Meat Goat Blog

The Intelligence of Spanish Goats

    As we sorted our Spanish doelings for the first time last week, we were surprised by how easily they maneuvered the system of pens. When we have worked other breeds of goats in the past (boers) it has taken them as many as 10-15 runs by the wide open alley before they understood the "maze". With our Spanish doelings, 90% of them found their way through with no troublethe first try. The other 10% learned from their first trip through and had no difficulty the second time. Once again the superior mind of the Spanish goat is exemplified.

Post Oak Contact Information

Occasionally folks want to contact us for information about our goats, their goats, or upcoming events we know about. For anyone wanting to contact us by e-mail, you can send a message to steve@postoak.us or matt@postoak.us. We will gladly reply at our first opportunity. We really appreciate the many wonderful comments from those of you who read and follow the Meat Goat Blog and thank you!!!

Breeding Season: The Smell of Love

The bucks are coming into rut and you can smell them. Sure makes you wonder why the does would have any interest in them. They smell worse than a high school locker room left over the summer without any air conditioning. Must be true love for those does to want anything to do with these bucks.

Breeding season is here again. We have wormed and vaccinated. The breeding pens are ready and in a few more weeks, we will start the process. Half the fun is trying to select the best buck for each doe. The strategy is a lot of fun, and sometimes successful. Genetics is important, but you can't always predict what you will get.

We plan to run one buck per 18 does this time. Usually we run 30 to 40 does, but have more bucks this Fall. Why not use them is our thought. There are five that will be used. Two Kikos and three Spanish. The does are primarily pure Spanish with some Kiko/Spanish crosses also.

Update on 3 Year Old Anatolian

    Just an update from our previous blog, the 3 year old Anatolian is adjusting to the change in environment well and goes with the goats for about half the day. He seems to have excellent instincts in keeping predators away, even going as far as to bark at the unfamiliar LGD's in the neighboring pasture. Only time will tell if he will become a full fledged goat dog or not, but for now we are very hopeful.

Baby It's HOT Outside!

    Summer is here! And for most goat ranchers that means lots of hours filling waterers and containers. During most of the year we do not need to water much, due to the creeks and ponds scattered all over the property. But this time of year, the hot temperatures dry up the natural water forcing the goats to drink the less palatable chlorinated tap water.

    When the temperatures get hot enough, the animals can go through our 300 gallons of water in as little as 3 hours. (during the hot part of the day)

    Anyhow, all this to say: be careful with your watering, when the goats run out of water, they can get ill very quickly!

Demand Prompts LGD Experiment

    As goat ranchers, we swear by the use of LGD’s (Livestock Guardian Dogs) to protect your herd from predators.  But how do you get the dog for the job? Lately we have seen demand for experienced LGD’s go up tremendously without an increase in supply.  Some people who have called looking for grown, working, and proven guardian dogs have gone so far as to request some that we did not wish to sell just to have a way to keep their animals safe.

    For this reason, we have started an expieriment with an inexperienced 3 year old Anatolian male, putting him in the pasture and seeing if the other dogs show him to work. We will be interested to see if he starts performing or just acts like a giant puppy the whole time.

 

A Job I Couldn't Do

    A couple days ago, we were approached by a man who hoped to buy some goat milk to settle his stomach. Being a strictly meat operation, we suggested other options. Milking 120 goats 2 times a day 7 days a week, 365 days a year, sounds like a tough job!!! We definitely appreciate those brave souls who are dedicated enough to wake up in the early morning and do it though.

Goats: The NEW Weapons of Mass Destruction

    As summer approaches, many people begin looking at their quickly sprouting yards thinking: "wish it didn't grow so fast." Well we've got the perfect answer: GOATS!  This year our little weed control experts went to work next door clearing our neighbor's back pasture. To quote another happy landowner: "it looks like they hit it with Napalm."

Leaving the Nest

 
 We're always amazed how fast our little babies transform into big, self sufficient does.

Goofy Genetics

    It's intriguing to see how traits pass from one generation to the next. Your biggest kids can come from the tiniest mothers and the most gorgeous does can have the plainest babies. This year, while watching our kid crop develop, we noticed a fairly average doe nursing a beautiful new doeling. On further examination, we found that the baby was the spitting image of her grandmother. Guess the coloring just skipped a generation. Similarly, other traits like parasite resistance, twin production, and hoof growth can pass in and out of the genetic pool. According to an article by Gail Bowman: "It is also said that it takes three generations to breed out a trait. That would only be true if the trait is not carried as a recessive gene in each generation, in one or the other parent. In other words, it can be difficult to completely remove an undesirable trait from your herd, once you have it." Just goes to show the importance of bringing only top of the line genetics into your herd.