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Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



It’s the time again! Time to stare thoughtfully at animal taints until babies plop gooily into the world. For those who didn’t follow last year, I run a small farm where I raise mostly heritage or rare breed animals for their fleece which I sell as yarn, roving or just raw. I currently have 21 sheep and 5 angora goats with more due any time now. All of my animals are valuable members of my flock and have their own names and personalities and I’m kind of crazy about all of them. I’m planning on keeping back a number of the animals born this year and others will be sold as registered breeding stock or as fiber producers for spinners flocks.

Babies are due any time now so I figured it was time to post the thread and stop posting endless sheep stuff in the random nonsense thread.

I have 5 breeding groups of 4 different breeds and 2 species this year.

Sheeps!

Jacobs

The first breed I became involved with was the Jacob sheep. This is a small, hardy breed that was developed in the 1600s to be lawnmowers on English estates. They are unique due to their spots and multiple horns on both sexes. Jacobs can have 2, 4, or 6 horns or any number in between. They have a medium-fine wool with a lot of loft that felts well and makes fantastic outerwear. You can separate out the colors or spin them together to make a lovely tweed-y yarn. Fun fact: Jacobs are genetically black sheep with white spots, not the other way around.

My senior Jacob ram is Dennis:



He is 4 years old and originally from New Jersey. He has 4 horns but they’re spaced pretty poorly. He makes up for it by being the most unflappably chill ram ever. Dennis was a triplet and was previously owned by a little boy as a 4h project.

He is bred to:



Jazz is 8 years old and the queen of the pasture. She looks like she’s carrying about 20 lambs but she is just sort of whale-like all the time. Jazz is too clever for her own good and will do anything to get food. She is also the loudest sheep ever and has learned the sound of my door opening and assumes it means I’m heading out to feed her.

And



Juniper is Jazz’s 2010 daughter, whose favorite hobby is bouncing on top of other sheep. She is kind of plain looking but she is sweet and outgoing and I absolutely loved her last lamb. I’m hoping she gives me another just like it. Unfortunately she was a big fat hussy and ended up exposed to both Dennis and my Cormo ram when she was in heat so there’s going to be a Maury moment when her lambs are born where we discover who the father is. If the lamb is spotted it’s Dennis’ lamb, if it’s solid black it’s Al’s lamb.

The other Jacob group was bred by my junior ram lamb:



Win is super cute and friendly. He’s still pretty tiny and it cracked me up to see the girls push him around. He is from a really old flock in Michigan and I’m really excited to add his genes to my flock. His fleece is amazing and his grandma was the best ewe in show at the Jacob sheep national show a few years back. I've already had someone asking me for a ram lamb fathered by him for their flock.

He is bred to:



Jewel is my favorite little girl ever. She is so sweet and friendly. She thinks she deserves the best and will be sure you know it. Even her horns look like a tiara. I’m really excited about what she might produce this year. Hopefully she doesn't feel she is too good to share the spotlight with a lamb.

American Cormos

Cormo sheep were developed in Tasmania from a mixture of Corriedale and Merino sheep. They are a fine wooled breed with better mothering instincts, ease of lambing, parasite resistance, and general health than most strains of pure Merino without sacrificing fleece quality. They were first imported to the US in the 70s and are still pretty rare here. All of the ones I have met have been very sweet, if kind of dumb.

My Cormo ram is Alister:



Alister is like a giant fluffly tank. He is the sweetest ram ever and wants nothing more than cuddles and treats. Good luck getting him to move anywhere once he’s settled though. I’ve seen the other boys full on ram him in the side to try to move him away from food and he didn’t even flinch. Al is actually from a mixed line that has had other sheep breeds introduced to bring in colored wool.

Fun fact about Al, both of his parents and his twin brother are solid black. He is the black sheep of the family for being a white sheep.

He was bred to:



Usually Prism just goes by Moose or Missy Mule-face. She just has a giant long snout that I love and weighs 200 lbs. She enjoys getting into bellowing matches with Jazz and shoving other sheep out of the way whenever food arrives. She also enjoys trying to stuff my entire hand into her mouth.

