Now that we’re moving into winter, have the goats into their final home, and are preparing ourselves for breeding, I thought I’d do an update post regarding the sweet loves who are now part of our family. 
- Paisley – She troubles me no longer. She’s sweet and docile and loves attention. The issue in the left teat didn’t ever resolve, though I’m 100% certain she never had mastitis. I’ve tested leaving her milk in the fridge for at least 10 days without any off smell or blood precipitating out. At this point, the left teat is blocked and I can get only a tiny bit of milk out at milking times. It does not pain her at all. The right side gives quite a bit of milk, about 3 cups at each milking.
- Gingham – (Paisley’s sister) She’s become the trouble maker. Those sisters just switched places.
But I can still handle Gingham, so we’re getting her milk and her submission. I really don’t know what gets her stirred up. Being in heat could explain some of her moods, moving to the new barn could, too. But this all started when we went on vacation to Montana. She gave our friend (who milked the goats) a really hard time, and she has kept it up ever since. - Trimming Hooves – Naomi helped me trim the big goats’ hooves last week. It was a job, but that’s because I was late getting to it. Immediately, Gingham and Paisley got up easier on the stand. Which makes me wonder if their hooves were paining them when they’d previously get up there.
- New Home – the goats took a few days to adjust to the new barn. Especially Gingham. Boy, she can be a pain! But they’re used to it now.
- Breeding – We need to get our milk goats pregnant. But we have no buck. Nor do we know of one. He must be a Nubian, as we want to keep our creamy milk, thank-you-very-much. This is a matter for prayer and further research. Does he come here? (We’re not set up for a buck yet.) Do we take the does to him? (We have no trailer and their heat cycles are probably all different.) Do we breed the does who were born this spring? (One of them is quite big and probably will get fat if she doesn’t get pregnant.)
- Belle – We had to put Silver Belle down. She is no longer. She is the first goat we got. From Shipping Fever Complex, she got pneumonia. It was pretty bad, and her lungs got damaged such that she never again breathed without difficulty. We wanted her to hang on long enough to give her babies six months of nursing and that she did, admirably. Over the weekend, Jeff and the kids did the deed. I didn’t want to be there. They examined her and found strange lungs that didn’t seem healthy.
Hi! I have 5 nigerian dwarf does. 2 adults and 3 “babies” that were born marchish. I am having the same issues about breeding. I have contacted several people. I found one person who is willing to take my does for about 21 days for a fee to make sure they are bred. I will have to drive 3 hours, but I couldn’t find anyone closer. We don’t have a trailer, but we have a van and a dog cage. That works fine for us, since they are small goats. We are not set up for a buck yet, and, truthfully, I’m not ready to be a buck owner just yet! We only got our first goats in Feb. My poor goats need their hooves trimmed as well.
We milked our adult goats in the spring and they were such pains!! They were first fresheners, so I am hoping they will get better. Is there a certain thing that helped Paisley to stop giving you such a hard time?
@momanna98 ~ We are in the same boat! I don’t really want to take my does somewhere. They will get sick, I know it. They already have a hard time when we change things here.
I’m not really ready to be a buck owner either. 
With Paisley – I’m not sure what it all was, but two things I think contributed. First, she got used to us and more familiar and let go of her fear. Second, I wouldn’t give in to her, and I think she learned to submit. Did you stop milking your goats? We’ve not had to train first fresheners yet. Paisley had been milked before but not regularly, but at least she knew the process. Next spring, we’ll likely have similar challenges as you experienced. That is, if we can get our girls pregnant. 
Thanks for writing!
Aw, sorry to hear about Belle, that must have been hard. From reading the girls’ blogs, it sounds like they are dealing with it OK? I’m impressed that they were willing to help with the slaughter and necropsy! You have veterinarians in the making or something, my goodness! Farming sure brings you back to the realities of cycle of life and death, but it feels good to be so in touch with nature, I think.
Good luck finding a fella for your ladies! I’m sure something will materialize!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Flushing Ewes Again This Year =-.
We stopped milking a couple of months ago. I’m not sure how long we milked, maybe 4 months? Our first goat hardly gave any milk so I stopped her sooner. The second one did much better, but after I went on vacation, things went down hill quickly. My mom had been milking her, and she did not like that at all. She got an attitude and would not give it up. Everyday she got worse and worse with her kicking and jumping… it was awful. And it wasn’t like she was good to begin with. I was only getting maybe 1/4 cup of milk so I decided it was not worth the fight. I quit hoping they would be better next year. Everyone says they get better. I certainly hope so.
Hi, Mom!
Nice job explaining everything.
Love you!!!!!!!!!
Love Your Daughter,
Naomi Marie
P.S. Milking is a lot easier with the new barn, am I right????
OK,
I don’t want to be crude here, but you don’t know how funny this line looked to me as I skimmed over the opening paragraph:
“and are preparing ourselves for breeding”
- sorry about that, I couldn’t help it. Hope I don’t get myself banned or anything.
And, I was sorry to hear about the demise of Belle. So sad.
.-= Carol´s last blog ..Timberbeast Thorpe =-.
OH, that is funny!
Thanks for the laugh! I’m glad you shared it and no I won’t ban you. 
I hope your search for a buck turns out successful. I’m sure you’re trying everything you can think of, but have you asked the people you originally got your goats from? They obviously had them bred. Sometimes these things don’t come directly from the one you ask but from someone they know.
Naomi, glad to hear the new barn helps!
.-= Marg´s last blog ..Cream of Turkey Soup =-.
Marg – That’s a good idea! Some of our goats we got from far away, but one close by. So I will try that owner first.
I am always educated, entertained and enchanted when I take the time to check in with Wardeh’s posts.
Thanks,
Grandma Jen
Any leads on a buck this week, Wardeh? There’s no goat club in your area, is there?
.-= Marg´s last blog ..Fay the goat =-.
Marg – Nothing yet, but I’ve been not totally focusing on this with other things going on. I think there are goat clubs, but we’re not in them. As usual, you’ve got great ideas! I’ll see if I can look one up for leads. Thanks, Marg.
I’ll quit bugging you for a while.
Just know I’m waiting to hear! 
.-= Marg´s last blog ..Fay the goat =-.
Here’s an idea that works fairly well.
Get a buck kid in the spring for fairly cheap.
He’ll breed your does in the fall, and then you can butcher him afterwards, OR sell him.
That way your does dont have to go through the stress of moving somewhere temporarily to get bred. And you dont have to deal with a huge old stinky buck.
The younger smaller buck shouldnt have any problem breeding the bigger older does as long as he was born early enough in the year. And he wont stink as bad at a young age as he would if he was older. ;o)
We typically breed in August and September here.
I realize that this doesnt help you with your dilemma THIS year, but it’s just an idea for next year.
Around here you could get a buck kid for $75 to $100. I say “around here” fairly loosely because I would probably have a long drive ahead of me to get one. In my general area there arent very many people with dairy goats!
Hope that helps you!
Rachel
That is a good idea ~ Thank you~
FourMileFarm said “Here’s an idea that works fairly well. Get a buck kid in the spring for fairly cheap. He’ll breed your does in the fall, and then you can butcher him afterwards, OR sell him.”
I was thinking of the same thing myself. I no longer have a buck and it would be very hard to get my ND bred. I don’t want to take her anywhere either.
Wardeh, did you get a buck or what did you do? Perhaps if I keep reading I will find out! LOL
Linda — We did get a buck, yes! We got him in February and he’s had many babies this season. He’s great — not ornery in the least. At least not yet! (He’s 2-1/2.)
Oh, but to clarify. We’re not going to butcher him; we are keeping him!