More Breeding News.

Dreams coming true! I had Tirzah in with Storm for 5 weeks in April/May and then again for a week recently and miss Tirzah wasn't cooperating AT ALL.

Finally, after a friend brought her doe over to breed to Storm, Tirzah decided he might be a stud muffin after all let him breed her. WE have had a sonogram confirming she is pregnant (about 40 days) now. This has to be one of my most waited for freshenings. We owned Tirzah's mom for about a year and she did not like us. We traded her (MCH Esperanza SJ Patience - she should be in the archives from 2 years ago) for 2 doelings and Tirzah was one of them. I had to wait a while for her but she was worth the wait!!!! I love this little doe. Her due date is Feb 27 (DH's birthday!)2010 and we are keeping a doe kid form this pair if we get one. Storm usually throws triplets and Tirzah was one of triplets so I'm hoping.....


Joie is also pregnant and looking so already - she usually throws me triplets. She is also bred to Storm so I have hopes there as well! Joie is due Feb 5th. I am looking forward to a bunch O little chocolates this year! We now have everyone we are breeding for spring kids. WE are now taking reservations on Joie's kids (we aren't planning on keeping any this year as we have several already and I want to keep some from other does this year) and I will take 1 verbal doe reservation on Tirzah in hopes that she'll throw me 2 does this year.

Joie may also be for sale when the babies are weaned. This will be a VERY hard decision for me as Joie is a foundation doe and one of my favorites but we seem to be at a crossroads in our herd. Needing to keep the herd small and wanting to keep several babies this year with our herd name on them.



Other breeding News: After a lot of thought and consideration we have decided we will no longer breed for Oberhaslis or mini Obs. We are keeping Miss Priss until she should leave us (probably not soon - she's only 5 this coming year) and breed her to a Kinder buck for meat for our family. Because Miss Priss has a few glaring conformation flaws (underbite, horribly attached udder and funky back hooves that require a lot of care) we decided it really isn't worth trying to breed her to sell quality Oberhaslis or Minis. We decided this was the best compromise for our family and for our customers. I do know where to get some decent Oberhaslis and Mini Oberhaslis so if you are interested email me - NMgoatgal (AT) gmail.com and I will gladly help you find one if that is what you want.



Last bit of News: We are buying a new buck. I had my heart set on a buck kid out of Agape Oaks Nigerians. Pam is awesome and has put together a wonderful herd of milky and show quality does and bucks. She has done an excellent job of proving her herd through 305 day testing (milk), Linear Appraisal and showing. I am super duper impressed with Pam's herd and when she bought a new buck this spring I knew I had to have one of his kids. After a lot of thought and conversations with Pam I settled on a few excellent choices but then tragedy happened. Ghiradelli died and several of the does I wanted the buck kid out of weren't settled by him. When I found out he was sick I began looking for a back up plan and found a few herds that met my requirements but still held onto hope that Mica or Catie were bred to Ghiradelli before he passed. Pam was super kind in letting me have a buck if the girls were bred despite so few being bred to him before he passed. When Pam let me know Mica and Catie were not among those bred to Ghiradelli I began talking with the other herds. I have settled on Ironwood Ranch.

I think that they have worked incredibly hard on their little herd and I'm am just as excited about working with them as I was with Pam at Agape Oaks. They have done Linear Appraisals, 305 day milk tests and do show their goats and have some nice genetics going on in their herd.

After talking at length with the Carpenters, I have settled on a buck kid out of Ironwood SJ Pecan2 *D/2*M and Ironwood SJ Snickerdoodle *S or Ironwood Ranch SJ Minnie and Jedidiah. The buck will inherit his star if he's out of Pecan and Snickerdoodle. Probably will get one eventually if he's out of Minnie and Jed. These pairs have already proven themselves and their genetics are wonderful. Like with Pam I know I am probably getting a buck with lovely conformation who is carrying some very milky genes! You can see them at http://ironwoodranch.weebly.com

Thank you Ironwood Ranch and Agape Oaks for working with me. CBF Nigerians is excited about bringing in this new boy when the time comes. Part of me wishes I could have had them both but that was not to be.