# My Mindy and her gang



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I love all of our does, they are all very special. But Mindy is 'my baby.' She is getting ready to turn a year old in a couple of weeks and thought I'd share and reflect some fun moments along with some recent ones with her and her 'gang.'

Mindy was a tiny triplet about 4 1/2lbs at most. She came first, got her dry and up walking around, then mama laid down and had a buck and doe one right after the other, so in the cold I was trying to get everyone dry quickly. Mindy got cold and weak, couldn't get her to latch on, so I ended up taking her in, warming her up, syringe feeding her mom's milk, and well.. she became our only bottle baby last year, living in the house for 2 weeks wearing diapers and onesies. 
She is a silly girl, she knows she is a goat, but she also knows she can get away with just about anything with me lol. She's sort of the leader of the young does, she doesn't let anyone push her around. It's funny watching her antics, and the other girls following her lead.

Most of these are from my old phone.

A quick video after I finished getting her brother and sister cleaned off. 























I don't remember how old here









3 days old


















9 days old









2 weeks old helping me watch a new set of triplets that had just been born




































2 weeks old









About 5 months old









My daughters picture









She was shown over the summer but I don't really have pics as I was super busy holding goats or running to get another goat. Wish I had gotten lots of pics. She is a terrible goat to show even though she placed well, she refuses to stand nice with her head up lol

More pics in following post!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

She sure is a sweet looking goat.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Last week, I was coming down sick but the weather was so nice I wanted to get everyone weighed and trim feet (badly overdue). 
Naturally Mindy led the way and the others followed to my work spot for the day, even bringing some of the babies along

Oh but first... while they were eating 2 of the babies came in there - they weren't used to being with babies, so Winter (Mindy's sister) was terrified of them and afraid to go to the feeder lol


















Bella is the bully of the young does, and a little bit crazy for no reason as she used to be really friendly, but likes me lol









Mindy leading the hunt...mission? to find the bag of Animal Crackers


















Jazabelle, Mindy and Winter









Got the animal crackers lady? Wherever Mindy is at...Jazabelle is right there.









Our porch









Hunt continues









Precious and some of the babies









Precious checking out her baby sister, Willow (paint). They haven't been around each other more than a couple of times.









Mindy impatiently waiting her turn...just so she could be a drama queen lol

Jazabelle checking out Willow









My daughter managed to get a pic of Mindy...grabbing the end of the hoof trimmers and holding on to it while I was trying to trim feet lol


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All very nice pics, thanks for sharing.


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## Island Milker (Dec 11, 2018)

Yea thanks for sharing the pictures.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Pretty girl!


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Awesome pics! thanks for sharing!


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

What a cutie with attitude....gotta love her!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks  She's my baby. I feel bad as I haven't seen her much in the past 2 weeks. I caught some kind of virus that has really had a hold on me. 
She's such a stinker, she's bossy, but she doesn't want to be the boss, the others just follow along. She taught them how to be goats and to browse/graze after weaning which I thought was funny. 
You tell the other girls to move, and get them going and Mindy just stands there like 'I don't have to move' lol. I know many of us have those special, silly goats.


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

What great pictures she sounds like a one of a kind girl! Feel better soon


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks  I feel a little better each day, just wish I could get rid of the ear congestion completely. My left ear is blocked the most, I don't hear out of it very well as it is, so I feel slightly off balance with the stuffy 'bubble' feeling.

Mindy is quite a silly girl. Today, we cleaned the barn, and the does in the doe pen decided to go out for a while. Mindy was in the other pen with Winter, Jazabelle and 2 moms with kids. She threw a fit wanting to go with them, so I got her and her buddies out, and they ran back there. But then Mindy wanted to come back and was yelling and throwing a fit because my daughter tried to make her go with the herd to the very back of our place for a while. She bypassed my daughter and hauled butt yelling the whole way.
What did she want? --ME-- lol. So I stopped what I was doing, and walked her out to the back with the other girls, and hung out with them for a while. She followed me like a lost puppy and wouldn't let me out of her sight. Made me feel good that she missed me so much 
It was fun until... it started to rain again...

Video from this morning of the girls before it started to rain. It was barely sprinkling so they were ready to go back to the barn lol.
First doe on the left is Luna on the right is her daughter, Harmony (Mindy & winter's mom). Luna always talks to me, and usually I can't get pics of her because she is constantly approaching wanting scratches and hugs, she's so sweet. Harmony only cares about me when she is pregnant or wants food/treats lol 





Harmony giving her mama, Luna some lovin'. 









