Deidesheimer billy goats Geißböcke for green grazing

Historic billy goat auction 2007 in Deidesheim

My name is Marco and I am the 604th tribute buck from the year 2007. Since July 21, 2009, I have been grazing O. Wittmer's green areas. Among other things, I support the maintenance of the steep slopes of the Hardenburg and some areas of the community in Deidesheim and the surrounding area.

Maybe we'll meet on one of your hikes through the Palatinate.

Greetings Yours
Marco

Historic billy goat auction 2011 in Deidesheim

My name is Karl-Heinz and I am the 608th tribute buck from 2011. Since September 2011, I came to Marco's accommodation to support him in the Forst district on the Wine Route.

Historische Geißbock-Versteigerung 2012 in Deidesheim an der Weinstraße

Ich heiße Benny und bin der 609. Tribut-Bock aus dem Jahr 2012.
Seit Juni 2012, kam ich auch zu Oliver Wittmer ins Gehege um Marco und Kar-Heinz bei der Beweidung zu unterstützen.

Historische Geißbock-Versteigerung 2014 in Deidesheim an der Weinstraße

On the Tuesday after Pentecost, a billy goat must be handed over by the youngest Lambrecht bridal couple at sunrise at the Deidesheim forest line. Then it will be auctioned off. It is an old custom. This year Cathrin Konrad and Daniel Schulte have the honor. Together with Mayor Michael Stöhr, the bridal couple and the billy goat were presented to media representatives.

Billy goat Daniel will be auctioned in Deidesheim on the Tuesday after Pentecost.

29-year-old Cathrin Konrad comes from Lambrecht. She met her fiancé, who was the same age, 10 years ago while studying landscape architecture in Höxter. Daniel Schulte comes from Lippstadt in East Westphalia. Both work in a planning office in Kaiserslautern.

Daniel Schulte has lived in the Palatinate since 2008. The desire to lead the Billy Goat came from him. Cathrin Konrad didn't want to at first, but she said she was persuaded by the registrar.

The billy goat, whose name was 'Daniel' when he was handed over, is currently called 'Helmut'. Although 'hear' is not the appropriate expression. At the press conference he behaved extremely lively and at times could only be tamed with a lot of patience. Mayor Michael Stöhr said the animal was a magnificent and spirited buck. This could be seen in the goat.

Billy goat Helmut descends from Marco, an 'old friend'

Helmut was born in 2007. His father is the buck 'Marco', well-known in the Palatinate, who was auctioned in Deidesheim in 2007 and was retired by Oliver Wittmer in the Forst district. Oliver Wittmer from Deidesheim has about 80 animals and Bock Helmut was bred by him. The 6-year-old animal weighs between 80 and 100 kg and has a horn span of around 80 cm. Helmut already has offspring. He is the proud father of 2 'sons'.

This year the Billy Goat will be led from Lambrecht to Deidesheim for the 611th time. Michael Stöhr, who has been the 'mayor' for the 20th time during his term of office, is looking forward to the upcoming task together with the future bridal couple.

Our Valais Blackneck

The breed from Switzerland, also known as 'glacier goat', is considered to be one of the oldest thoroughbred goat breeds. More than 1000 years ago, it was introduced in Lower Valais and later also kept in Upper Valais. On the verge of disappearing, the number of herd book animals has been increasing again for the last 80 years and has now stabilized. Nevertheless, it is still one of the internationally endangered breeds.
In 2004, its herd book stock was around 2000 animals.

Look:

The goats are horned, both male and female. The horns of the bucks are very pronounced.
The Valais have long fur, the front half of the animal is black and the rear half is white. They often have long forehead hair that covers their eyes and a black beard.
The magnificent coat of hair protects the Valais from heat and cold and must not be cut.

Use:

We use our Valais very successfully in landscaping, as they are excellently suited for steep and lean slopes up to rocky slopes.
The breed is very undemanding and, last but not least, very robust due to its long coat.

Growth:

The goat is fully grown when it is about 4 years old.

Rut:

During the mating season there is a tolerance reflex. Often the head of the buck is rubbed against the body of the female, but the goats also rub against the buck. Another feature is the buck's loud 'snout'. The buck keeps opening his lips when he snouts this way.
If there are several bucks, there are fights for rank at this time. If the goat is not mated, heat will recur every 17 to 23 days.

Gestation period / birth:

The goat has a gestation period of 5 months, i.e. 145 - 156 days and gives birth to one or two kids. The Valais give birth to their fawns without any obstetrics. If there is too much crowding in the stall, various mothers will move to a sheltered place in the enclosure to lame. After 3 days, these mothers come back to the herd with their young.
There are always color errors at birth, we do not take these animals into our breeding, but sell them to goat friends.

Our dwarf goat

The pygmy goat originally comes from Africa and the Arabian region. The 'dwarfing' is an adaptation to poor environmental conditions in their countries of origin (barren landscapes) in which the smaller animals found better living conditions.

Stock-breeding:

This breed can be kept outdoors all year round as they are very hardy animals. However, there should be a draught-free, dry shelter/stable. It is important that the area should be fenced off with a wire mesh (hunting fence) and an electric wire, since the pygmy goat is a very lively breed and tends to break out.

Breeding:

In order to be able to breed pygmy goats you should have plenty of space. Because triplets or quadruplets are not uncommon.

Our Suffolk-Scheeps

This breed of sheep is a very precocious breed of meat sheep, with distinctive meat shapes (legs, back, breast). The head and legs are woolless and jet black. In contrast to the black-headed meat sheep, the head is unwooled up to the ears.
The white wool has a diameter of 32-34 microns (C-CD fineness). The Suffolk is a fertile sheep with very good carcass quality. High performance is possible in good locations with good husbandry.
Suffolk rams are used - like other meat sheep - for crossing with less well-muscled breeds in order to produce marketable slaughter lambs.

Origin/distribution:

The breed has been known since the late 18th century. In North America, the sheep are bred on a larger scale than the British parent.