Breeding Season is almost here (already!!)

I’m having a hard time believing it is already breeding season. With the addition of Acorn, 7 or so weeks ago, I feel like we can’t possibly be getting close to the time for breeding, we are still milking and feeding kids! And we still have a few more shows! Ah, well, seasons begin to change whether I like it or not. The girls and boys are all coming into season and the air near the buck pens are beginning to smell strongly…

The breeding list for 2011 kids has been updated with the current plan. Of course this is just a plan and could change as we get closer to actually breeding them.

We will be leasing a Togg buck this year and all the toggs (including our two newest acquisitions) will be bred for Togg kids. The Lamanchas will be split between Arabica and Brazil, with Brazil for the older does and Arabica for the younger does. Most of the Saanens we will take else ware to breed although we are going to try breeding Zinfandel AI for a few rounds. We are also really excited to use Brazil for several sets of grade kids. Besides Ysis – who would have grade kids regardless – we will be breeding Thistle for Saanchas (Saanen-Lamancha) which should look like adorable mini Ysises. Additionally, we are leasing 4 Alpines from Tori Kennedy and breeding them all Lamancha. Hopefully there will be some nice grade kids who come from this cross.

Even though it does not possible seem like it could be late enough for breeding animals, it is exciting to plan for all the kids next year, and we should have a lot! With the total as it is now, possible up to 19 does kidding!!

Little girls growing up

I promise I will write about state fair at some point, but I had to post this picture this morning. I am working on a 365 project (where you take a picture every day for a year) and not surprisingly the goats show up in a lot of my pictures. Well this was too precious not to share. Katie on the left with Alaska in the middle and Arizona on the right. Wow they grow up fast don't they? Already the "little girls" are almost as tall as their mother. We keep asking in jest "so you think they will be big enough to breed this fall?" but seriously it always amazes me that slightly more than 6 months ago this girls were the size of Acorn (yes the Nubian-Nigerian has a name of sorts) and were cuddling on our laps. Now they are inching towards 100lbs and are almost one of the "big girls". In 6 months or so everything will start over and we will have a whole new crop of little girls in the pasture.

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Just in case you are wondering, the kids are enjoying a brief vacation from the weaning pen. You can see on the other side of the feeder Ysis and Artemis eating side by side. It is sweet to see the kids cuddled up against their mothers. I didn't get a picture of it, but right behind me at the other feeder Thistle and Azalea were standing together eating and Fritter has not left her mother's sight since she has been allowed back in. I know that they will all act this way again once we finish weaning and drying off, at least until new babies arrive keeping this years mothers and next years new mothers busy.

New Champion and New Kid

What a Weekend!!! This last weekend was the Central Coast California show, better known as the Watsonville show. It is almost certainly my favorite show of the year. It was one of the first that I ever attended and remains one of the most laid-back relaxed shows. Additionally we always get to help out in the show ring. This is better than being ringside and watching because you can chat with people and make sure the show moves smoothly. The judges love it when you help and you have a reason to be in the ring.

So the highlight of the weekend really came when Ysis, my Lamancha-Saanen grade won grand champion in the recorded grade division. Not only that, but it was under Karen Senn and Chris Strickland, two judges who I greatly respect. This means she has acquired the highly sought after title of Champion!!! She will have CH before her name from now on. Ever since I started in Dairy goats so many years ago I never knew if I would ever make it to that level. To actually have a doe who has the title of Champion seemed so unobtainable. Even several days later it seems amazing to me and words barely do justice to my excitement. Her daughter also won her dry leg this weekend, which means she is also one step closer to being a finished champion. To make the weekend complete we even brought home a new kid. A small Nubian cross was born to one of the breeders this weekend. She is out of a doe who was supposed to be a dry yearling. The breeder did not even know she was bred until she when into labor that morning. The mother did not want her and did not have any milk to feed her with so a short negotiation later and she was coming home with us. There goes my “summer does not have any breeding or kidding in it” theory. She really is adorable. Currently she sleeps in the bath tube and gets taken outside to eat and pee. Of course she smells delightfully like a kid as well. Such a sweetheart! Already she has many home offers, we’ll just see where she ends up!

She really is quite a lovely little thing

Sleeping in the bath tube means she peers out at you if you make noise

Showmanship!!!

