Cocoa, Dutchess and Empress So another rainy winter season begins. The girls are mostly bred for the spring at this point. We are at the familiar point where we settle down for the winter and prepare to tough out the rain and worse, mud! As we go into this season, we have learned a tremendous amount over the past 7 years. I feel extremely fortunate to have gained this knowledge even if, at times, it came through some unfortunate events.
This coming kidding season I am becoming more aware that I will have to deal with the eventual decline of my aging goat, Dutchess. She is a wonderful creature and I feel so blessed to have been able to have her in my herd. My hope was that I could pass her very dairy genes on in her offspring and even improve upon them. I am so glad that I have Empress from her and this might be possible. It is a strong possibility that Dutchess is pregnant at this time as well. To breed or not to breed becomes a very real concern when you having an aging animal. Pregnancy is a prominent threat to a geriatric doe. Goats dying in labor is quite common. So as we go into this year, I am leery of kidding season. We will upgrading our current barn camera system to be wi-fi compatible. Then I will be able to monitor their progress from my cell phone, no matter where I happen to be. It is imperative that I am present for my kiddings, especially when it comes to Dutchess. So here's to keeping my fingers crossed and my toes crossed too! Wish us luck!
This coming kidding season I am becoming more aware that I will have to deal with the eventual decline of my aging goat, Dutchess. She is a wonderful creature and I feel so blessed to have been able to have her in my herd. My hope was that I could pass her very dairy genes on in her offspring and even improve upon them. I am so glad that I have Empress from her and this might be possible. It is a strong possibility that Dutchess is pregnant at this time as well. To breed or not to breed becomes a very real concern when you having an aging animal. Pregnancy is a prominent threat to a geriatric doe. Goats dying in labor is quite common. So as we go into this year, I am leery of kidding season. We will upgrading our current barn camera system to be wi-fi compatible. Then I will be able to monitor their progress from my cell phone, no matter where I happen to be. It is imperative that I am present for my kiddings, especially when it comes to Dutchess. So here's to keeping my fingers crossed and my toes crossed too! Wish us luck!
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