Romeldales

Romeldales were originally created with a mix of Romney and Rambouillet sheep in 1915. They are native to the US but one of the nation’s rarest breeds. They can be either a solid color or patterned. Romeldales are a fine wool and are rare in that they get richer, darker color as they age instead of fading or greying. They’re a pretty outgoing and curious breed and they’ve fit in really well with my flock



El is my second biggest sheep at almost 180 lbs and the tallest at almost 3 feet tall at the shoulder. I could ride her like a pony. She’s very pushy about food and feeding the girls becomes a round of bumpercars when she’s around. She and Flirt are from a farm of over 300 Romeldales in Pennsylvania. They have one of the biggest and most diverse flocks in the country. El is 2 years old and has a 50:50 chance of having white or colored lambs. She was bred to a dark grey badgerfaced ram with spots.



Flirt is from the same farm as Eleanor but was born 3 days earlier on Valentine’s day. They have different parents and were bred to different rams so if they have ram lambs I can breed them back and keep a couple different lines going on my farm without having to buy a new ram. Flirt lives up to her name and is always lurking around waiting to mob you for a pet or a snack. She was bred to a brown badgerface ram and also has a 50:50 chance of white or colored lambs.

Goats!

Angora goats are originally from Turkey and were so prized that they weren’t allowed out of the country until the 1500s and didn’t start thriving in other countries until the late 1800s. Despite the name, Angora goats produce mohair. Angora fiber is actually made from Angora rabbits. Mohair is very fine and silky and has a great shine. It takes dye well but doesn’t felt as nicely as wool.

Angora goats were only bred for their fleece so a lot of other things have sort of fallen by the wayside. They are not very parasite resistant, their hooves grow very fast and need regular trimming, they can have issues kidding or raising kids, and they’re just plain not very bright. My kid last year, for example, was an abject failure as a mammal and was terrified of nursing from her mom. She had to be bottle raised.

My new goats are from a farm that claims to be much more selective towards parasite resistance and good mothering. So far they seem to be much more goat-y goats than my current white Angoras and spend a lot less time wailing in terror.



Angela is a registered red Angora doe who is around 6 years old. She’s a bit timid but comes around quickly when ‘falfa cubes or animal crackers are involved. Angela likes to stand back and just grin at people for some reason. It’s either endearing or creepy depending on how you look at it. She was bred to a lovely red buck so she should be having a red kid. I’m hoping for a buck who can then be bred to my white does this fall.



Tootsie isn’t registered and her fleece is more like cashmere than mohair. It’s super fine and lovely but it doesn’t have the curl and luminance that mohair has. There aren’t any records of her parents and the original farm she came from is long gone but the lady I bought her from assures me she’s all Angora. It doesn’t matter to me either way. She’s super friendly and loves getting her face and neck rubbed. If you stand still too long she’ll rub all over you. Tootsie was bred to a black buck with a big white belt. Kids should be black like him or chocolate like her possibly with white markings. She’s the size of a house so twins are likely, and I would appreciate a buck and a doe if I could place an order.

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Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



:siren: LAMB CAM! :siren:

As soon as the action starts or I think its going to start I’ll have the webcam running so you can fully experience the fun of staring at your sheep sitting there for 8 hours only to have her pop out a lamb the moment you go get something to eat. I apologize in advance for the giant hideous clothes I wear during lambing. It is a cold, goopy process so I don’t wear my best. I will post in thread when the cam is on

Some things you may see on the camera before/during/after lambing:

Before

-sheep nest building

-standing up and laying down repeatedly/stretching/yawning

-mucous discharge and eventually a bag

-some hard pushing and possibly some bellowing depending on how its going

During

-hopefully you’ll see some front hooves and a nose first!