Chloe, the herd queen









Mindy goes where mom goes... the other goats wouldn't follow us









Earlier at feeding time....
we lock the 3 kids in their creep feeder, so they understand feeding time means they get grain. They tried to make me feel guilty lol Wish I had my real camera out there for these vs. phone 
Mr. Jingles the only boy on the place









Jazabelle and Mindy impatiently waiting for breakfast









Willow and Mr. Jingles attacking my daughter who is holding Mr. Jingles sister, Mae. 









Willow and her cute, crooked blaze


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Awesome pictures - just shows how personable goats are.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Love them.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Love them too. Willow standing, looks like she has a bright white sweater on above her brown shorts.lol


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Dwarf Dad said:


> Love them too. Willow standing, looks like she has a bright white sweater on above her brown shorts.lol


LOL Now I'll never be able to look at her the same without thinking about your post lol!


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## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

Gorgeous goats! I love hefty boers <3


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks FoxRidge 

Had another fun day with the girls. Bella and Mindy stuck to me like glue. Winter is coming in heat and wanted my full attention and kept rubbing my hip with her head, and if I didn't pay attention she used her horns gently nudging me. So silly. I cherish those moments with them.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Awww I love seeing your girls! And you can just tell Mindy is full of personality just by her pictures!


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## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

too cute!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Dear me, how many memories passing through my mind when seeing these very good pictures! (Yes, you seem to be able to get photos where something interesting happens.) Good thing your daughter seems to like to be "at the bottom of the heap", since that seems to be where she ends up, if it does not begin that way. Stopping the model with the knees, how many times I have done similar, camera or not. How many times I have tried to sneak away from the flock, and found the whole gang following me! How many sweeties like Mindy have I had during the years. Yes, the yelling when not seeing me, regardless of other company. Yes, sitting on the grass, milking with both hands, and seeing a kid find the handle of my belt knife, pulling it out, and shaking it for fun, while I had to choose, either see the kid drop the knife somewhere where it could cause damage, or let go the udder with one hand and risk the goat believing the milking is over, and she walks away, most probably putting a dirty foot in the milk bowl ...

Ey, is it easy to love these animals!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

It's definitely easy to love them  Which makes it horribly difficult to sell them! We've sold some in the last year that have just broken our hearts. But have to make the decisions as we don't have room to keep them all. 
They all have such unique personalities, habits and voices. I love calling each one by name and them answering me lol.

When we went to a BIG goat show in November, Precious would freak out if she couldn't see my youngest daughter. She would try to turn around on the goat stand, yelling for her in a panic. It really was heartwarming in a way knowing how much of a bond they have. After my daughter showed her, and gave her to me and ran around to get her other doe to show, Precious dragged me following her. 

I love seeing my kids show, we don't have the best show goats out there, but we are proud of our herd of misfits  Ribbons are nice, but memories like this are better.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

HoosierShadow said:


> It's definitely easy to love them  Which makes it horribly difficult to sell them! We've sold some in the last year that have just broken our hearts. But have to make the decisions as we don't have room to keep them all.


I found out today that the reason my wife doesn't want to breed ours is that she would not be able to let the babies go. So understandable.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Yep, it's extremely hard, and the longer you keep them the more heartbreaking it becomes when you do sell them. We sold a family favorite over the summer, it was an absolutely brutal decision, and honestly even though she has a great home, I wish I could go back, because we would have kept her :'( I didn't realize just how much it hurt us all to let her go. Even at a year old she was a lap goat.
We have 3 babies right now that are a month old. 1 of them we'll try to keep, she's a real sweetie and my youngest daughter wants to show her - Willow the little paint. The other little doe and buck we'll see what happens. We're selling their mama after she weans (no fault of her own, she's a great mama), the buckling will be sold unless the kids opt to keep him for showing, same with the doeling. We have 3 does due in the spring, so I'm hesitant to make decisions until we see what they have.

