Where have you been?

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Really this is not an every other year Blog...really!  With a small farm, family, and business, a kind of time warp has happened in my life.  With the turning of 50 years, my intentions are to keep up more....  So what is happening at the farm.  Oh my, right into baby season! Hitting the ground running.  Catching you up, we have now started into our Boer goat obsession.  Meet Eva and the boys.  The kid on the right is Gotcha Talking or GT, his brother, second to hit the ground, is Cover Charge or Charger.  Both boys are full bloods and a product of Lap-AI or Laparoscopic Artificial Insemination.  Their sire the handsome Gotcha Covered well he's no where in site, because he came to us in straws.  The idea of AI was always a good alternative breeding method for me, but Lap-AI was not something I was a fan of.  The process was seamless, clean, professional, and all the things you would want for a semi-surgical procedure. It did the trick for her first kidding.  Flushing and Lap-AI in the Boer goat world are so common people do not bat an eye.  Large herds, needing to produce wether's at an almost alarming rate, make this an easy choice for breeders. Okay, so you say NO WAY!  Live cover just takes too much time, its a pregnancy guessing game for some, is she-is she not, did he cover her, if so when....you get the idea.  Now the progressive side of my brain says yes, make it better-faster, yes, why stay in the dark ages.   While my softer, doula, miracle of life, home birth side says NO!  Why would you do that?  Okay so somewhere in the middle is where I am standing.  I get it.  There is not doubt that the invasive nature of the procedure leaves room for pause.  I do not judge if done safely and without stress and unnecessary pain.  Some of my goat friends have cast a pointed finger and in so many words cast me out of the au naturel club.  I think the dilemma for me is that with a small herd, no extra room for a buck, that needs to be feed out every day only to be used once or twice a year, leaves room for other thought processes.    So what other options are there?  Well, sharing a buck is definitely a thought process that we are investigating.  Regular traditional AI? Yep, did that!  Equipement, video, Vet and all.  For the most part you are lucky and with a less than 50% positive outcome.  Even with Lap AI the best turn out I have gotten from talking to others is 80%, but that's not bad.  So sharing a buck is great if you are producing for consumption, but if you are producing for consumption and competition then the conversation goes straight to genetics.  Sharing a buck does not allow for a vast pool of genetics.  AI however does.  Just so you know......Meatball our other doe was bred with live cover.  A very different experience.  But that is for another post.  So what will we do for the next breeding season?  Timing, genetics, experience and access all play a role, I will just have to keep you posted.  For now I am enjoying the boys, who will be kept in tact. One will be used to live cover our does and remain at the farm for us to enjoy. The other buck will be collected before he leaves for a new home.  The buck that is gone will produce offspring without being here just like his dad.  Always nice to know that there are options and alternative ways to do things, you just have to choose.