-if not you might see me in my giant coveralls hop in to do some fishing

-the babies generally dive right out, the moms can be standing or lying down

-my sheep generally pop the second one out right away but there could be a lapse

After

-I’ll step in to make sure airways are clear, navals aren’t too long, and to see if its a boy or girl

-the babies generally stand within 10-15 minutes of birth

-they’ll start trying to suck on anything including faces/siblings/limbs, they’ll figure it out soon

-in a day or two they’ll get tagged and sent off with mom to be introduced to the rest of the flock so the pen can be used for the next sheep


Feel free to ask any questions about lambing/kidding, raising sheep and goats, different types of animal fiber, or whatever. You can also post any sheep or goat or other baby farm animal pictures you want to share! The more babbies the better.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Last year's babbies.

Aster then:


Aster now:


Rowan then:


Rowan now:


Iphi then:


Iphi now:


It looks like Juniper is thinking about going in to labor so hopefully there will be more baby pictures soon!

Radio!
Mar 15, 2008

Look at that post.

Yesssss sheep babbies :neckbeard:

How do you decide how many sheep/goats you're going to breed per year?

Flaccid Trip
Apr 29, 2008

Baa babiieeees. :3: I just have such a soft spot for sheep and goats, and would keep a couple if I had the space and money.

Can't wait to see all these little woolly babies and overdose on cute.

cryingscarf
Feb 4, 2007

~*FaBuLoUs*~

I missed your thread last year so I am excited to follow this year's thread :D I am a crocheter so I am curious about the wool side of this. How often do you shave all of them down? What do you do with all the shavings? Sell it/spin it/toss it?

Edit: I apparently missed the first paragraph where you answered my questions already. I got drawn to the pictures of cute animals :( Do you sell the yarn locally or online as well?

cryingscarf fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Apr 9, 2013

Zenithbliss
Oct 22, 2007


Yay!

So did you decide not to mate Iphi's mother this year to potentially avoid another hand reared Angora?

I can't wait for photos and markings to appear here :3:

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Radio! posted:

Yesssss sheep babbies :neckbeard:

How do you decide how many sheep/goats you're going to breed per year?

This year I wanted to add a lot to my flock so I bred everyone I felt was worthy of breeding (that I had a male for) and bought some bred animals to increase diversity and add some more fine wool to my flock. Next year I'll be getting to my pasture's capacity so I'll probably slow down a bit unless I have a lot of buyers lined up.


cryingscarf posted:

I missed your thread last year so I am excited to follow this year's thread :D I am a crocheter so I am curious about the wool side of this. How often do you shave all of them down? What do you do with all the shavings? Sell it/spin it/toss it?

Edit: I apparently missed the first paragraph where you answered my questions already. I got drawn to the pictures of cute animals :( Do you sell the yarn locally or online as well?

I sell at fiber shows but I also have an etsy shop. I just got a call that my batch of fall mohair is done being spun and will be in the mail soon and I'm so excited :neckbeard: I can go into the fiber/yarn side of things more in a bit. I'm still shearing so I have a bunch of before/afters of naked sheep right now that will probably make up their own post.


Zenithbliss posted:

Yay!

So did you decide not to mate Iphi's mother this year to potentially avoid another hand reared Angora?

I can't wait for photos and markings to appear here :3:

I didn't have a goat buck last fall so none of the white goats got bred. I bought the new colored goats bred already and if one or both of them has a buckling I'll probably use it in the fall on the white ones. I've talked to some other angora goat breeders and I think I have a plan for dumbabies now.

Juniper lambed this morning! She has a little ewe lamb that looks just like Jewel did when she was a baby :3: I'm working on pictures now and I need to move the webcam because there's a beam in the way but that will be up by this afternoon.

Anoia
Dec 31, 2003

"Sooner or later, every curse is a prayer."
Man, I can't believe it's already been a year. Seems like just yesterday I was following the saga of dumb baby, only now I won't lurk. :D

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Pictures! :neckbeard:

She's 6.3 lbs


It was chilly this morning and she was kind of shiver-y so she got a sweet turtleneck until a belly full of milk warmed her up.


Ugh, so cute.


