Well, we've finally brought home the mini's. They were waiting to be bred before we brought them home. We have a mini-LaMancha, Shaasta, and a mini-Nubian, Staar. They are both super sweet. Staar is pretty much attached to my leg when I'm out with her. Shaasta just loves a good head scratch and giving goat kisses.
They're getting along pretty well with the other girls. Esmerelda of course is the herd queen and doesn't let the new girls forget it. She came from the same farm. She doesn't bother Shaasta too much but rams poor Staar every time she's in her sights. It's settling down a little bit. Gaabby likes to ride the new girls and give them a jab with her horns if they try to eat 'her' food. Taabitha is her usual non-troublemaking self. She just wants to eat and play and get along with everyone.
The new girls should be bred for February/March kids. Esmerelda should also kid in February. I can't wait!!! The breeder had an 8 week old mini-Mancha. I swear she was less than a foot high and as round as a basketball. I wanted to stick her in my pocket and run. She almost would have fit. Shaasta has Nigerian Dwarf ears, but was bred to a gopher-eared (no ears, just earholes) mini-Mancha buck which means all of her kids will have elf ears(tiny, pointed ears).
Without further ado, let's meet the new girls:
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| Shaasta reminds me of a sheep. |
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| She has beautiful blue eyes. |
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| She has wattles too. |
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| Staar is beautiful and has ginormous ears. I'll have to watch her in strong winds. |
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| She has kind of frosty polkadots and frosted ears and muzzle. Nubians have always been my favorite goats based on looks(but all of my girls are beautiful). |
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| Here's a nice pic of the herd grazing peacefully. |
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| Taabitha trying to climb the electric pole to get the nettles that clearly taste better than the ones at ground level. |
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| Gaabby grazing. I just love her 'zebra' stripes on her face. |
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| Shaasta's baby daddy, Tinker Toy. Notice the lack of ears. If Shaasta has a girl, I think I"m obligated to name her Tinkerbell aren't I? |
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| Staar's baby daddy, Firecracker. He's from a good lineage. |
Don't you think these matings will make some adorable kids? Are there really any kids that aren't adorable? This is going to be a long 155 days. I am soooo anxious. Stay tuned for more goat stories.
What beautiful additions to your farm family! Oh,and babies this spring! Will these be your first kids ? I just love when there are cute little kids bouncing around every where! You should check out my friend Texan's Kid Coats, she makes then herself...they work really well.I have used them and lots of folks in our blog circle have too .They really help when you have kids born in cooler weather!
ReplyDeleteThese will be my first kids. These are my first goats. I can't wait. I have been going to the county fairs longing to have my own goats for as long as I can remember! I'll check out the coats. Even more fun playing dress-up with kids ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think you'll definitely have adorable kids! I didn't know there were mini-Nubians. One of my Nubian does is small, only about 85 pounds full grown. She might lend herself to mini-izing the breed. :)
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I didn't know there were mini's until I found her. I had heard of mini-Manchas but thought they were just small or bred down. They breed mini's of all the dairy breeds by crossing them with Nigerians. They're similar to Grade goats in the ADGA, they're purebred mini's after a certain number of generations. There's even a MDGA (mini).
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