Barnyard Babies: Goat Kids

They aren’t babies anymore! 

We had four kids born this spring, all of them little bucks. That was somewhat disappointing, except that I had people wanting bucks, so perhaps it was actually providential. Three of them have gone to their new homes, and the remaining buckling we’ve decided to keep, because he’s the best buckling we’ve ever produced. He has qualities I want to pass keep in my little herd.

I don’t consider myself a serious Kinder breeder, but I do enjoy choosing matches to work toward our breed standard. Kinder goats (in my not so humble opinion!) are the perfect homestead goat breed. They are midsize, dual-purpose, ample producers, and have the best personalities. Of all the goat breeds I’ve had over the years, I love my Kinders best.

Of course, nothing is predictable about genetics, so the results of my matches are never predictable! The idea is to pair the conformation weaknesses of one parent with strengths in the other. For example, a level topline (straight back) is a desirable trait. Sometimes, however, a goat may have longer back legs than front legs (hip high), or may have a weak chine (slightly swaybacked). So, I wouldn’t pair two goats with the same weakness. I’d pair the swayback goat with one that has a straight back. Hopefully, the strengths are passed on for improvement in the offspring. 

Herd improvement is achieved by keeping the kids that best conform to the breed standard and not keeping those with the least desirable traits. Piedmont is one of the best kids we’ve produced so far.

He’s muscular, well-proportioned, level, has excellent skeletal width in the shoulders and hips, isn’t leggy, and has a decent brisket. 

Weaning is a sad day in a little buck’s life, and Piedy wasn’t happy about being moved to the boys’ side. We put him with Jingo, last year’s fall buckling and herd sire hopeful. Piedy and Jingo are half-brothers by the same sire. Their sire was sold and Jingo was meant to be his replacement. I like to keep three unrelated bucks, so that I don’t have to breed daughters to their sires or grandsires, or sisters to their brothers. But I only need one buck of this genetic line, so I’ll only keep one of them. Right now, I think Piedy is the more promising of the two.