The Fat Ewe Farm started out with Nigerian Dwarf goats. Much research had been done prior to bringing the first ones on board. Daphne was just a kid, a doeling about 4 months old way back then. She has consistently produced quadruplets since then, earning her keep and then some. She is a wonderful mother and an easy goat to keep healthy. The goats are not grain fed, so I must be diligent to find weedy hay for them. That is what they would eat, plus tree and shrub leaves, if they were able to choose their food. Weeds have deep roots and bring up nutrients that grass does not have. Grass is their last choice. The goats do get free choice salt and minerals, too, but they do not eat as much minerals when they have the right hay. Anyhow, Daphne has managed her own parasite load for the most part too, not requiring chemical wormers to keep worms at bay. I believe a healthy animal is basically pest resistant, or at least, pest managed. Daphne has a huge udder and can easily feed her quads, though as she is getting a little older, I usually have taken one or two from her to give her body less of a strain. 

Nigerian Dwarf goats are hardy little critters, weathering our cold winters well. They grow a fuzzy coat with a downy layer that insulated them very well. 

Nubian goats are full sized goats, renown for their delicious, rich milk and mellow natures, but they are not at all hardy. Nor are they great at staying healthy. They need many interventions to stay healthy. That is where the cross is most beneficial. Nigerian Dwarf goats and Nubian goats are both dairy goats. The Nubian/Nigerian cross, or mini Nubian, brings the best of both breeds to a small stature, good natured, hardy and easy to handle goat, perfect for small holders who want fresh milk. 

There are three doelings born so far. There is only one more purebred Nigerian left to give birth and the others are Angora/Nigerian crosses. The Angora goat is a very milky goat, but is bred for fibre. The Nigora, or cross, has lovely spinnable fibre, is very milky and much hardier and better at mothering and birthing than Angoras. The Nubian/Angora/Nigerian Dwarf goats likely will not have that lovely fibre, but they will grow a warm winter coat and be very milky. Still, they are not classed as Mini Nubians, but close. 

So, since my fibre farm is not a success due to distance, proximity to those who work in the fibre arts, and the fact that we feed hay year round which contaminates the fleece, I am switching from fibre animals to food animals. Mini Nubians are the perfect choice. As of today, there are five first generation, or F1, Mini Nubian doelings on the farm and possibly a few more to come. A new mini Nubian buck is coming for breeding. The girls will be 7 months or older by December, perfect for breeding. Their kids will be F2 mini Nubians, that is mini Nubian bred to mini Nubian and the resulting kids will be considered true Mini Nubians. 

I do not mind milking goats and love goat cheese. I am not sure what the farm will look like in a few years and where I will relocate when I retire. I did promise my dogs that I would not leave them when they are old, so I may stay on with just three or four goats and three or four sheep, a few chickens and such, until the dogs are gone. Time will tell. Hopefully you will still be with me. Thanks for joining the Fat Ewe Farm!

The goats are having babies, but technically, I did not believe they were due until the 25th of April. That is when Stevie Wonder went in with the girls. 

But, for a few weeks prior to that, the Nubian buckling, Wimpy, was in the goat pen with the ladies. I saw Wimpy a lot and it appeared he was not interested yet in breeding. He showed no sign of rut, which is the hormonal time for male goats where they get themselves stinky for the girls by peeing on their faces and front legs. Gross, I know, but the hormones or pheromones do attract the does and get them cycling. Stinky male goats seem to do it for them. Anyhow, Wimpy was not like that. He was just his usual self, wimpy. I gave him that name because he was a quiet boy, not overly large for a Nubian and not very feisty either. I was not even sure he would make the winter because he was cold already in the fall when there was not even any snow yet. But he did. And he did something else.

He bred the does. 

Yup, he did that. Nix was bred to the Nigerian Dwarf buck, Stevie Wonder, but Nix never stayed in the fence and one day Stevie got over there. Unfortunately, Nix lost her little girl because she chewed her umbilical cord entirely off and the baby bled and fell asleep forever. So sad.

But the other goats were beginning to develop udders much too large for being due in 3 weeks. And there were other signs too, that made me think something was off. Then yesterday, Christina had a baby and it had long floppy ears and long legs. Well, I'll be. He is Nubian sired. Wimpy is a daddy! Then today two more does had their kids and both are Nubian sired, or course, because Stevie did not even get in the pen early enough for the girls to birth now. So, those goats that are giving birth this and next week and possibly the week after will all be Nubian sired.

