Perplexed

From what I’ve read, goats proliferate as effortlessly as rabbits. According to Raising Goats for Dummies and other tomes, Meels and Blueberry should have easily become pregnant on their driveway dates.

But around Christmastime, Blueberry launched into a rapid-fire series of 5 to 7 day cycles—21 days is her norm—some of which, I learned, could have been “false heats”. I also read that some goats do that near the end of the breeding season; this contradicts what I read, in several sources, about Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats cycling all year round.

I was sure that Meels was settled, but on Thursday, she showed some signs of flooziness inconsistent with pregnancy, the details of which I’ll spare readers. But she didn’t exhibit all the signs of heat, and the ones that did, didn’t last as long as usual. Perhaps she’s like the occasional Black Angus cow, who can be pregnant but still act like she’s in heat in the fall.

Vanessa, my goat mentor, is kindly loaning me one of her bucks for a month. He’s coming tomorrow. Hopefully, he will know the difference between real, false, and mock heats—because Blueberry, Meels, and I don’t!

I guess I need a book called Raising Goats for Really Dumb Dummies!

“Blessed shall be the…increase of your cattle and the young of your flock.”         –DEUTERONOMY 28:4