Breeder is going to email pix and then I'll go see the buck. I have 2 LaMancha does, 2 LaMancha doelings, born March 30, 09, and a Nubian doe that is 16 months old. I am going to hold off breeding the doelings till they are a bit bigger. Hoping to improve the milk production of the next generation with this buck. I post pix soon as I get them.
sounds like a nice deal if the horns arent to terrible to live with (scurs can be nasty to deal with as they get older). He is a French Alpine -- how does that work into your breeding program with Lamanchas and Nubians?
I'm prob going to band the scurs. Have to see how bad they are. One of my does has bad scurs, but is otherwise a good goat. The LaManchas were developed from a Swiss breed crossed with an earless goat, though that is all I know of the ancestry. I haven't been able to find a really good LaMancha buck unrelated to my does. I don't show, I'm more into the dairy part. I don't keep bucklings, they are not, IMHO worth pouring milk into. Tell you, the truth, I'm not too sure I have much of a breeding program yet. I'll have to see how the offspring turn out then decide if I'm going to try to get a LaMancha buck or not. I know I'll not get a Nubian buck. If I decide, in a year or 2, to breed my Nubian doe to a Nubian buck, I can take her to my sister's bucks.
I dont keep bucks either. By the time they are a two weeks old they are gone unless i have a deposit on them. I have a friend who rehabilitates raptor birds. Hey buys all my unspoken for buck kids for $25 a piece from me, he raises them on milk replacer and butchers them out for his birds. he takes my old laying hends and roosters as well. beth
oh. ok, I read somewhere a while ago that some breeders drown the male kids at birth, which I heard the same about puppies before. seems a little harsh but some people run things differently and believe in different things
yea, i know some breeders drown or put buck kids down at birth. It seems like there would be some use for them, even on someones table, but a lot of people dont want to take the time to look. beth
Just brought him home this afternoon. He is getting acquainted with the Sr LaMancha and the Nubian. They haven't objected, so that is good. I'm going to try to stagger breeding and hold my yearling LaMancha off at least 2 weeks and the 2 younger girls at least another 4-6. I got to look at his mother and she is really nice. Great udder and milker. I'm thinking of doing AI next yr. Have to see how things go. Can't afford it this yr. There is no market for dairy wethers here. After pouring milk into them for months you are lucky to get 25$ each, very lucky. I cannot afford to do that so I cull at birth. If there is anybody here that cares to take them, you can have them free, but have to pick them up right after they are born. If I'm expecting you to come get them, I'll start them on colostrum from a bottle. Unfortunately it is a fact that you must look at your bottom line or get out of the business. Hate to be hard hearted, but have to face facts.
