Breeding Season

This year's breeding season appears to have been successful.  Buddy Buck is no longer making his strange animated noises and his uniquely quickened stomping has pretty much ceased.  He does still stink, however; and once in awhile I catch him "applying" his special cologne ritual.

It's easy to see Abba's calendar in the breeding season.  He really did create everything to be efficient and accomplished.  Goats and sheep have about the same length of gestation, five months.

Although some goats will breed year round, many breeds have a season rather than a cycle.  I have both in my herd, but since I keep the buck separate from the milkers, there is a single time frame for breeding and arrivals.  Buddy Buck left the north pasture to join the does in the east, right before Yom Teruah.  As I have learned more on the homestead, it becomes clear how the animals really were created to also align with our Creator's timing.  By the time of Sukkot, all the goats are in one pasture with plenty of grass still remaining.  This is the easiest time of year to move a herd or travel with one.  Early autumn affords the does the best nutrients available, as the beginning of the gestational period is the most crucial.  The summer dry season has passed and the pasture is still lush and green.  Dew falls in the morning by this season, so even as they browse and graze, they are taking in extra moisture.

According to my calculations, all the kids should begin arriving by mid-February and all should be here by Passover.  Just one more great blessing regarding Abba's creation and calendar.  With this breeding schedule, no babies arrive in the coldest months of winter.  Here are a few photos of the girls, confirming that breeding season has now, officially become; the season of gestation!