Last year we bred 6 does and got 16 kids! 4 sets of triplets and 2 sets of twins. I think 9 does and 6 bucks. We kept 4 of the 9 does, and it was heartbreaking to sell the others. We kept a lot of them past weaning and showed them randomly in the county fairs. Night time is always the hardest for me, I lay in bed thinking about them, the good memories and how much they will be missed. I told my husband we really need to find a bigger farm so we can keep more of our babies. We have a little over 2 acres, and with the creek that runs through it, we're really strapped for how many we can keep. Land is ridiculously expensive in our county though. We have a little hole in the wall place surrounded by million of dollars in horse farms.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Yes, this is the main reason why I decided never more to sell or give away an animal! Rather kill them myself, then I know for sure what has happened, the grief is still hard, but I will not wonder how things are for the loved one.

Yes, more than once I had "emergency calls" from animals who had left, I do not know how it comes to pass, but I know that it works. Some people call it telepathy. Some people think it is merely phantasies, but I know it has worked those times I have been able to go there, or to lift a telephone receiver.

Warning for a bigger farm, the number of necessary departures will get bigger also!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

HoosierShadow said:


> It's definitely easy to love them  Which makes it horribly difficult to sell them! We've sold some in the last year that have just broken our hearts. But have to make the decisions as we don't have room to keep them all.
> They all have such unique personalities, habits and voices. I love calling each one by name and them answering me lol.
> 
> When we went to a BIG goat show in November, Precious would freak out if she couldn't see my youngest daughter. She would try to turn around on the goat stand, yelling for her in a panic. It really was heartwarming in a way knowing how much of a bond they have. After my daughter showed her, and gave her to me and ran around to get her other doe to show, Precious dragged me following her.
> ...


I totally understand, I have had to sell some in which I was very attached too as well. But as you said we cant keep them all.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Trollmor said:


> Yes, this is the main reason why I decided never more to sell or give away an animal! Rather kill them myself, then I know for sure what has happened, the grief is still hard, but I will not wonder how things are for the loved one.
> 
> Yes, more than once I had "emergency calls" from animals who had left, I do not know how it comes to pass, but I know that it works. Some people call it telepathy. Some people think it is merely phantasies, but I know it has worked those times I have been able to go there, or to lift a telephone receiver.
> 
> Warning for a bigger farm, the number of necessary departures will get bigger also!


 We've sold to both bad and good. I sell a lot of them on Facebook these days, and become friends with the buyers, so it's been fun to keep up with them. No issues so far. But like good buyers/homes, there will be bad ones. We've sold some in the past that I know died, and it is heartbreaking because the #1 issue is... first sign of a problem THEY DON"T ASK FOR HELP! 
Usually it's not even the goat that we sold them that started the problem, and 95% of the time it's a parasite related issue that could have been avoided with proper deworming and again, if they weren't sure they could have asked. I'm definitely far from a know it all, but I'm sure willing to give my opinion and help if I can. I don't want to see anyone lose an animal.
My kids have shown goats in 4-H (youth club) since 2011, and along the way we've met some wonderful people, some we are so close to they are like family. We have each others backs, which is great, and the support we offer each other in hard times... If they are stumped they are not too proud to ask for help, same here. Again, wish other people were the same way.

Having a bigger farm would definitely mean we'd still make hard decisions, but I'd think it would be a little easier than having a very small setup and making extremely hard decisions every year just because of room. 
I'd love to have 2 herds. A mostly hands off 'commercial' type herd for the purpose of raising for meat or possibly offering some for 4-H kids projects.
Then have a small herd of registered goats like what we have now. 
We've been looking for land, but want to stay in our county and it's just so expensive. I really don't want to move to a different county.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Boers are so cute - and yours look like they have tons of personality!

I know what you mean about the pain of selling them. We sold off our little herd of LaManchas this past fall. I still miss those ding-a-lings!! They were such funny girls.

Thankfully, we are sure they are in a good home. Their new mom just emailed me this week with updates on all 3 of them. She really loves them, so that's a great confort!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

HoosierShadow said:


> I'm definitely far from a know it all, but I'm sure willing to give my opinion and help if I can.


And here at the forum is more help to get! 


HoosierShadow said:


> My kids have shown goats in 4-H (youth club)


It is called 4H here also. 

So thanks for the word '4-H' (with a hyphen), and, @groovyoldlady, for the word 'ding-a-ling', which I think means something very positive!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

LOL ding a ling is a funny way of calling something silly  
Here 4-H has the hyphen, very cool that you have 4-H in Sweden as well. 

