Well, I did it......

.........if her CAE test comes back negative, and it should, in two weeks I will be the proud owner of an eight month old LaMancha doe. I went with my friend Joan yesterday to pick up the Nubian doe she was given and the man had a LaMancha he wanted to part with too. I had my heart set on Nubians but there was something about this little girl that I couldn't get out of my head from the first time I saw her. We had a heck of a time catching her, she was in with two Alpine does and a Nubian wether and they pushed her around a lot, but once we got her I sat on the chair in the barn and snuggled and loved her for about 10 minutes before the deal was done and Joan drew the blood for the CAE test. I will be keeping her at Joan's upper farm until about March and then she will come to the lower farm which is within seeing and walking distance from my house and I will be doing the morning milking and Joan will do the evening milking. I wanted one in milk, and who knows I may find one yet, but I'll get the milk from the morning milking and Joan will be the milk from the evening milking of her Nubians. I'm slowly starting to get my life back. God is wonderful!

That he is!

I was at a livestock auction once and they had a couple of LaMancha goats there. Someone was looking at them and saying how they hated it when they did that to their ears. I did educate them some on the breed, don't know if they believed me or not. But, I'll admit to being a bit shocked. I can understand the general public not knowing, but not someone at a livestock auction?

since you do not need proof of intelligence or competence to go to an auction I'm really not surprised

In fact the more I interact with the general public the less I am surprised by the level of or lack of education and information people operate with.

Right on 12acre. I think that is why I really like not interacting with the general public all that much. My dream job is working at a living history museum teaching people the old ways. Hopefully the ones that did it would really want to learn and not think of it as a novelty.

What a cool job that would be... Watching some of the locals at some of the "living History shows" or fairs (steam days, plow days, etc) I would guess about 1/4 of those attending are wanting to learn "how to..." and another 1/4 want to learn how it was (history buffs) Both of these groups make up 1/2 of the attendees at the very most, and are great to be around.

The rest have been drug there because _____ and when they leave they can go do _______ and they are trying to entertain themselves by ______________ while they are at the show.

Does your friend have goats, the one that your goat will be staying at? If not, you will need to get another one. Goats are herd animals and will need a companion, at least till she kids.

Yes, she has two beautiful Nubian does, one is due to kid in February, and she picked up another one on Saturday where I bought my little girl so she will have plenty of company. I would never try to have just one anyway. She also has a beautiful Nubian buck, huge guy, who she is going to sell or make into a pet but I think he is too old to have that taken care of, if you know what I mean, because he is six years old. Poor guy.

You gotta post pictures of your new baby.

I will have to have my daughter Lexy come over to help me but I will.

The test results came back and my little girl is CAE free so she will be coming home in about two weeks.

My friend Joan bought her herd mate, Frosty, a nice looking Nubian. She stopped by the other day and asked me if I wanted to buy her under the same conditions she is buying her. You see, she wasn't bred when she had her tested so she talked the man into giving her the goat to see if she could get her bred with her big Nubian buck. Well last week she witnessed her being bred so now if she delivers a live kid in June she would have to pay for her. Well, for whatever reason, she asked me if I wanted to buy her. As long as she delivers a live kid in June I'm going to take her. So now, I started off with one goat but now may have another one coming in, well she won't be coming too far since she is on Joan's farm now. It amazes me how God works things out.

That sounds like it is a very exciting time for you with your new goat (s). I can't wait to see some pictures.
Yes, God does have a way of working things out.

hmm no pictures yet...

Sounds like you've got the beginnings of a nice herd.

Thanks friends. I'm excited to say the least. I won't know if Frosty is bred until about the 14th of February. I haven't sent pictures yet because I haven't picked Angelup yet and I'm not sure about Frosty but as soon as I pick Angel up I'll post pictures of her and then when I find out about Frosty I'll post her pictures too.

I did it. I picked up Angel today. She rode home so good in the back of the car. I forgot to pick up a tarp on Thursday when I was out running errands so I got one today for the back of the car. She didn't poo or pee all the way home. She walked to the barn on the lead rope like she had been doing it forever. Frosty was not bred the first time so she is in with the buck again so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this time. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

excellent

fingers crossed for the breeding attempt

Thanks 12acre! When I was there last Sunday the Mr. Murphy tried to mount Frosty and she would duck out from under him and that was after Joan had seen him breed her. Yesterday when I took Angel up there (that's where she's staying until the lower barn is finished) Murphy was sniffing around and when he did she would flag her tail but he didn't try to mount her. I will just have to be patient and say my prayers until next month when we can test her. She is eight years old so she may be past the breeding age.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

It's been a long time since I've posted because things, as usual, are nuts around here.

Well, the breeding attempt didn't work with the Nubian. She was bred three times with two different bucks. Nothing. So, I'm not sure if I'm going to buy her.

I did purchase a little Boer buck. I really didn't want to cross breed Angel but I'm having a hard time finding a LaMancha buck that isn't too big. He was quarantined for almost a month and his CAE test came back negative on Tuesday so yesterday morning he went in with the girls. It was amusing to saya the least. The big Nubian let him run at her once and then walked away. Angel was a whole other story. He would rear up on his back lets, turn his head and run at her. She just stood there with her head down like a little tank and let him hit her. This went on for about 15 minutes and I had to leave. By the time I got there to feed in the evening all was well.

Sorry I haven't posted pictures yet. I keep forgetting to take my camera down there with me but will try to remember over the week-end.

LOL sounds like things are going well, no big deal about pics, just fun to see.

Glad to be getting an update. Keith may not think it's a big deal, but I love seeing the pictures.

Sonshine wrote:Glad to be getting an update. Keith may not think it's a big deal, but I love seeing the pictures.

What can I say? I'm addicted to the little critters.

well, it is not critical to life, but we all would love to see some pics

It has been a long, frustrating episode in my life but I will be picking up a LaMancha doe in milk to keep my other little girl, Angel, company. The buck that I was going to buy to be with her was horrible. I had bruises all over from him butting me and he wouldn't let the girls eat. The Nubian doe I was going to buy turned out to have CL. My "friend" saw the lump when she brought her to the farm but thought she must have gotten hit or kicked and that it was a hematoma. She is all worried about testing for CAE but never tests for CL. When it became apparent it was CL she had her put down. That was the beginning of the tension between her and me. Then she spring it on me that I'm responsible to put fencing on her property and she will only use one type of fence which in the end cost me over $300 and will be left there when I leave - and I will be leaving. People who know her are appalled that she would do this but at the same time we all know that she will "help" someone just to get something she wants. To make a long story short the building I will be using for my goats is almost finished (we had to clean it out and build a stall) and the fence is almost done so it won't be long until I will be in my own building, doing my own thing, feeding the way I want and what I want. She absolutely can't stand the idea of me going to the expense of making my own feed for my critters because it is more expensive than commercial feed. I'm also going to make my own wormer which is all natural. She is very big into supporting the drug companies, both for her animals and herself. Now me, I know better. You'd think I would be more supportive of the drug companies since I'm in the medical field but NO! I will try to remember my camera and get some pictures but will have to have somebody help me put them on the site. By next week at this time I will be getting about a gallon of fresh goat milk. Yippee! I will have my own milk, eggs and my little garden is doing great. I'm on my way, FINALLY.