She reminds me a lot of her big sister Jewel.


This was Jewel as a newborn.


:siren:Webcam is on:siren:
It stormed last night so my terrible country internet is more terrible than usual, but at least you can see the lamb in semi-real time. She has currently wedged herself into a feed dish and is taking a nap.

Instant Jellyfish fucked around with this message at 15:54 on Apr 9, 2013

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

:neckbeard: I've been waiting for this! Love them cutie baby sheep (and goats).

Is it weird I'm super excited someone on the internet bred a lot of their livestock this year? Because I don't even care. :colbert:

SchrodingersFish
Mar 9, 2012
Wow, what an awesome thread! Juniper's lamb is amazingly cute, I love the black spots on her knees like she's got little kneepads on :3: Makes me want to take her out roller skating.

I saw that you send the wool out to be spun, do they dye it for you as well? The yarn on your etsy store looks gorgeous, if you do dye it yourself (or have ever dyed wool) do you have any tips? I've been meaning to get back into knitting and have a good amount of white wool yarn I've been meaning to dye and make into a scarf. After living in California for ~5 years I'm finally moving back to a colder climate and can actually use knitted clothing again!

Fraction
Mar 27, 2010

CATS RULE DOGS DROOL

FERRETS ARE ALSO PRETTY MEH, HONESTLY


:neckbeard: :neckbeard: :neckbeard:

BABIES.

Webcam had better be on in a couple of hours. I want lambcam.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



SchrodingersFish posted:

Wow, what an awesome thread! Juniper's lamb is amazingly cute, I love the black spots on her knees like she's got little kneepads on :3: Makes me want to take her out roller skating.

I saw that you send the wool out to be spun, do they dye it for you as well? The yarn on your etsy store looks gorgeous, if you do dye it yourself (or have ever dyed wool) do you have any tips? I've been meaning to get back into knitting and have a good amount of white wool yarn I've been meaning to dye and make into a scarf. After living in California for ~5 years I'm finally moving back to a colder climate and can actually use knitted clothing again!

We dye it here. My mom does most of it while I mostly just suggest colors and then resist stealing all the pretty dyed yarn myself. We mostly use acid dyes like Jacquard but if you want to go cheap you can even use koolaid to start. There are a ton of different ways to dye! Ball dyeing and crock pot dyeing gives you the strongest colors but if you want something more subtle you can just paint the dye right on to prepared yarn. If you have any specific questions let me know and I'll pass them on to my mom.

This year we've started doing a lot of natural dyeing with plants we've found around the farm or in the area. In the fall we have oodles of goldenrod which makes a super bright yellow yarn with a bit of a green tint, we have black walnuts that produce a deep black/brown that we discovered after it dyed the creek that runs through the farm, even onion skins make a great warm yellow dye. I've found a park that has lots of pokeweed and allows collection so I'm hoping to have some lovely natural purples in the fall when they go in to fruit. Hopefully our dyer's garden will be a bit more successful this year too. Last year we just had dyers coreopsis but maybe this year our woad and weld might actually grow.

Fraction posted:

:neckbeard: :neckbeard: :neckbeard:

BABIES.

Webcam had better be on in a couple of hours. I want lambcam.

It should be! I am not technologically inclined so there's always a chance it will crash and burn but it seems to be fairly functional today.

wtftastic
Jul 24, 2006

"In private, we will be mercifully free from the opinions of imbeciles and fools."

Have you ever considered raising madder root for dyeing? It produces really nice reds, and its got a lot of cool history behind it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubia). I guess it counts as a basic dye, but it seems like you can also treat it with acid.

McDragon
Sep 11, 2007

Oh, last year's babies are all grown up. :neckbeard:

edit: and a new baby sheep, she's lovely.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



wtftastic posted:

Have you ever considered raising madder root for dyeing? It produces really nice reds, and its got a lot of cool history behind it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubia). I guess it counts as a basic dye, but it seems like you can also treat it with acid.

Seems cool, I'll have to look through my dye garden books to see if it grows ok in my area.

