A Crime of Passion

Smilin' Jill has a story to tell...
it's a story of intrigue, and crimes of passion!


The scene....
(the buck's pen)


The perpetrators...
(Smoochie, Skip and Chip)


The innocent vixens....
(Missy and Nettie B.)


The climax....
(Smoochie's castration)


I know this picture looks barbaric, but this is how it's done on a farm.
Smoochie is anesthetized and feeling no pain.
The surgery is done with sterile instruments,
however, without an operating room, the surgery is done on the ground.
If you are interested, to the far right on the blue towels are Smoochies' testicles.
One of them is still in the grips of a tool called an "emasculator"
which is attached to a power drill.
The emasculator holds the testicle and the drill spins it 
until the spermatic cord twists on itself.
The testicles just "pop" off with a minimum of bleeding.
The wound is left open to allow for drainage, but quickly heals in a matter of days.
If the wound were stitched, there would be a much higher potential for infection.
(Dr. Becky performs our castrations.)

I added the above info just in cast you were wondering.
Now back to our story.....

All day Saturday we heard pounding coming from our buck pen.
It seems Nettie B. and her mama Missy are "in season".


Even though the bucks are yards away...
you can barely see their pen across the field in front of the tree line.
The pen in the forefront is where our non-pregnant does are housed right now.


Nettie and Missy have been standing by the fence,
calling to the boys....taunting them.
The combination of that and their pheromones
were more than the boys could handle,
and they spent the weekend fighting,
beating their horns against their houses trying to get to each other.
Pounding and pounding, until they managed to break through the front of one of the houses!


Why did we castrate Smoochie you ask?
Well, old Smooch seems more interested in humping the wethers than he does the does;
and has been unsuccessful for two years running in impregnating the does.
We've been considering castration for quite a while.
This weekend's shenanigans convinced us it was time...
there was just a bit too much testosterone and not enough performance in the buck pen.


Don't worry.  Smoochie did just fine.
He's calmly sleeping off the anesthesia.
For the next few weeks, he will be housed in an extra pen 
next to our maternity ward...


Eventually, I suspect, he will be used as a companion goat for some of the girls.

Now you see why everyone gets along so well on our farm?
We don't tolerate anything else but peaceful cohabitation...
and when the hormones get overbearing....
the hormones "gotta go!"

Comments

andy said…
That sure got me awake this morning. Haha :) have a great start of the week!
andy said…
That sure got me awake this morning. Haha :) have a great start of the week!
Clint Baker said…
Woke me up too! It made the coffee rush right through me! lol
Country Gal said…
Spring is in the air ! What has to be done has to be done ! It all comes with the territory of hobby farming ! Have a good day !
Michelle said…
That's farming life for ya! You gotta do what you gotta do!
Bliss said…
That's one ouchie I'm not gonna smoochie!

~Bliss~
No useless testosterone on a farm, I agree!
Jenny said…
I just love hearing your stories of the animals. You're a great storyteller. Smoochie's castration, all I can say is... OUCH! Good thing he's out of it. I also love your new indoor arena. We have a small 60 x 60 indoor riding area and it sure is nice to be out of the weather and mud.
This N That said…
Smoochie has an ouchie....poor Smooch..got his sails trimmed ,so to speak...Does Hubs help with these procedures ???
Junebug said…
Hummm, could the next post be repairing the buck pen?? All I can say is boy will be boys and in they end they get it! So enjoy the antics of the farm!
Such is life on a farm. I got to see this from afar when Eeyore was castrated a couple of years ago. It all went well and without incident and the farm world was a peace again. I can see why you 'take care of business' on your farm...those boys can be pretty destructive when the females start 'calling' their names!! Smoochie will be a much happier fellow once he's healed. :)
Anonymous said…
love is in the air!!!! but ouch , ouch, you did the right thing ...

Annie v.
Katmom said…
Sorry Smoochie, don't mean to laugh at your miss fortune,,,but,,, lololol!
>^..^<