Farm Fresh Blog

Meet Oscar!

 Oscar is a baby Boer/Spanish goat. I like him because he's also a natural muley - no horns. I hope he's fertile and throws that gene.

I'm not a big fan of buck goats, but I am a fan of milk goats. No buck = no baby. No baby = no milk. No milk= no goat milk soap.  You see where I'm going here.

My girls are Nubians, and although I prefer to breed to a Nubian buck, this is Boer goat country. Because I cannot keep the babies, they must be sold and around here, if it looks anything like a Boer goat, it sells for more money.

I like the Boer/Spanish cross because the Boer gives me a meat goat and the Spanish gives me hardiness. I started with this cross and found it to be quite trouble-free.

Last March I borrowed a buck from a friend of mine. Unfortunately, Bronco Billy had a bad habit of not staying home. Since I didn't want him teaching my other goats and my sheep how to escape, I sent him back home after only two weeks.  I don't know if my girls were bred and settled or not.

 Bronco Billy

I could just do a simple blood test, but we have already established the fact that I am lazy, thus, I chose to just wait and see.  If they're pregnant, they'll have babies in a few months, if not . . .

Enter Oscar:

By the time they come into heat again, Oscar should be settled and old enough to take care of business.

Other Half acquired Oscar yesterday when he and Lily went to help a friend gather goats and send them to market.

His friend gave him pick of baby bucks and OH came home with Oscar.  The poor little guy was not well received by our girls. They can be quite snotty. Oscar wants to be with the goats, but the sheep treat him better. I don't feel too sorry for him because the rest of the baby goats ended up at the butcher. Oscar got a name and a home. And Other Half's lemon tree . . .

Oscar should be less worried about the dairy goats and more worried about Other Half finding him with this tree!