Yesterday, we finally let Oreo out into the field with the ladies. He went straight for Star who was in heat yesterday and took care of business as we all looked on. Crazy goats!

Oreo and Star performed this funny circling dance before mating.

The other girls, who are not currently in heat, rebuffed his every attempt to be friendly. And Nutmeg let him know very quickly that she's the herd queen and not to be messed with.

For those of you who are curious as to how this whole thing works . . .

Nubian does are only in heat seasonally. And, even then, they are on a 21 day cycle wherein they are only actually in heat for 6 hours to 3 days once during that period. Usually from September to December, the girls are having their cycles. Theoretically, then, if Oreo is taking care of business, we should be able to leave him in the female field for a 21 day period and be pretty sure that all the ladies have been in heat once with him there.

Razz in the foreground with Oreo in the background

Of course, Izzy got into the male pen last weekend, so I went ahead and marked the calendar last Sunday for her. And, it was pretty apparent that yesterday was Star's breeding day. The gestation period is usually about 150 days, so we're looking at mid to late February for these two does to kid.

About 30 days after we think all the gals have been bred, we will pregnancy test them, just to be sure. Hopefully, we'll get back some positive results. If not, our earlier breeding this year may mean that we can have another chance to get Oreo back together with any doe whose preg test comes back negative before she's finished with being in heat for the year.

My least favorite part of having Oreo in with the ladies is how disgusting he is. I love to hang out in the female goat field, walking and talking with my ladies. But, oh, that buck is stinky and nasty. This morning, I went into the field to put out some mineral, and he spent the entire time I was in there rubbing the scent glands on his head all over my body. It's a weird thing, but they do it to mark the ladies as theirs and to try to attract them. How any creature could find that scent alluring is beyond me! Anyway. Following my time in the field, I went for a run. And, even though I am sitting here nasty and sweaty, all I can smell is BUCK. That's how strong a smell it is. Guess I'd better bring this post to an end and grab a shower. Happy Monday!