Last night was quite a busy evening for us: dinner, voting, and then picking up a goat buck to bring home to our girls. He’s an Alpine, but is so hairy right now, you might not know it. Our Awesome Vet loaned him to us for our breeding program this year, and we brought him home in a large cage wrapped in a canvas tarp in the back of our pickup. He was a perfect gentleman, and calmly laid down the entire ride home – only about a half hour, but we remember that transporting Veronica wasn’t such a simple affair – she stood up and wailed the whole time. So last night’s ride home was uneventful, and rather contrary to his nickname of “Asshole.” He was even very cooperative getting out of the truck once we arrived home at the barn. Of course, I think it helped that he realized coitus was in his very near future, as the ladies peeped their heads over the half-wall of their pen.
My anosmia has cut off the majority of my ability to smell right now, as I’m fighting allergies or a head cold. In either case, I wasn’t subject to the full aromatic assault of his bucky scent – a mix of musk glands and the urine he sprays onto his legs and beard. George has assured me that it is definitely present and accounted for, however.
The buck’s presence will bring our girls into ovulation, if they aren’t already there, and within about a week, everyone should be knocked up. Does are definitely not very interested in bucks unless they are in estrus, and we were given quite the Parkour demonstration by our girls as soon as he walked into the pen last night. I didn’t realize that goats can climb walls, but you learn something new every day.
This morning, I noticed that Ginger was very interested in the buck – even rubbing against his chest. I thought, “Only in nature would musky urine smell be an attractant.” Then I remembered that frat boys get laid all of the time at wild kegger parties, and the lines between man and beast were once again blurred. For some reason, the sound cuts out about halfway through the video that I took, but you can at least see the mating behaviors that both of them are demonstrating.
I took everyone on our usual afternoon walk, including Asshole, but I put his chain on his collar. Awesome Vet has been using it as an attempt to keep him from jumping the electrified fence – the thought being that it will give him a jolt and he will cease in his escape efforts. He is quite strong, and determined, however, and was continuing to jump the fence. It does make for a good insurance policy that if he tries running away, or is doing something he shouldn’t, I have the ability to pull him back. He was very well behaved for about 15 minutes, after which he became quite intrigued by me, and as soon as the grunting and tongue flapping began (I’ve had dates like that!)(Thankfully, long, long ago…) I realized he needed to be thwarted and returned to the pen. 
The Wookiee, I mean Tauntaun, err, rather, Asshole was actually quite cooperative in being led on the chain, and I was grateful for that. Struggling to drag a large buck back into the barn was not on my agenda this afternoon.
I witnessed him in flagrante delicto with Ginger in their yard shortly after everyone returned to the pen for some grain (works like a charm at getting them back inside). So hopefully, we are well on our way to having a little herd of pregnant goats!
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