Culling does

I picked out several does that needed to be culled. It wasn't scientific -- I call it my "comparison" method of selection. First, I called up the goats near the gate then threw out some shelled corn. Then I walked around and looked at each goat, focusing exclusively on body condition score. 

At this time of year, all the does should have begun regaining any weight they lost during kidding and lactation as long as they had plenty to eat and were not ill or wormy. Kids have been weaned for more than a month so the mommas have had plenty of time to start gaining weight. If they have not started putting on weight, something is wrong and they probably won't be ready to breed any time soon.

So it easy easy to look at all the does at one time and see which ones stand out as being in poor condition. After a walk through the herd, I picked out four that scored 1 on body condition score, which means no body fat -- and in these cases, not much meat either. 

In all four cases, the does were over 5 years old and were anemic. And none were original Egypt Creek stock. Fortunately, I have a good many does over 5 years old that are still healthy and producing.

Gathering the does with a little shelled corn for inspection was easy.

Determining that this doe was in poor condition also was easy.