The Best Laid Plans
Change in herd status due to circumstances.
6/8/20262 min read
One of our goals at Loki Farms has been to maintain a closed herd whenever possible. Limiting additions reduces disease risk and allows us to focus on improving the genetics we've worked hard to build.
That was still the plan this year.
Then the goats had other ideas.
Trixie, born here this May, wasn't supposed to be the only young doeling in that age group. We had expected additional kids from other breedings, but as every livestock owner knows, even the best plans don't always work out. A failed breeding and an unexpected late pregnancy loss left Trixie as the lone youngster in her age group where there should have been at least 3.
While goats don't necessarily need another kid their exact age, young stock generally benefit from having other youngsters to grow, play, and mature alongside.
As we began looking for possible companions, we weren't actively shopping for Nubians. We were hoping for Oberhasli, but there's none available in our area. So we opened it up to standard breeds next.
What changed our minds was finding an opportunity that checked several boxes at once: a tested herd, registered animals, strong dairy genetics, and a chance to evaluate another breed under our management while also solving the problem of a lonely Trixie.
The animals we're adding come from a herd that routinely tests diseases and whose owner was willing to answer our many questions about health, management, milk production, and pedigree. Those conversations gave us confidence that, while opening a closed herd is never a decision to take lightly, this was a reasonable opportunity to consider.
So instead of adding one goat...
We somehow ended up adding three.
Because that's usually how goats work. You make plans, and they laugh and do their own thing.
Today we welcomed Maude, a registered Nubian doe in milk with a gorgeous udder, and her two registered and nicely pedigreed doelings. We look forward to seeing how they settle in, and how Nubian milk compares to the Oberhasli milk under our management. Nubian milk on average has a higher percentage of fat and protein icompared to Oberhasli milk.
Trixie will be thrilled when she gets to meet them officially. The boys are just too big for her and too rambunctious, plus 2 have horns, and we're getting close to breeding season and I don't want them harassing her even though she's too young to actually come into heat. For now, the newcomers are going to spend a couple weeks quarantined just to make sure. Sometimes stress induces illness and moving to a new farm is definitely stressful.
The plan for them right now is to evaluate her milk quality, decide if we like it or not. Watch their behavior and decide if it's similar, better, or less than the nice quiet Oberhasli demeanor we're used to. If we do like them and their milk, they'll likely be staying and be paired with Nugget each year to create mini Nubians. I do not currently have any intention of switching to Nubians. We might occasionally play with making experimental Nubian/Oberhasli crosses just to see how the milk changes, but we largely intend to stick with Standard size and Mini Oberhasli.
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