More baby pictures. She still has that shellshocked look newborns seem to have.

The swirlies are where her horns will grow from.


It was warm and sunny and amazing so she got a trip outside.


Walking is still a bit challenging when you are 12 hours old.


Her eyespot on that side has so many extra splotches.


Juniper is being a very good mommy.


Eveleth says "oh good, someone new to hate".



Angela the goat is being unusually talkative today so maybe goat kids soon? She was due on Saturday so I don't even know.

skoolmunkee
Jun 27, 2004

Tell your friends we're coming for them

Baby sheeps and goats are adorable, I love this thread already!

I hope you manage to youtube some videos of them stumbling/galloping/hopping around and making baby goat and sheep noises. :]

four lean hounds
Feb 16, 2012
Didn't you say that sometimes people confuse your goats and sheep for dogs at shows? Please take the lovely little spotted lambs out and tell people they're dalmatians.

Hooray for new critters! I love your photos and descriptions of each sheep and goat that has been bred. I also love your yarn, and curse you for tempting me with it. What does Major think of new babies?

Fraction
Mar 27, 2010

CATS RULE DOGS DROOL

FERRETS ARE ALSO PRETTY MEH, HONESTLY


Please... please send me a spotty little lamb. I need one in my life. :kimchi:

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



skoolmunkee posted:

Baby sheeps and goats are adorable, I love this thread already!

I hope you manage to youtube some videos of them stumbling/galloping/hopping around and making baby goat and sheep noises. :]

I will! For now have one of my favorites from last year. They were all crazy about that hole for some reason.

four lean hounds posted:

Didn't you say that sometimes people confuse your goats and sheep for dogs at shows? Please take the lovely little spotted lambs out and tell people they're dalmatians.

Hooray for new critters! I love your photos and descriptions of each sheep and goat that has been bred. I also love your yarn, and curse you for tempting me with it. What does Major think of new babies?

Yeah people were pretty convinced that Iphi was some sort of odd doodle puppy. With horns. She was the rare purebread goat-endoodle.

Major thinks babies (and gross placentas) are for eating so he is forbidden from interacting with adorable babies until they are no longer mouth sized. Last year I introduced my parents' corgi to them and she was terrified. Alas no cute dog with lamb pictures here.

Fraction posted:

Please... please send me a spotty little lamb. I need one in my life. :kimchi:

You have spotty sheep over there! A friend of mine goes to visit a Jacob flock outside of Plymouth somewhere and it seems like they are really different from Jacobs in the US and not many have the awesome 4+ horns. She makes super cute felted teddies and things out of the wool though.

iwik
Oct 12, 2007
Fun fact: My great great (great?) grandfather was the original breeder of the Corriedale sheep in NZ.

I missed the thread last year, so I have been enjoying the lead up and current thread. I find it all so fascinating and those baby lambs are gorgeous.

I can't remember how many greats I need.

Hellacopter
Feb 25, 2011
Is lamb cuddling allowed? Because I want to just pick that lamb up and scritch and cuddle forever. :kimchi:

Fraction
Mar 27, 2010

CATS RULE DOGS DROOL

FERRETS ARE ALSO PRETTY MEH, HONESTLY


Instant Jellyfish posted:

You have spotty sheep over there! A friend of mine goes to visit a Jacob flock outside of Plymouth somewhere and it seems like they are really different from Jacobs in the US and not many have the awesome 4+ horns. She makes super cute felted teddies and things out of the wool though.

But those Jacobs aren't in my house! I just googled them too and UK ones look dumb in comparison to your adorable sheeps too :colbert:

Any more babies popped?

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
:neckbeard:

Does she have that great new-lamb smell? I always loved the way the spring lambs smelled at the sheep farm down the road from us - not when they were fresh and gooey, of course, but after a couple of days of tottering around in the sunshine and snuggling with Mom in the straw. And milk breath.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



iwik posted:

Fun fact: My great great (great?) grandfather was the original breeder of the Corriedale sheep in NZ.

