Monday, August 10, 2015

Re-evaluating Goat Kids - What a Difference a Couple Months Makes......

So as we may remember, when little Merida was born, I was totally smitten.  She was such a darling little spotted thing and such a sweet little lover.  And then Erika came and she was so beautiful!  As they began to grow, I decided I couldn't bear to let Erika go and worked things out with Jen to just pay her for Erika and that way with giving her Fancy and the money we'd be squared away.

Now as any good animal raiser will tell you, you mustn't make your final judgements too early.  

As Erika and Merida have grown, some things have become very obvious....

My little Merida, while still with her lovely moon spots....


Is a puke.....

Yes, that's what I said......a PUKE!  Her conformation is HORRID.  


But Erika on the other hand......


Erika is just gorgeous.  She is so beautiful and graceful.


I'm so very happy with how she is developing.


Here is a picture of Erika and Merida standing together...

It's not the best, but Erika is taller, wider, more level on the topline and has a prettier head.  The vet botched Merida's disbudding, so she's got scurs, but even without that, Erika is so much nicer of a doe in all ways.  Most importantly, Erika is a much more loving doe.  Merida really doesn't care to be messed with.  She isn't afraid at all, but she isn't into affection.  Erika on the other hand is a great deal like Tulip, but not near as bossy.  She will stand in ecstasy to have her butt scratched, and loves to be loved on.


Here is a picture of everybody but Tulip.  Star at the far left, Erika next, then Bear, and finally Merida on the back right.   The Man was headed down to the garden, and Tulip always has to go stand down at the edge, begging for a green bean, or a cuke, or a tomato!  


You can see how wide in the chest Erika and Bear are compared to Merida.  Bear is destined for the freezer and I will continue to reevaluate Merida as time goes on, however I'm almost certain I won't be keeping her.  She'll most likely be freezer bound as well, as I'm always much more comfortable with knowing an animal is nourishing us as opposed to wondering if they are healthy and being cared for!

Depending how things go  I will breed Erika next fall and then keep a doeling out of her.

When raising animals it's very important to keep your perspective.  When you are breeding for the good of your homestead, you must keep the best animals you can, and oftentimes that changes as time goes on.  

Till next time!

God Bless,




10 comments:

  1. WHAT HINDERS ME FROM BEING BAPTIZED? BY STEVE FINNELL

    When the Ethiopian eunuch said "what hinders me from being baptized," did he mean what hinders me from being immersed, poured, or sprinkled?

    Acts 8:36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" (NKJV)

    Acts 8:36 As they were going down the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Here's some water! Is there any reason why I shouldn't be immersed?" (CJB-Complete Jewish Bible)

    Acts 8:36 And , as they went on their way, they came to certain water; and the eunuch said, Look, here is water; what is there to hinder me from being immersed? (TBVOTNT-The Better Version of The New Testament by Chester Estes)

    There are no translations of the Bible that translates Acts 8:36 as..."What hinders me from being poured or sprinkled."

    The only place water baptism is expressed as sprinkling and pouring is in books written by men. Do preachers, pastors, priests, and the early church fathers have the authority to change immersion to sprinkling or pouring?

    If preachers, pastors, priests, and the early church fathers have been given the authority to change immersion to sprinkling or pouring, then why can they not change water to olive oil or milk. The example of a man-made verse of Scripture. (Acts 8:36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some olive oil or milk. And the eunuch said, "See here is olive oil or milk. What hinders me from being poured or sprinkled?")

    God has not authorized any preacher, pastor, priest, nor the early church fathers to change immersion to poured or sprinkled.

    God inspired one book, the Bible.

    YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com

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    1. Hello Steve and welcome. This is an interesting comment on my post about evaluating goat kids. I love my Jesus and am so very thankful in ways that words cannot express for His acceptance of God's will in the sacrifice of His life to save you and I from our sins. Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. I agree with you about having to be selective with animals on the homestead and about preferring to put the animals into the freezer rather than letting them go to people who may or may not look after them. In our experience, most don't.

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    1. Hi Vera! Yes, I'd much rather know they are safely and humanely DEAD than suffering somewhere else! Thanks for commenting!

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  3. It's interesting how we learn along the way while raising goats. The first time we had one with parrot mouth it took me months to 'discover' it. I knew this doe looked different, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Then one morning while I was milking and watching the other goats, there it was. I realized that her top jaw was longer than the bottom one and went and searched through my goat books. This discovery made her destined for the freezer instead of breeding. We know other folks that sell goats with parrot mouth and other deformities and think nothing of it. We would rather not pass on these traits to our herd or any others. Thank you for this article, I can always learn from other's observations.

    Fern

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    1. Yes it is always a learning process with livestock! :)

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  4. I don't know anything about goat conformation, but Merida and Erika do look pretty different from each other! I can see how easy it is to become smitten with one even if it isn't the best type though because of markings- we have the same problem over and over with our Harlequins where we have to try to make the tough calls. I agree with you completely that keeping perspective may be one of the most challenging parts of raising them! Thanks for posting this. :)

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    1. It is SOO hard to see conformation over flashy markings. So hard....sometimes all you can see is the pretty coat pattern and can't see the "bones" of the animal underneath. I can imagine it would be difficult with your Harley's!

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  5. I'm constantly evaluating my kids too, trying to decide which I'll keep and which I won't. My girls look a lot better than the boys I got this year and I'm thankful for that. My new girls are under constant scrutiny too. But, buying kids is iffy.

    Glad to hear even the vet can do a poor job disbudding. I did my first disbuddings this year and did okay on four and not okay on two. Even the okay ones have small scurs, but then all my goats have scurs, even the one's done by somebody else.

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  6. I'm no good with picking great goat conformation... love the last picture.

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