New Blood

 

At Opportunity Farm we keep goats. They are an eclectic mix of dairy and meat breeds. A smattering of Saanen, a dash of Toggenburg, some Australian Brown and decent dose of Boer. The chief buck was, until this winter, a diminutive but easy going Boer called Cedric. He happily wooed his girls with the usual goat etiquette of curled back lips and peeing on himself. He fathered several generations on our farm and even attracted other people to drop off their does for his servicing.

This winter Cedric failed to do the deed with one such doe. We started to worry and soon enough Cedric was staying in the shed longer and sitting down more regularly. By the time the vet was called he was in the final stages of cancer and succumbed despite the best efforts of the local James Herriott.

 

So that only left Curly, our mongrel dairy buck. He is closely related to many of our does so is less 'useful' as a prospective parent. So we needed some new blood. A conversation with a new friend revealed they had a paddock full of little Boers and hadn't yet used the emasculator to render them infertile.

Can they keep one for us? Of course. For a very small fee we have a new Boer buck. We think of Dutch names such as Johann, Pieter and Meindert. Hans seems more appropriate and can even be elongated to Hans-some.

So if he can survive Curly and pack on some pounds then next year he might start fathering some more meat goats.