Meet our New Meat Kids!

This photo was included with the craigslist ad for bottle babies.

This week we picked up two new bottle babies in Robertson County. Their dam inexplicably died within a few days of their birth. They were just shy of two weeks old when we picked them up.

The second craigslist ad photo. Who could resist?

These two new doelings, Shea and Taylor, are Savannah x Boer crosses and slated to be our new meat goat does. Although a few days ago I had never heard of the Savannah breed of goat, a little research online made me a fan. Like Boers, the Savannah goat is a South African breed of meat goat. Unlike Boers they are bred for resilience and disease resistance. The farmer from whom I bought these gals mentioned how his Savannah goats require little hoof care, while a clerk at the Co-op has warned me against full-blooded Boers because they are notorious for hoof problems. These cross-bred gals make a fine addition to our meat-dairy herd.

The new kids corralled at home with our LGD Biscuit for their sitter.

Our on-site bucks are Boer x Nubian crosses. Once these new doelings mature enough to breed, we are hoping to get some fine meat kids from breedings to our bucks. For now, though, they are penned safely apart from the full-grown goats. We will continue bottle feeding until we can get them switched over to the dams we currently have in milk. Ideally I would like to see Nubian doe Leslie take them on, but I do not know if she will produce enough milk for them; these gals are larger than the Nubian bucklings have been.

Welcome Misses Shea and Taylor!