Pregnancy Toxemia Success! Kids are Coming Fast Now! | Vlog 36 | Meat Goat Farm

[@ThomasMcmillan-vr3mg]

Sorry to hear about your Grandmother. So stressful when things are not running smoothly on the farm and have personal things going on also.

[@goatgettervlog]

Thanks for the condolences. She's left a good legacy here and will be missed. She was a hard working farm gal herself and had the battle wounds to prove it! Definitely an inspiration to this granddaughter.

[@mayaabueg9018]

How do you determine which doelings you keep for breeding and which you cull?

[@goatgettervlog]

My very first decision maker is teat structure. Boers especially have not had enough emphasis put on udder & teat structure (perpetuated by the ABGA) and so many genetic lines are just a hot mess under there. Growth rate and overall conformation are considered as well as temperament. Generally, a respiratory infection as a kid makes them ineligible as a keeper. I also tend to keep doelings from the dams that I like with good maternal traits. While I have a 'standard' I also am in a growth phase. So last year and probably for the next 2 years, I will find myself keeping does that I normally wouldn't. It's not that they aren't nice does, it's just not my cream of the crop. One thing I've also found is that sometimes those ones that you thought would never turn into anything end up being really wonderful does and sometimes the ones you had high hopes for end up being duds in every way possible. It's a crap shoot.

[@mayaabueg9018]

@goatgettervlog I see, what happens to the doelings you don't keep? Are the butchered or sold as breeders?

[@goatgettervlog]

Does that I feel are worth putting my name on are sometimes sold as breeders. Selling privately is time consuming and sometimes isn't worth the extra hassel. The rest are sold with the bucklings at the sale barn. If I have room, I have also kept some back to breed and sell as bred does to capture some more value. That may or may not pencil out depending on the time of year and current resources.

[@mayaabueg9018]

@@goatgettervlog thanks for answering my questions

[@goatgettervlog]

@@mayaabueg9018 No problem!