Breeding season is well underway

We separated our breeding does into three groups this year, and put them with the bucks the first week in October.  After reading all the pros and cons of early vs. late kidding, barn vs. pasture kidding, we decided to move the season here at Sunny Acres back a bit, by about a month.  Although March kidding here in the northeast means no pasture kidding, we've read that those earlier kids are more ready to take advantage of the lush early pasture than newborns can.  (Again, all part of the grand experiment to find just the right plan for our herd....)  Since our herd has been transitioned to a forage-only herd, we need kids that can hit those pastures running and make good gains by mid-fall.

One small herd this year consists of ten doelings averaging 18 months of age, with the young buck we recently purchased from Dr. Peischel's herd in Tennessee.  Part of their pasture for the fall includes a field planted during the summer to tillage radishes, which they are enjoying immensely!

A second herd consists of just six older does, who are on a pasture with our original Kiko buck.  Donkey Odie has been sold, but the new owners aren't ready for him yet, and agreed to let us use him with a few does until he leaves our farm.  He's definitely happier than if he'd been left in a bachelor pad until they pick him up!  And we're happy to have an opportunity to hopefully add another couple of his daughters to our herd.                                                                    

The third and largest herd is made up of our other sire, Survivor, and 26 does.  These are a mix of Boer/Kiko cross, high percentage Kiko, and a few purebred Kiko does.  They are currently pasturing on the regrowth of a field of "Summer Feast" that consists of millet and forage brassicas, which had been grazed earlier this summer, and then rested for a couple of months while it grew back and headed out.  When they first went onto that field, it was hard to find the goats, the millet had grown so tall and rank!  They come up to their secure paddock every night with nice round bellies, and seem to be doing extremely well this fall.

The young doelings from this year look on, but will have to wait another year to get acquainted with one of the bucks.  We don't breed doelings until their second fall.

Every day as we walk among the three herds, we get more and more excited by the prospects of what March will bring!   Something to look forward to as we head deeper into fall and on into winter!