Im not sure how or where I learned about scent glands in goats but I realized from the outset that we'd have to have a remote facility for the bucks
which would be born at PL. I had grown up drinking goat's milk which came from the herd kept on our family's ranch. The person responsible for the herd had no knowledge of scent glands and the bucks and does were kept together all the time. The milk was drinkable, but not pleasant enough to be called palatable and while I did occationally drink it, I much preferred the milk of our cows. But when our first buck was born at PL, I had yet to make arrangement for his remote home. For a few months we tried to keep him down-wind of the does' quarters and as far away as would still allow him to see the does. Judging by the taste of our does' milk during those months, our plan worked.
But keeping him on our place and having to limit him to a smaller area than he was happy with, couldn't be done indefinitely. I shared my problem with Malou. After a couple of days, she called with the name of a man she knew who kept goats on a large place, also in Puna District about four miles from us. Later that same day, Jose and I got together. His does were two LaManchas, two Nubians and one Toggenburg. His bucks were four of varying mixes of Toggenburg and Nubian and one LaMancha. From then, our bucks, from the time they were weaned, stayed at Jose's and his does stayed with us. Each of us fed the goats that were with us and the milk was shared. Actually, since Jose didn't care for any kind of milk (except cocanut and soy)most of it was used by us. Infrequently, he would take some milk, which he gave to friends. Jose and I are about the same age and we had entered different branches of the U.S. Military at about the same time. I stayed in the Army for one three-year enlistment, he stayed in the Navy for twenty years and retired less than a year before our meeting in Hawaii. He was then a Chief Bosun's Mate. His job involved a difficult and exacting procedure called something like "re-supply en route". As the name implies it's about a ship, "on mission" with new orders, to be half-way around the world in a few days. There is no time to return to shore for supplies so the re-supply ship is loaded and dispatched from a port along the route of the "on mission" ship. When they meet at sea, an intricate arrangement of cables and hoses is constructed to facilitate the passage of the supplies, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous from ship-to-ship. And, it's all accomplished while both ships continue en route. He was thoroughly enjoying his "retirement". It was nothing like his life in the Navy yet very busy; most of his time he operates his florist supply business, gathering wild orchids, a number of ferns, a great number of varied ornamental greens and other plants,from private properties by agreements with owners, which he ships to florists in mainland America as well as in Japan and a few other countries. His products appear in the priciest of floral arrangements. At his home, Jose not only keeps goats but also a bunch of fighting cocks. So he totally has his hands full, but is so well organized that he never arrives late for an appointment or is ever in a hurry. His presence had a calming influence on most folks, including myself. Over the few years that we were in each-other's daily lives, not one cross word passed between us. 'Course, we had some common goals that by themselves helped us to define each other as friends. The day that I took the buck which was the first born at PL, to his new home at Jose's place, (and then returned home with four mature does and one near-mature doe...with three of the four mature does lactating) I'm wondering; could it be that "somebody upstairs" is beginning to warm to this heathen minister?
That first buck, along with his doe womb-mate were the first of Sheba's kids and the first to be born at PL. They were named Bill and Meg after our lessor/benefactors. Their sire was a Toggenburg of unknown ancestry, whose services had been arranged for by our neighbor Bob, who lived about a mile away. A friend of his, who kept goats in Mountain View, supplied the buck. Since that guy's name was also Bob, it's probably no surprise that we often called our buck Bill "Billy Buck Bob".
Only a few weeks after Bill was moved to Jose's, Wonder came into her first heat and we began the search for a buck worthy to sire wonder's kids. We
remembered meeting some members of the Krishna Fellowship Farm at a beach park, within the first few weeks of our arrival to the Big I. We were able to contact them and we learned that they had several pedigreed bucks of different breeds and said they'd be happy to donate the services of the buck we choose. While we figured that Sheba could be bread to even a mediocre buck, given the fact of her own mediocrity, we thought Wonder (a mostly Nubian and partly Toggenburg doe of very high quality) warrented a buck of even higher quality. The advent of Wonder's second coming into heat found us with everything arranged;We would deliver her to the Krishna Farm the following day. She would be put in the pen of their most highly-regarded Nubian buck, an actual champion. We could expect conception in as little as a minute or as much as five or ten minutes. I audibly thought it might be more likely to succeed if they were left together for several hours. "No", I was told "her heat makes her cooperative and him agressive. It really only takes a few seconds, though there can sometimes be unavoidable and unexplainable delay.Once there is penetration though,it's all over".
Arriving at Krishna Farm we were greeted by a lady named Amber. She took Wonder's leash, bent down and gave her a hug and then led her (and us) to the Nubian buck's pen. He was probably the handsomest buck I'd ever seen. A , little small ( probably because of his young age) but otherwise he appeared to be everything we'd hoped for. Amber opened the pen's gate, released Wonder from her leash and closed the gate behind her. "Bentley" she said "Meet Wonder". For her part, Wonder was up for it. She crossed the thirty feet to Bentley in a few seconds and immediately put her south end in his face. Bentley put his butt in her face and walked away. For the next ten minutes, both of them ignored each other while they seemed to graze half-heartedly.
When they had avoided each other for about twenty minutes, Amber told us that this was to be Bentleys first mating and it might be that his problem was that he simply didn't know what to do. After some discussion we decided to go with "Grandin", a 4-year-old champion Alpine buck, tall, handsome and
very well proportioned. We took Wonder from Bentley's pen and waited with her while Amber fetched Grandin. I had told Amber that we were particularly fond of Nubian milk since tasting Sheba's. (the first un-tainted goat's milk that I had ever tasted) and we wanted our herd to be mostly Nubian. She assured me that a doe of Nubian/Alpine heritage would give milk imperceptable from the milk of a purebred Nubian, and it will produce up to half-again as much milk. I certainly liked the sound of that and a few minutes later I very much liked the look of Grandin as he approached our little gathering. He not only looked like a champion; he acted like he knew he was one. He didn't hurry. His approach was deliberate and direct. He had no doubt about what was expected of him and he didn't hesitate in the least. The moment he was within reach he mounted Wonder and performed the requisite service. From mount to dismount, elapsed time totalled about four seconds. In
that short time,he accomplished more than the impregnation of our doe. His good work took place on the pathway right in front ot Bently's pen. When Amber led Grandin back to the common pen, Bently, finding the gate to his pen un-latched, pushed it open and proceeded directly to Wonder and did a perfect imitation of Grandin's performance of moments before.
Most of us figured that, of the two, Grandin would prevail. He was first. And he is considerably bigger and stronger. Goats do normally have twins and
can be one of each gender or both of the same gender. For the months of their gestation we wondered which buck would be the sire. I knew it was possible for each buck to achieve conception, but it seemed to me very unlikely if also
very desirable. But on Wonder's delivery day, there they were; two does, one obviously Grandin's and the other just as obviously Bentley's. We named the Alpine/Nubian "Star" because of a white star on her otherwise black belly. The rest of her coat was white except for some black marks on her forehead and back legs. The Nubian/Nubian was named "Krishna" ("The Black One" in Hindi)
after the Krishna Fellowship Farm and for the fact of her being all black except for patches of white under her chin and tail. It probably goes without saying that we were delighted with Wonder's outcome.
end of Wonder's Star and Krishna
Note to the reader: While my stories are based on fact, all names are fictitious. A character in one story may appear in another under a different name and some characters are themselves fictitious.
In the months to come, we will re-visit Puna Lani under the title of
"Heavenly Spring"
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