I missed the thread last year, so I have been enjoying the lead up and current thread. I find it all so fascinating and those baby lambs are gorgeous.

I can't remember how many greats I need.

That's awesome! Do you have any old sheep photos or anything? I would love to hear more if you know more.

Hellacopter posted:

Is lamb cuddling allowed? Because I want to just pick that lamb up and scritch and cuddle forever. :kimchi:

Lamb cuddling is mandatory :colbert:

RazorBunny posted:

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
:neckbeard:

Does she have that great new-lamb smell? I always loved the way the spring lambs smelled at the sheep farm down the road from us - not when they were fresh and gooey, of course, but after a couple of days of tottering around in the sunshine and snuggling with Mom in the straw. And milk breath.

That new sheep smell is FANTASTIC. They smell like sweet hay and milk and sunshine and I want to just bottle it and spray it around my house. It smells like spring to me as much as wet green grass and lightning.


It's storming this morning so the barn is really dark. I went in and started passing out breakfast when I heard a baby noise that was not a baby lamb noise. Angela had hidden her really dark little kid in a corner and was hoping I would not notice.

He's 9 lbs and already nursing! I am so excited that he is a functional mammal!


Angela kept trying to butt my camera as I was taking pictures. She is pretty fanatical about her baby just like a good mama.


My mom is coming out for baby snuggles and the weather seems to be clearing up so there should be better pictures soon.

vvv Yes! I love it when they listen to me. vvv

Instant Jellyfish fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Apr 10, 2013

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

So you got the little buckling you were hoping for?

demozthenes
Feb 14, 2007

Wicked pissa little critta

Oh my goodness look at those eyelashes! :3:

UltraGrey
Feb 24, 2007

Eat a grass.
Have a barf.

Congrats IF he is adorable!

pandaid
Feb 9, 2004

RAWR
is that a red kid? He kinda looks chocolatey, but in a really omg I want one way.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



pandaid posted:

is that a red kid? He kinda looks chocolatey, but in a really omg I want one way.

I think he's a dark copper red that will lighten up as he gets older just because true chocolates are pretty rare in Angoras. I'll get him out in the sun this afternoon for a better look. I'm happy no matter what color he is, if only because I don't need to bust out bucket mom.

My mom was having a bad day and came out for some baby snuggles. You can not have a bad day when you have a sleep baby goat in your arms.


Being born is just so tiring.


Juniper's girl has been dubbed Primrose by my mom. The Jacobs have a plant theme going on.


She's starting to bounce around and adventure. Hopefully there will be more babies for her to play with soon.

Instant Jellyfish fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Apr 10, 2013

Enelrahc
Jun 17, 2007

Small ruminants are the best. Until they get stinky. Why must the cute boys get so stinky?

iwik
Oct 12, 2007

I love the way her face is smooth while her body is so.. fluffy looking.



I'll have to ask mum if she has any photos, I'm not sure if we do at home. My grandmother probably has my grandfather's old family photos still.

The closest I get to a farm these days is having a couple of chickens in the back yard. One of them laid an egg the other day that weighed 83 grams! (almost 3 ounces). I'm surprised it can still sit.

OMG BYZANTIUM
Dec 30, 2008
Can you tell how many horns the baby Jacobs will have right after they are born, or do you have to wait until they get older and grow them?

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Enelrahc posted:

Small ruminants are the best. Until they get stinky. Why must the cute boys get so stinky?

I had someone tell me the angora bucks are less bucky smelling than other goats but that has not been my experience. They really just have more hair to soak with gross pee every fall :barf:

OMG BYZANTIUM posted:

Can you tell how many horns the baby Jacobs will have right after they are born, or do you have to wait until they get older and grow them?

With the ram lambs I can usually tell right away because the two horned rams have really huge horn buds and the multiple horned rams have much smaller ones in different places. With the ewe lambs it takes a little while because their horn buds are not as pronounced.

