Meet the Kids

So I finally got to go outside this afternoon (between storms) and take pictures of the not-so-small-anymore kids.

Some have been named (other than the cuss words I use when they get their poopy feet all over me), others are still awaiting names.  Some will stay, some will go to the local FFA group, one will be sold and one will go in the freezer.

Annette's doelings, born 2/24/14.  Pilgrim (Nubian) was the sire.
They are 1/2 Nubian, 1/4 Saanen, 1/4 Nigerian Dwarf.

Annette actually had three kids, but one was stillborn (and kind'a deformed).  Since I didn't get any doelings out of Nettie, I'll be keeping at least one of these gals for my future milkers.  Still have to think of names for the little stinkers.

Clover, Lily's doeling born 2/27/14.  Herman was the sire.
She is 100% Boer.

Clover was the incestous bastard lovechild of Herman and Lily.  She actually had twins, but the buckling was much smaller and died several days later from hypothermia.  Clover is putting on weight very nicely and is very friendly.  I think she'll be a keeper.

Dilly (female) and Gimpy (male) born 2/22/14.
Pickles's kids, Herman was the sire.
They are 100% Boer.

Pickles had twins, a male and female.  The male had problems from the get-go with his legs.  We splinted him, slung him, gave him lots of meds and he finally came around at about three weeks of age.  Although I had hoped to use him as our next herd sire, he's destined for freezer camp because of his problems.  His sister Dilly, however, is turning out to be a very friendly, and very plump, little gal.  She's longer in the loin than Clover so she is definitely a keeper.  Especially since she seems to not have inherited her mother's knack for yelling all day.

Lira, Penny's doeling born 3/4/14.
Was supposed to be sired by a Boer......
Kind'a like her mom, Penny was supposed to be a Boer.

Not sure what's going to happen with Lira, Penny's doeling.  I bought Penny several months ago, being told she was a Boer (only saw a fuzzy picture of her when she was a few weeks old) only to drive two hours and find out that she wasn't so much ALL Boer.  If I had to guess, I'd say she's 1/2 Boer and 1/2 Nubian.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but not exactly what I had wanted.  On a good note though, I've been able to get some extra milk out of Penny (must be that Nubian side of her) to feed to the new bottle buckling.  Penny was also supposed to be bred to a Boer buck, but looking at her doeling, I'm beginning to wonder if the lady who sold her to me even knows what a Boer looks like.  I was hoping for a "more" Boer out of Penny's kid, but she honestly looks more dairy than anything.  Not sure what we'll do with her yet.

MamaGoat's doeling, born 3/21/14.  Merv the Perv was the sire.
She's 3/4 Nigerian Dwarf & 1/4 Saanen.

MamaGoat was bred to our rental stud, Merv the Perv.  He was a tiny Nigerian Dwarf so I'm not really surprised that her doeling is tiny.  Although she's a little cutie, I don't plan on keeping her.  MamaGoat is a great milker for her size (she's a Mini-Saanen) and the main reason for having her bred was to get her to freshen again.

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Studly DoRight, born 3/6/14.
Both dam and sire are Boers (bought from another farm).

I bought Studley DoRight from a farm about an hour from here.  Both his dam and sire are purebred Boer (although not papered).  I bought him at two weeks old as a bottle baby (gawd help me) because he will hopefully be our next herd sire and I need him to be both friendly and disbudded.  We disbuded him at two weeks and one day old and there didn't seem to be a problem with disbudding him so late.  If he does get scurs, I'm going to band them asap.  He was born a week after Lily's doeling but I bet he's still half her weight.  Hope I didn't end up with a bummer of a buck, although I didn't pay much for him.  If he doesn't live up to my (admittedly lowered) standards, he'll end up in the freezer, we'll use Herman again this fall and maybe I'll spend a little more money on our new Boer buck.

So there are the eight little bundles of jumpy joy.  Kidding season is finally over, we just disbudded the last kid yesterday and I can't wait to stop bottle feeding Studly DoRight....eight weeks from now.