Our kidding season has come to a close. The final tally is 2 live bucks, 2 live does and one stillborn buck. Unfortunately, both does have a patch of white on their heads. Breed standards say the white cannot be over 1.5 inches in any direction. Theirs isn’t so they still conform to Oberhasli standards.
We were quite surprised when Jupiter, a first freshener, had twins without a sound. I had camera with sound focused on the birthing stall. My first clue was when I heard the first kid crying. Both of her kids were much tinier than any other Ober kid we’ve had. The buck came out second, was in distress, and not breathing. We worked with him, and he pulled through. Jupiter turned out to be a great mom, and both kids are doing well.
All 4 kids will go up for sale. A brother and sister are currently listed, the second set of twins will be listed next week. The buckling in the second set is looking good for breeding. His dam’s udder is looking very nice, and he is a deep bay color. Hopefully, his color doesn’t change as he sheds his baby coat. I will add a picture of the udder when I list him.
After Loki lost her buckling, she was crying constantly. So she stole her sister’s kids. Her sister doesn’t seem to mind, so the little piglets will nurse on one, then run over to the other one and nurse. This works for me, because I haven’t gotten the milking area set up yet.
Loki’s buckling was taken to a university for a necropsy. It showed a genetic mutation, but there seems to be no cause for it. We investigated her line and find nothing to support a genetic abnormality. She is not the product of intensive line breeding, which can cause this, so we’re not sure what happened. Our vet says to not breed her again, but her specialty is more equine. Another vet that is goat savvy says sometimes it happens for no reason, and she wouldn’t hesitate to breed her again in the Fall.
After discussing it with several long-time breeders, we will try again. We will bring in a Guernsey buck or AI straws, because we want to breed up to them, which will have completely different lines. However, if it happens a second time, then she’s done.
Seasons of Change Farm 
Noticed you mentioned Guernsey, have you found any in the Maine area or are you looking at options in your soon to be new hometown? They are another beautiful breed but seem tough to get a hold of!
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I haven’t found any in Maine, but there are two in Vermont. One is quite a drive. I’m watching two Facebook Guernsey groups to see where everyone is. Right now, the plan is to grab two unrelated bucks (or learn AI) and a Jacobs ram on the way down. However, our plans tend to go out the window half the time. We’ll see what happens.
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