As regular readers know, we raise South African Boer goats at our ranch in Colorado.
Currently, it’s breeding season. The bucks are in with the does which means if all goes well, the place will be bleating with babies in about five months.
But romance among goats isn’t as simple as putting male and female together. Sometimes they don’t like each other. Other times it’s too hot for making whoopee. And sometimes Mother Nature just doesn’t cooperate and you don’t know why.
This normally wouldn’t be a problem, except we sell many of our baby goats to 4H students to show at the summer fairs. If the romance doesn’t happen in a timely matter, the babies will be born too late in the year to “make weight” for the fairs.
That means a lot of disappointed kids—of the two-legged kind.
Lizzy, one of our young 4H clients who’s already looking forward to buying a baby for next year’s fair, asked if it was possible to influence the mating process.
Might a romantic dinner for two help?
We were so inspired by her idea, we decided to try it.
You Get Great Service at the Ranch Restaurant
Meet Hoosier, the oldest and most seasoned buck at Swan View Ranch. Unlike some bucks who may bunt you with their hard heads when you’re not looking, Hoosier has a sweet disposition.
Here, he’s checking out the new restaurant that recently opened on the ranch. Might it be a good place to take his doe for a date?
Hoosier checks out the new restaurant.
The place seemed to meet with his approval, because a little while later he came back with his date, Elizabeth. She’s been around the ranch for years and is a blue-ribbon-producing doe, so we thought he made a good choice.
Here, their waitress (our daughter, Colleen) is taking their order. They’ve chosen the green stalks as an appetizer.
Hoosier and Elizabeth place their orders.
Looks like the appetizer meets with their approval. Notice that Hoosier’s is already gone and he’s wanting more.
Hmm. This looks pretty good.
Now it’s time for the main course—the ragweed salad. To goats, this is a special delicacy, preferred over hay and other types of greens.
The waitress offers a little wine with their salad, but our daters declined. They were too busy enjoying the meal.
Would you like a little wine with your salad?
After the couple had nearly finished their meal, the waitress asked about dessert. Hoosier and Elizabeth said they were fine filling up on ragweed.
Any dessert for you this afternoon?
So that date went well. Both goats seemed to enjoy themselves. In fact, it went so well that Hoosier returned to the Ranch Restaurant a little while later for a second date.
But he didn’t bring Elizabeth this time. He brought Francine instead.
Billy goats are known to enjoy playing the field.
We thought he was lucky to get her to go with him. She’s a grand-champion-producing doe, and has extremely high standards. As you can see, she appreciated the roses.
Hoosier brings a second date, Francine.
After a second successful date, it was time for the Ranch Restaurant to close.
The goats clearly enjoyed their meals, but they also left quite a mess for the staff to clean up.
The waitress is a little worried: “I hope they left a tip!”
What a mess! I hope they left a tip!
Will the wine and roses inspire romance between our couples?
Only time will tell.
Stay tuned for more updates as the year goes on!
