This is Lola. She’s our sole Nigerian Dwarf doe and when I launched the website, I left her off because she was to be sold (already reserved) when I was done milking her this spring. Well, Lola had other plans. A couple weeks ago, Lola’s milk dried off abruptly and I’ve only see this happen when goats are 10-12 weeks pregnant. When our vet was out to disbud Lucky’s baby I had her ultrasound Lola, and sure enough she’s expecting a couple babies (June-ish). I really don’t know when this happened but I have a theory: When the Nubian LAYLA is in heat, she can flip the latch on the buck lot. However, she’s been too tall to be bred without assistance. I think during one of her heats, Lola was also in heat and took advantage of the open gate. At this point, the real mystery is paternity. It’s either the Nigerian Dwarf buck Baachus (most likely because he is the most mature and assertive) OR the younger 2 Mini Nubian bucks. Normally, it isn’t advised to breed a mini Nubian buck to a Nigerian Dwarf doe because of the risk for larger babies. However, Lola’s first kidding was a large, single kid and she is currently carrying twins (typically smaller than singletons). Also, our Mini bucks are from a smaller genetic line. It’s also possible that ALL THREE bucks bred her. When the babies come, I’ll be sending samples in for genetic testing. It’s offered through UC Davis via the MDGA registry. It’s very simple: you submit about 30 hairs from each goat who needs testing ($35 apiece). Baachus’s sample is already on file, so I will only need to send the samples from the babies and one other buck (they will then be able to exclude Lola and buck number 3).
The real irony here is that Lola did NOT want to be bred last year. She wanted nothing to do with the bucks, heat or not. Apparently she’s had a change of heart. I just keep hearing Lola’s theme from the musical Damn Yankees: “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets…and little man, little Lola wants you.”
This is one for Maury.