Kidding Calendar 2012

Like my friend CB over at Tails Up Homestead says....breeding plans are nothing more than happy thoughts.  I had planned to breed only 4 does this year.  2 for January and then 2 for March.  Uh huh.  I wanted some of my does to rest this year, plus with a 7 month old doe in the herd....I wanted to keep things under control. 

Then we had a gate failure.  Manny managed to escape and run with the girls for a few minutes (which is all it takes)  This happened on:
Set 14
Oct 15
Oct 19
and then on Nov 23 BOTH Manny & Pete escaped (that should be interesting)
and then on Dec 14 I released Frodo as a clean up buck since the 2 does I'd been trying to breed with him all year came into heat again.

 So even though I have the dates, it's all just a guessing game from now till June 2. *ugh*  Looks like I'll be having a lot of sleepless nights, recharging barn moniter batteries, possible DNA testing, and many little surprises.  Happy thoughts?  Probably.  Sometime in September I should finally get enough milk to make cheese (rather than putting it into goat kids). 
I was really looking forward to the kids from Manny X Lace and was very pleased for sure!  Now I'm not sure which breeding I'm looking forward to the most....but here's the buck (Frodo)

at 4 months...

at 8 months in his winter suit..

The first doe is Pie..she's Lace's daughter and really matured over the winter.  I'm hoping that Frodo will tighten the shoulder and put a little ear length on the kids, while maintaining Pie's dairy character and udder width.  I can't wait to see these kids!

And then there is Fiona.  Fiona is the only Faith daughter in our herd.  Faith's kiddings are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get.  Except milk.  You can be assured that you will get a LOT of milk from her daughters; every one of them out produce their herdmates.  Nevertheless, Fiona is the oddball of the herd.  I happen to love oddballs, and her mother is my favorite of all....

One thing's for sure, the Good Lord will bless us with what He knows we need; it's our job to keep up!

Oh, and we have decided to sell one of our yearling does.  She will be 1 year old on March 25.  She really is a very nice doe, but since I have her sister I've decided to let her go.  She should be a great homestead milker, she's been exposed to a buck but I'm not sure if she's bred.  Her sire is Pete and her dam is Cilly.