The cross, Nubian and Nigerian Dwarf, is called a mini Nubian. This is a first generation and several breedings will be necessary to actually call the goats mini Nubians, however; even this F1 first generation cross are indeed Nubian/Nigerian. Both Nubians and Nigerians are milk goats, but Nubians are not hardy here, while the little Nigerians are real troopers. They impart their strength to the Nubians and since both are excellent milk producers, the smaller mini Nubians, do produce copious quantities of milk too. I have two mini Nubians, blue eyed at that, from a different breeder. Normally, the Nigerian Dwarf buck covers the Nubian females, but since Wimpy was small for a Nubian, I did it the other way. The babies are larger than the Nigerian Dwarf kids, but not too large thus far to be problematic. It has resulted in singles so far, which is fine. That will be singles with the exception of Daphne who is so big she is having trouble walking. She usually has quads and I am worried about her carrying four larger babies than normal. She is a very good mother and births without complications, cleans her kids and has them all up nursing in no time. She can support all four, but I have been removing two in the past couple of years as she is getting a little older.

So, the puzzle is solved. Wimpy, though he not once appeared to be interested in breeding, is a sneaky, sly buck who managed to get the job done in the dark or something akin to that. Wimpy is a daddy! 

The Fat Ewe Farm is off to a good start after a mishap. Nix had a single doeling, but in her overzealous cleaning of her kid, she nipped the umbilical cord and the kids lost blood, never nursed and expired. She was a beautiful fawn spotted little girl. I did milk Nix for a few days and her colostrum will be invaluable to the lambs and kids that may be rejected. The last year I had zero rejects. This year I can only hope to be so fortunate. 
Tina has been looking as though she was very ready, and lost her mucous plug a few days ago. Her vagina is soft like jelley too. Her mother Christina, showed no signs of birthing, but it was the mother that segregated herself around 7 pm while the others were feeding. I continued feeding and moved on to the sheep, but heard the telltale cry of a doe in labour. I try to be as hands off as possible, so stood back to watch. Joe, one of the livestock guardian dogs came in and so did Robbie. I told Robbie to go out and he positioned himself where he could see but not really be seen. Joe, the perfect guardian, kept his distance and listened and smelled. Guardian dogs should not be too near mothers in labour and never help with the clean up. When the baby was delivered and all was well, Joe moved back to the sheep pen. Good dog Joe!

Mom was doing a lot of air licking and screaming. The kid presented correctly, with the front feet and nose first, but her amniotic sac did not break. The little fellow was very big actually. Christina is a smaller Nigerian Dwarf and this is her second kidding. She was a daughter of a very prolific healthy herd boss and obviously did not inherit the tendency to multiples as last year she had just Tina. 

I let the mother scream and push without intervention, but then she sort of petered out, so I broke the sac to give her a little relief and brought the second foot through for her. It was a beautiful little buck! 

The surprise is that is is sired by the Nubian. I put the goats in with the Nubian buckling first, but saw no breeding or interest from him at all, so brought in Stevie Wonder about 2 weeks later than the Nubian. All the does that are going to kid for the next couple of weeks should be Nubian/Nigerian or mini Nubians. This is a relatively new cross and is fast becoming popular. Both breeds are dairy, but the Nubians are not cold hardy, whereas the Nigerians are tough little ones. I have two of these crosses and they are as hardy as the Nigerians. My original plan was to breed the Nigerians and Angoras to the Nubian and begin the first generation cross. I have a mini Nubian buck coming for this fall to do this again and then the first generation can be bred to the second generation the following year for an F2 cross, bringing the cross more into stability. 

The lambs should not start coming until April 25th, so that will give me a little reprieve. I helped towel off the new arrival and held him so mamma could see to lead her to the barn. She has fresh water and some hay there and the barn will be nice and warm for the little buckling tonight. Before coming in, I made sure he was nursing and all was well. 
It was a good evening! Tomorrow I will take some real photos of the buckling and hopefully of Tina's kids as well. She is larger than her mother, so I suspect twins at least. Til then....