooves handled, so they will make great pets.
When we got our two does a few years ago, they where meant to be dairy goats, but its not as easy to get milk as it sounds. First off, unlike chickens who lay eggs as soon as they a mature, no rooster required, goats don't start making milk as soon as their old enough, instead, they have be be old enough and have babies (actually, there have been cases of does not getting pregnant and still having milk, but that really rare).
Breeding a goat is not easy. First you have to make sure that she is ready to have a baby. This is called being in heat. Once a doe is old enough, she comes into heat about every 18-21 days. My doe, Dana came into heat for the first time, oh I don't remember, but anyway we took note if that and in a few months, we had located a Buck (boy goat), and took her out to see him. We waited a while after that, carefully watching to see if she came into heat again, if she didn't, there was a good chance she was pregnant! But a doe only comes in to Heat a few days at a time, so its easy to miss her cycle, so that's not the best way to tell. Another is to put a stethoscope up he belly and listen for the faint heart beats of baby goats. But a goat's stomach is so loud, its hard to tell. The most sure way to tell is about a month before her due date, the doe starts developing an udder. Dana did not develop an udder, and a trip to the vet confirmed, that she was not pregnant. I was soooo disappointed! All of us had been looking forward to our own baby goats and fresh goat milk! A few months later we met someone with a young Buck who lived just five minutes away! She was willing to let us try again. And so, on a few weeks before Thanksgiving, we took her out and tried again. We waited patently, trying not to get our hopes up. But then, a few days ago, I saw that Dana was getting an udder! Right on time! We are now prepping for some baby goats and I will be posting pics if the birth is successful. |