# Decisions, decisions.. my kids herd.



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I am so unsure what we should do with our kids herd, especially with winter coming upon us in a few months.
They have 5 adult does, and 5 young does. Ideally, I want to get it down to 8. But I feel these are some of the nicest young does they've bred, and think they'd make good replacements for a couple of the adults.

Keep in mind.. we have '2 acres,' but we do have a decent amount of shelter. The problem is we are trying to cut the feed bill down a bit. I told my kids if they want to keep their young does, then most likely they would have to put back X amount of $$ from selling their wethers to help pay for their keep.

So here's what we have right now...The girls are on the thin side as we haven't been graining them this summer, starting them on grain one at a time as they are getting ready to be bred.

Snow White- 6yo 'kiko/cross' --- not going anywhere, she is the queen of her herd and of our hearts!









Wysteria 75% Boer - 3yo - not going anywhere, stuck with us like Snow White! 









Pandora - 2yo, daughter of Snow White - thinner built, but long bodied, has given 2 sets of twin bucks - great for market wethers.









Dixie - Wysteria's 1 1/2yr old 88% daughter - clean/well spaced 2x2 teats, average looking doe - kidded a nice single 10lb doe kid in Feb, 1x1 teats, and is a big girl! 
Pic from earlier this year right after she kidded









Luna - 100%FB - small yearling, had a ROUGH winter, lost her sister/buddy, and became severely depressed, leading into toxemia, had to induce, kidded fine but lost one of her twins after birth. She is a great Mother, and her daughter was my son's best youth show doe in the commercial classes! 









Young does

Sierra - 88% daughter of Wysteria , 1x1 teat, not going anywhere! Born 1/25/15









Misty - 100% - sister to Luna born 1/25/15. Smaller frame doe, 1x1 teat, showed competitively in June, caught respiratory illness, and took a while to get over it/bounce back, still on the thin side, but might be a nice addition for breeding next year...









Rosie - 100% FB, born end of Jan, full sis to sire of our kids, and her twin brother is who we are using for breeding this year <Marshall>. She was given to my son as a gift after he lost his beloved doe earlier this year.









Maggie - Luna's Mar born doe, she is 1x1 but has 2 spurs on 1 side, and I believe 1 spur on the other no spurs look functional <we have never kept does with spurs...>. She showed very competitively in the youth commercial doe classes this summer.
She is also my son's baby girl.









Bean - 94% Dixie's Feb born doe kid. She's around 100lbs, and we may breed her at 8mo to continue my oldest daughters breeding project goal before she ages out of 4-H.
Pic is from mid July









So that's what we have.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

The girls I would be more likely to sell would be pandora and Dixie? Not sure about Dixie though. If not Dixie I would sell misty. That's just my thought off what you have written here.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Well , all i can say is I'm glad I'm not in your shoes to make those kinds of decisions…..

You know who my fav is….and I'm so glad she is staying , i hope she is behaving herself. 

They all look so shiny and happy , what great pictures !


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks! Yep it's very tough!

Laura - Snow White is behaving herself, and is as sweet as ever. The only time we have had an issue is when we bring out their mineral block, she will literately growl at the others letting them know it's hers lol!! So we have to stand guard. One day I hope to be able to leave it out free choice until we can switch back to loose mineral!!

Bree -- Pandora was going to be my choice to sell. She's very sweet, is a good mom, easy to wean as well. But then she gave my son a 4th place highweight market wether at the state fair, and gave kids a nice wether last year that showed really well, so now I am so confused!

Dixie IMO is a useful doe, easy kidding in Feb, and we really do like her doe kid. Would love to see what she has next year another nice PB doe, or a nice market wether for my kids? Now you know why it's such a tough decision. Otherwise, Dixie is a bit 'tomboy' looking. That pic isn't very good, her butt/rear end looks funny after just kidding. She's a little on the thin side right now, but now that she's back on grain she'll pick up.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is a hard choice.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Pandora and Maggie.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Pandora and Maggie is who I would sell to get you down to 8. Pandora because of her small bone ratio and Maggie because of the teat spurs


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Choice three is misty


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Well right or wrong this is kinda how I break things down on who stays and goes, I also give myself a # to stick with. Adult does come first, they are old/big enough to kid and not have to wait to breed. If I have no reason to sell any adults then no kids are kept. Now if there's a doeling that I just can't live without (so far there hasn't been lol) but I would sell someone that had a single. My rule is already 2 singles and your gone but singles really only pay for feed, maybe a little extra but still. Teats as long as the kids can nurse I'm not picky about. I've had bad teated does throw great teats and I've had good teated does bred to good teated buck and throw bad teats. 
I'm sure all this isn't very helpful lol but me I would sell the 2 youngest or if just one then Dixie


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I always will keep the younger better replacements, no matter having to raise them. ;-)


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I am not good at sticking with any number but if I decided to sell some. First ones to go are ones with flaws like vertical folded ears, bad teats, or poor growth, also they get 3 trys if they have singles. I have had 3 does that had singles for 2 years then on year 3 had twins. I usually would get rid of an adult over a kid because I you are always supposed to breed up.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank You Everyone for your input I appreciate it! I wish these decisions were easier!

We're toying with letting the kids keep all of their does, see how the young does grow out through the winter, and then after the adults kid they have to decide who definitely needs to be sold.
They are all good & useful adult does, they've given good kids, tend to usually be easy keepers, except for Luna, but I cut her a break because she really has had it rough, devastated her when she lost her buddy back in Feb and developed toxemia IMO due to depression, and then really rough on her to wean her baby ♥ She's getting a chance to overcome all of it as we are pampering her along...

I told the kids, in order for us to give this a try, they HAVE to use $$ from selling their wethers at the 4-H sale to help support and care for the 4 young does that won't be bred. The only thing I want them to pay for is grain, some hay, and wormer.

There are a few other things to figure out. Like... I'd want to switch them over to roll bale hay vs square bales. It's the same hay, and much cheaper for roll bales.
Problem is a roll bale won't fit in the girls shelter, doorways aren't wide enough.
So... the only thing I can think of is having the kids make a small cattle panel shelter <we have one for the adult does & it works great>. The only problem with that is location. The only place I can think of putting it would have it under a walnut tree! :hammer: Might be able to trim the limbs back enough....

We'll see...

I'd love to make this work, I really would like to get kids out of Pandora and Dixie at least once more before we'd decide to sell them. I'd also like to see how these young does grow out. Maggie has the little spurs, but she's a nice doe, and she is my son's baby, I think it would break his heart to sell her after losing his beloved doe back in Feb. Honestly, it would break mine too. She drives me crazy at feeding time <loudest lol>, but absolutely adore her, she's a sweetie.

So far I think all of the adult does are bred, except Pandora. Bless her heart she is in heat, but I want her to wait a few weeks, so everyone isn't kidding all at the same time.

I think Snow White possibly took a few weeks ago, then Wysteria Dixie and Luna this past week.


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