This ram lamb ended up with 2 horns and you can see how big his horn bud swirlies are:


His brother had 4 horns and did have tiny horn buds but they really weren't visible through his head fluff without poking around.


Their sister didn't have anything but a few tiny waves visible at birth.



Here is a picture of the baby goat's sire I found on the breeder's website. I think he's going to be a spitting image of his daddy.

cryingscarf
Feb 4, 2007

~*FaBuLoUs*~

Oh my god those babies are way too cute :3: Can I have Primrose please? She would fit in with the whole black and white spotty theme I have going on with the dogs. No one would notice :D

Instant Jellyfish posted:

Here is a picture of the baby goat's sire I found on the breeder's website. I think he's going to be a spitting image of his daddy.


At first glance, I totally saw a fat poodle with horns.

Enelrahc
Jun 17, 2007

Instant Jellyfish posted:

I had someone tell me the angora bucks are less bucky smelling than other goats but that has not been my experience. They really just have more hair to soak with gross pee every fall :barf:

We had a professor describe them as peeing (and ejaculating) like a loose firehose. So gross and stinky. In food animal medicine (which I'm not in, but Topoisomerase is), they had a bunch of bucks in the hospital one time, so the lecturing clinician just reeked. He would punish wrong answers by standing next to people.

I like female small ruminants way better. I'm a bleeding heart and hate banding testicles. I also hate debudding (I apologize to them the whole time :( ), so Jacobs make me happy!

Edit: Poor quality cell phone content that pales in comparison to your beautiful photos. Friend's mother raises nubians for milk and cheese. They are adorable and great producers and they're always winning milking prizes at fairs and stuff. Milk is DELICIOUS and like 14% butterfat. There is one mutt mixed in there from an alpine that they're watching for a friend that hopped the buck pen and bred to Colonel Mustard, the boer x nubian goat destined to be sausage. Oops. He got to know the glory of love!

Hey guys I found a thing (mutt in the middle).


And some other things.


BOOP


God, I love baby goats.


Goat shenanigans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4GwhmUgcw

Enelrahc fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Apr 11, 2013

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Enelrahc posted:

We had a professor describe them as peeing (and ejaculating) like a loose firehose. So gross and stinky. In food animal medicine (which I'm not in, but Topoisomerase is), they had a bunch of bucks in the hospital one time, so the lecturing clinician just reeked. He would punish wrong answers by standing next to people.

I like female small ruminants way better. I'm a bleeding heart and hate banding testicles. I also hate debudding (I apologize to them the whole time :( ), so Jacobs make me happy!

When I had a buck you could smell him in the pasture before you could see him. I'm currently planning on breeding this guy to my does in the fall and selling him off as soon as possible. I'm not a big fan of goat bucks. The rams are cool, although still pretty stinky, but the bucks just get huge and gross and pushy.

People get really freaked out about horns and want to disbud everything but I am so glad none of my breeds need it. The horns really don't bother me at all and I've never had one gore me or another animal with them. Windsor had to have a horn removed and the bud cauterized because of an infection and that was bad enough. I can't imagine doing it to a teeny baby goat :( I've watched videos of the process and seeing the skull under the burning tissue and hearing the goat screaming was too much for me.

The other shepherds think I'm crazy for A. not using bands for docking or castration and B. working with my vet to provide pain management when I do both of those things but it's such an emotionally hard job for me that I go all out to make myself feel better about it. Seeing the banded tail slowly die and fall off grosses me out. If I didn't feel docking was necessary in my area I wouldn't do it, even though every year its way harder on me than any of the lambs.

Radio!
Mar 15, 2008

Look at that post.

Why disbud to begin with? Granted, everything I know about disbudding comes from the wikipedia article I just read, but it seems like you could prevent injuries by just trimming horns instead?

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Fraction
Mar 27, 2010

CATS RULE DOGS DROOL

FERRETS ARE ALSO PRETTY MEH, HONESTLY


I guess if you have a significant number of bucks, disbudding would be quicker than constantly trimming to make sure nobody hurts each other? V:shobon:V

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