As Catherine Friend so pointedly wrote in her book, Hit By A Farm, "Farming boils down to three things: shit, sex & death." The shit is never-ending. Last week we dealt with the death part when we harvested several calves and goat. Now we're on to the sex part.
Meet Fiesta, a cashmere buck from Bearlin Acres. Given that the Boer goats are native to the arid, hot climate of South Africa, they're not the hardiest here in the northeast. But my meat goat pal, Marge Kilkelly, in Maine has been infusing her meat herd with cashmere. Last year when I dressed out some cashmere buck kids from Bearlin Acres, their carcasses were just as meaty as the Boer cross kids. So in an experimental effort to breed animals that will winter over much better than their desert ancestors, Fiesta has come to service the latest round of open does.
He got to work within 30 seconds of being let in with the open doe herd.
But the goats aren't the only ones getting action. It seems as if each time Emma & her daughter, Gray, come into heat, I'm away at market and don't catch it in time for the "breederman". In an effort to get them both bred to calve next spring, Vincent--a purebred Jersey bull from Carrock Farm--has come for a visit.
Isn't he a handsome fella? Let's hope there's enough dark genes in him to throw me more dark Jersey heifers.