Groovy - that is great that your LaMancha's are in a great home, and the owner keeps you updated  I love keeping up with goats we've sold. I've become friends with a lot of the buyers on Facebook, and it's been fun following the goats. I'm excited because 2 of the does we sold who are getting ready to turn 2 years old are getting ready to have their first kids within the next month. One of them is a older, full sister to Precious and Willow, and I think she is bred to a color or dappled buck so I will be curious to see what they have - my daughter wants to breed their mom or Precious to a buck that can throw color - their mom is solid red, but their sire threw strictly traditional or at least '1' paint kid each season.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Silly? Hm, as I said recently in another thread, don't be disappointed if you get outsmarted now & then!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I took some pics of the girls Thursday. Amazingly we've had a few days of dry weather!

Mindy may be a smaller doe, but she is mighty lol. She turned a year old on 2/2 and weighs 136.6lbs. She's a little bigger than her mom was at 14mo, so I am hoping that means her and her sister will grow to be like their mama who is normally closer to 200lbs.



















Mindy's sister, Winter who weighed in at 131.4lbs yesterday.





































Bella turned a year old on 1/24 and weighs 143.4lbs.










It's hard to get pics of her










Precious turns a year old on 2/19, and is 144.0lbs.



















Precious next to her mama, Misty



















Jazabelle will be a year old at the end of April and is 131.2lbs.




























Mae and her buddy, Willow just turned 2 months old










Mr. Jingles (Mae's twin)










Rosalie, Mr. Jingles and Mae
(Mae 38.4lbs









Willow and Mr. Jingles


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Great looking herd! Dry ground?


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Steady. Is it muscles or fat?


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

I like Precious's length.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Dwarf Dad said:


> Great looking herd! Dry ground?


Amazingly, we've had dry ground for a few days! The mud is firming up! But sadly, rain tomorrow. We were supposed to have snow/rain overnight into today, 1-3" forecasted, then yesterday they said little to no snow. It ended up staying dry, sun was out and despite being cool it was a beautiful day. We sat outside for 2hrs just hanging out with the goats and enjoying.



Trollmor said:


> Steady. Is it muscles or fat?


What exactly are you trying to say? These girls are on a low grain diet with grass hay. Precious is the only one that has a bit of fat on her. Mindy is at good weight, Jazablle is at good weight ( with a big hay belly), Bella is slim and Winter is finally picking up. My kids plan to show most of them as yearlings, so we'll be working on firming them all up as soon as I talk to my feed store on the right feed/supplement to help keep them leaner and firmer to the touch (breeding goats not market). Unfortunately, here they want them to be conditioned or they don't do well. I try to go borderline. Our does aren't fancy show goats, they do good at county shows, and okay at ABGA shows. I try to keep ours in the middle on condition, that away when they are done being shown we can drop them down to nearly no feed for a few months and breed them. Especially with the way our weather has been. Exercise has been a huge issue lately because of the rain. We had the wettest year on record last year, and we just can't catch a break.



Dwarf Dad said:


> I like Precious's length.


Thanks, she and Bella are our longest yearling does.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

HoosierShadow said:


> What exactly are you trying to say?


I was wondering.

If all those swellings are muscles, then they must be really strong and fit! But if it is fat tissue, then you can imagine how much fat is also around their heart and delivery channel. => health problems.

Jazabelle photo 3 shows a hind part that is really worthy of a beef producer. Is she?


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

After my dairy gosts, those beautiful Boers look like beef cattle! I'm always amazed at how big bodied the Boers are.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

I never noticed that beef character before. *Always learning*


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Love them.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Trollmor said:


> I was wondering.
> 
> If all those swellings are muscles, then they must be really strong and fit! But if it is fat tissue, then you can imagine how much fat is also around their heart and delivery channel. => health problems.
> 
> Jazabelle photo 3 shows a hind part that is really worthy of a beef producer. Is she?


Swellings? lol. Yes I definitely know all about fat and health issues. Don't forget that it's winter time and these girls have winter coats. I check spines and armpits for fat deposits often, and adjust feed. My issue is with Precious. She carries more cover than I want her to have from the ribs forward, but is greatly lacking beyond. These girls are easy keepers. 
Curious how many Boer goats you see in person? Our goats are slimmer than many I see or put my hands on.

These girls won't be bred until near the end of this year, after our summer show season they will be taken off of feed except maybe a handful a day (so they don't freak out completely...). We don't breed them if they are carrying extra cover. Crazy thing is they will look thinner than the does they show up against! Our girls are kicked outside every day unless it's rainy/nasty out, where as a lot of show does are barn/stall kept.

