Of Goats & The Best Laid Plans

Our own best laid plans had to do with goats. Kinder goats that is. Lovely mid-sized dual purpose goats of Nubian and Pygmy Dwarf genetics, inheriting the best of both. The plan was to take a couple of registered Pygmy bucks, breed them with a couple of registered Nubian does, and go into the Kinder goat business. Unfortunately, the goats didn’t cooperate.

I do feel like I gave it (and the goats) a fair chance; almost two full breeding seasons. Losing first one of the Pygmy bucks and then one of the Nubian does were setbacks. Neither doe settling last year (getting pregnant in goat folk talk), was another. But I am very willing to commit myself to a project and not give up when obstacles present themselves. Still, there can come a time when it’s necessary to decide whether or not the goal remains viable. Do we persevere no matter the cost? Or do we re-evaluate and modify the goal to meet our needs?

So far this year Surprise has gone through three heat cycles with Gruffy, but without any sign of settling. I don’t know why it wasn’t happening, but I could not justify letting her go another year without kids. So I decided it was time to change the goal. Now it’s official. I’ve given up on trying to breed Kinder goats. No, no, no, it’s not as dire as it sounds. I do not need sympathies, condolences, nor words of encouragement to not give up. Actually, it’s a relief.

Onward. The first thing I did was sell all my Nigerian Dwarfs except Ziggy. To be honest, it was very difficult for me to milk Edy and Nessie, their udders were so small. Ziggy, on the other hand, I can manage.

The replacements are, in the buck department…

Our new Kiko buckling, Elvis. Gruffy is in the background.

This (don’t laugh, I didn’t name him) is Elvis. He’s a 10 month old purebred Kiko buckling. The Kiko is a standard size meat breed of goat which recently caught Dan’s eye. My thinking is that if the Kinder is a cross between a meat breed (Pygmy) and a diary breed (Nubian), why couldn’t I do the same thing with the Kiko? Just an idea.

Elvis has quite the “do”

Elvis was named by his breeders because of his “pompadour.” He was pretty skinny when we first got him, but he has been gaining a bit of weight since he’s been here and I think, looks healthier.

Surprise went into heat again, shortly after we got him. She decided pretty quickly that she liked him (unlike Gruffy, about whom she continually complained.) She was very cooperative, so I’m hopeful.

To replace Edy and Nessie, I bought Lily….

Lily, my new Nubian doeling.

Something about the markings on her face give her a worried look.

This little girl is a 7 month old purebred Nubian. She’s too young to be bred, which works well with my plan for breeding only half my does every year and milking through their off years. I think it’s the best way to have milk year around. Next year I’ll breed her to Elvis.
Dan and I did discuss going out of state to buy Kinders, though it would mean traveling at least two states away to do so. In the end, that seemed like we were going too far to achieve a goal which was really nominal in the grand scheme of things. I also realized that to develop a quality line of Kinders would require time, work, hard choices, and money. Not that it isn’t a noble goal, but I did not want it to overshadow our primary goal of working toward a self-reliant homestead. This way I don’t have to worry about conforming to a breed standard, genetic lines, record keeping, registration, tattooing, etc. I can just take good care of my goats and enjoy them.

I’m really happy with my new goats and satisfied with my goat situation in general. I’m excited about possibly creating our very own dual purpose breed; I think I’ll call them Kikobians. Here’s hoping this goal has better success.

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