Eden Hills

I mentioned that I was going to give shots to Heidi and my old girls that I didn’t see come into heat after the boys busted in with them.

Frodo is a sweet boy

I also added Cutie to that because I had to put her in with her boy for a couple of days in October, and I hadn’t seen her come back into heat either.

Cutie, Zora, and BJ in October

Well, Saturday was the day I saw Heidi, Wanda, and Dolly come into heat.

Casey checking out Heidi (look how tiny she is).

It was rather obvious.

Dolly and Wanda hanging out by Frodo.

Xerxes coming to check them out.

They were happy to hang out with him.

And I don’t see that any of them were bred, but it’s so much better to make certain that they don’t settle.  Dolly is just way too old; Wanda has had a back injury that would not tolerate a pregnancy; Heidi is just tiny.  Then there’s Cutie.

Cutie in November.

I’ve not known what to do with her for the last six months–since she started swelling with bottle jaw every time she gets exercise.  I’ve spent six months trying to keep her in a small location and away from boys.  And I’ve been pretty careful about it, other than the couple of days I had to put her with BJ in October. And in November, I was going to give her a shot to make sure she wasn’t bred, but…

This is when I had to shut her in in October.

I actually thought I was going to have to have her put down with Victoria because she had quit eating and was constantly coughing.  She was rapidly dropping weight, so when I made the vet appointment it was for two goats.  But she rallied.  When the vet came he looked at her and thought she looked fine.  Her heart and lungs sounded good.  But we still think she has something systemic with her heart because of the swelling.  But since we decided she looked okay right now, we didn’t put her down, and then I decided I better add her to my list for getting a shot.

I actually went out the day before the other three girls were in heat, and I saw blood on her tail.  I was really surprised because I was mostly trying to be extra cautious.  I hadn’t seen her in heat when she was with BJ in October, but I hadn’t seen her in heat since then.

You can see a bit of pink left on her tail.

When I walked into the Love Shack to give her sweet feed, I found the fetus–that was a shock.  If she had been bred in October, it should have been just a bit of blood and that would be it.  She was probably about six weeks from delivery.  The only thing I can figure out is that when I had her shut in the garage during the heat dome, one of Trace’s boys managed to breed her.  And she should not settle when we’re that hot because goats are cold weather breeders.

Pooh and Piglet right about they time Cutie got bred–still babies.

I swear this girl will be the death of me.  I called the vet again, and she is on antibiotics, and I’ll keep an eye on her, but she is still better off than trying to go full term with a heart condition and raising a baby in the coldest part of the year.

Gabe and BJ (and Herky) will get girls again.

Now, as I look at moving into breeding for June, I once again have to figure out how to keep her away from boys and not out on a big pasture. That means pretty much the whole herd is going to get shut in the barnyard. That should be fun and cause a lot of crankiness.

Tags: BJ, buck, Casey, Cutie, Dolly, Frodo, Gabe, goats, heat cycle, Heidi, lutalyse, Wanda, Xerxes