Mindy is firm to the touch, and a little tank IMO. But Jazabelle is the real deal, we've never had a doe with a butt like that lol! She is a tank from front to rear with great bone.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Great herd pics Hoosier! How many do you have now? I know what you guys are talking about with the selling...I sold my Nubian buck last year and regret it. I miss him and no way to contact the new owner as they didn't respond to my texts after sale. I also sold a cross doe that I miss quite often. It is difficult to have such limited space. I try to keep no more than 9 full time and 2 to 3 meat boys for the season and that even is pushing it.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Goats Rock said:


> After my dairy gosts, those beautiful Boers look like beef cattle! I'm always amazed at how big bodied the Boers are.


Yes they do! Sadly though, there are many, especially in the show world that are over conditioned big time. But a lot of the bigger breeders can get away with it because they usually end up flushing the does anyway.



Trollmor said:


> I never noticed that beef character before. *Always learning*


You must not be around Boer goats. Some of them are so massive. My son's buck we sold last fall was 2 1/2 years old and 300lbs and 330lbs in more of show condition and was very solid.

This was him right before we sold him, he is the sire of the babies, and the yearlings - except Jazabelle. LOVE this guy and miss him so much.
(That's Misty next to him about 1 month bred she is a 200lb doe)


















Him again a year ago












toth boer goats said:


> Love them.


Thanks!  You know I LOVE your goats! Did you find a buck? I meant to ask you if you had.
I like the boys we bought, one of them has issues, so we're working on those, but as long as he heals up he's going to be really nice! His brother is just fine. They are happy, spunky, silly boys who have settled in well. My kids still haven't named them yet!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

NyGoatMom said:


> Great herd pics Hoosier! How many do you have now? I know what you guys are talking about with the selling...I sold my Nubian buck last year and regret it. I miss him and no way to contact the new owner as they didn't respond to my texts after sale. I also sold a cross doe that I miss quite often. It is difficult to have such limited space. I try to keep no more than 9 full time and 2 to 3 meat boys for the season and that even is pushing it.


Thanks! We currently have 5 adult does, 5 yearling does, 3 babies, and 2 young bucks. Sadly, we'll be selling 1 adult doe and 2 babies very soon  We normally don't keep more than 8 does, so it's been a bit of a strain, but once we get the new buck pen shelter done and get the boys moved out there, it frees up more barn space. 
Yes, it's definitely hard to sell. We get so attached to them. It's sad to not be able to stay in touch with every owner. We had a buck about 4 years ago, I'd LOVE to breed back to him, but new owner wanted him for breeding market/commercial/meat so never transferred him, and I lost his #. If I knew he'd throw kids like he did, we would have kept him longer. But then... we wouldn't have gotten Ritz.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

HoosierShadow said:


> Swellings? lol. ...


A very nice description! Thanks! 

I do wish those shows always would include a Run, Jump, and Balance test ... That would let those stable prisoners out, don't you think?


HoosierShadow said:


> You must not be around Boer goats.


Very true! Before joining here, I did not even know the word, thought toth boer goats was a very odd nick! ("What might "toth boer" mean? Goats I know.")

Very nice pictures, but ooohhhh, they do look like meat cows! Can they run and jump?

For names, I think those twins look like Bill and Bull, two stupid cats in a book for children ...


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Trollmor said:


> A very nice description! Thanks!
> 
> I do wish those shows always would include a Run, Jump, and Balance test ... That would let those stable prisoners out, don't you think?Very true! Before joining here, I did not even know the word, thought toth boer goats was a very odd nick! ("What might "toth boer" mean? Goats I know.")
> 
> ...


Oh yes, they can run, jump, climb, and find many ways to get in trouble too! They are just very different from Dairy breeds and are supposed to have muscle, size, and cover on them. 
If you google 'Boer Goat' you will see lots of pictures of them. They originate from South Africa.

We have logs, and things for the goats to play and jump on around our place, even the mama's will get up there unless they are heavy bred. Issue we've had is the rain has been ridiculous - we get maybe 2 dry days a week if we're lucky, so the goats spend more time inside than ever. It's usually not like this, but the last year has been very rainy. Praying we dry out this summer. 
They are forecasting 3-6" of rain starting tonight into the weekend, with heavier rain tomorrow. It's hard on the animals.


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