Endless Goat Year

Fall has arrived in the Ozarks along with cold nights and a smelly buck. Augustus is more interested in the does than his breakfast. Another part of the endless goat year.

People like to have a place to start the year. It’s an excuse to leave mistakes behind and try again.

For dairy goats the year never ends, only cycles through the seasons. Fall is breeding season.

My herd is smaller now, only fourteen does. Three are aged and retired. Four will continue to be milked over the winter. Two will have kids in November. That leaves five does to be bred in October.

Nubian doe High Reaches Drucilla is part of the endless goat year
Nubian doe Drucilla seems to like having her kids in the fall. She is due about November, but is already hanging heavy. She is a big doe and usually has big, healthy kids.

Fall breeding season might be a good time to begin the dairy goat year. But there is no real break. Milking continues every day. Goat care continues. Barn cleaning is necessary before winter. The endless goat year marches on.

The last few years a couple of does have had their kids in late fall to early winter. In the Ozarks Nubians breed all year.

The first time I expected frozen kids and lots of trouble. The kids were fine and livened up dull winter months. And the milk was welcome in the early spring when the other milkers began to falter.

Before these kids, all my kids were born in March and April. Perhaps that made spring feel like the beginning of a new year.

Nubian goat kids are part of the endless goat year
Spring Nubian goat kids go out with the herd when only a few weeks old. The grass is still short making it harder for them to get left behind. This one has found a good place to rest among the roots of a fallen tree.

But it wasn’t. Milking, chores, barn cleaning, hoof trimming continued the same way as before the kids. The endless goat year rolled on through into summer.

Since I am the only one caring for my goats, I am always here for milking. This gets frustrating as I can go no where unless the trip fits between morning and evening chores. The days blur one into another making an endless goat year for me.

As my herd dwindles, that year may sometime in the future come to an end. After forty-six years of routine, that is a bit liberating and frightening.

Kidding season can be daunting for a new goat owner as Harriet found out in “Capri Capers.”