Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees...

We have does close to kidding!

We know there is NO absolute with goats. Everyone does things their own way and it doesn't mean it's right or wrong - just different. Our goat breeding program begins in October. I always say I'll wait to breed them until November or December so the babies are born a bit later and there is less chance of a wintery Spring storm.

Only, when they begin to go into heat in October, I panic and think, "If I don't breed them now, I'll miss their next cycle or, or maybe they won't cycle again! It's now or never!" And breeding commences.

Usually, when the does go into heat they will flick their tails back and forth. They will also wag their tails in a similar way when they are happy to see us, you give them a treat, you feed them, when they are annoyed, a fly is bothering them. Finding the particular wag meaning "I'm ready for a man" takes a little practice.

Since we have a buck now, the does will stand next to his pen and drive him crazy! He usually alerts us that one of the girls is ready for a visit - he snorts and makes noises like a rapid fire machine gun, his tongue sticks out and he flaps it like someone giving you a raspberry. It is really quite a display for the ladies.

No cheesy pick-up lines - it's all about display, display display.

That, and they piss all over themselves... to a doe, that smell is like the finest cologne...sort of like Polo was to me back in the 80's....

I've known people with does that had five in one kidding, rare, but it can happen. How do they keep all their legs straight?? That comes to 20 legs in one uterus! First timers sometimes have one kid. Typically goats have twins or triplets.

We have FOUR pregnant does, we could have 12 kids... makes both Furry Husband and I a bit uneasy. We've only had two does at a time pregnant, now we have FOUR. That's double - just do the math!

Chocolat will have kids for the first time and she's the first due on or around March 10. Sonata comes next on March 14, Spot on March 20 and little Savannah on April 7.

I was going to "crotch" the goats this weekend but Sat I spent all day playing with horses and Sunday a storm moved in with big wind gusts so I stayed in. Crotching is shaving the doe's udder and the back of her legs and tail about a week before their due date so when the "blessed event" occurs, you don't get a bunch of placenta, blood, afterbirth etc. in the hair. Last year I was lazy. I thought, awww, c'mon, how messy could it be if you leave the hair?

It was a freakin mess. For a long time.