As I go out to pick tomatoes from my garden and I see the pen of weanlings I know that it must be summer time! And with summer time come 3 things in my dairy goat world: 1. Lots of milking 2. No repro related work for a whole 2 months 3. County Fairs!!! So in honor of county fairs I am dedicating a whole post to Showmanship. As a showmanship exhibitor once and now a showmanship judge I have compiled a list of do's and do not's every exhibitor should know. The top 10 things to know or have done before you enter the showmanship ring (first 5 are essential for all, especially beginners and the second 5 are important for advanced and if you want to do really well) 1. That your animal is CLEAN and well trained - Remember - 40pt that your animal is well fitted, in good condition, well clipped, and very clean! If you don't make this, you probably don't make the top 1/2 2. Where the judge is at ALL times (goat, ground, judge on the move - make it your mantra!) Never be caught on the wrong side. Alert and courteous at all times. 3. How to set you animal up quickly and properly - don't overstretch or scrunch the animal and whenever you stop, even if it because a goat 2 in front of you had to pee, set your goat up! 4. Body Parts (breeds of goats) - Absolute necessity, I am almost guaranteed to ask. 5. Maneuvers through the ring - know how to move in an out of line and do it smoothly. (the next 5 things you should learn) 6. Scorecard!!!! - do you know the major point categories? This is my #1 way to divide close placings 7. How to handle the acquisition of a new animal and how to act when the judge approaches you. 8. Setting up right feet, setting up to best advantage ANY animal - if I hand you another animal can you set up a milker as well as a kid? 9. Evaluation of your animal and be able to evaluate another persons animal - the ever present "what do you like and what would you like to change" about your animals and of course any other animal you get handed. 10. Defects, DQ’s, and any other rules from the guidebook - if you know everything else backwards and forwards and you are ready to go for the big showmanship classes, start memorizing this! Ok, so what are the top 5 mistakes of showmanship? Here is what NOT to do: 1. DO NOT GREASE YOUR ANIMAL! 2. Do not forget to trim and clean the insides of the ears, the fore udder, the armpits, and between the hooves. 3. Do not stand on the wrong side of the animal because you were not paying attention, as the judge was moving. Don’t walk behind or over the goat to switch sides. (or behind the line, ever) 4. Do not bring an animal into the ring with a web collar or a collar that is too loose and can pull over the neck. Use only a small professional, unobtrusive leash on a Nigerian. 5. Do not try to trim your goats’ hooves on the day of the show – nothing worse than a lame goat.

Almost a marathon

The past two weekend have been a whirlwind of goat shows. First their was REDGA. Really this show is the place to be on Memorial Day weekend. All the big names in Northern CA come over and bring out their best goats. Such a beautiful show it actually moved the judge to tears and the amazingness of the animals. Needless to say I do not yet have the quality of animals that I expect to be standing in those champion line-up. So imagine my surprise when Ysis took GCH again! Not only does that give her a second milking leg (only 1 more until champion!) but she got to stand in a beautiful line-up again. Amusingly with the 4 goats in her class, she actually stood in every single place in one of the rings. Once again our 4Hers were able to come and help show the goats they are taking to the Fair this month. Even more fun, there was a 4Her who was from a different county who is really excited about Saanens (the breed I raise) so I was able to let her try taking one of my Saanens into showmanship and try it out. Overall one of the best REDGA weekends! The weekend finished with the acquisition of two new goat kids. Two does from Bill Davis' outstanding herd with bloodlines based in Nan Wojcik's Cisco herd. These two girls are so people friendly that perhaps "needy" might be a better term for them. They are really sweet and want as much love and attention we can give them. I really think they have even grown in the week that we have had them. This last weekend we continued the goat show marathon with a show up in Humboldt. On a map, Humboldt looks like it is just a ways up there. Wow, that is a long drive. And such an extremely different climate too. Here in the valley it was warm and sunny, up in Humboldt it was cloudy and overcast. I am a staunch believer in washing my goats before they go the show ring. Even I conceded that bathing them in that weather was crazy. The show itself was quite enjoyable and we were able to put one champion leg on Brazil. Azalea, who we took along in an attempt to fill out the Saanen jr show took RGCH twice behind a doe who went best in show in two different rings. The only down side of the show was the 6.5 hour drive home after leaving at 8pm at night. It was not, however as late as the night before when the show did not end until 10pm at night! Wow! that was a long show. The weekends ahead have a slowing of the goat shows, but the big shows like Watsonville and State fair still remain.

Start the Show Season!

Showing With Kidding season in the rear view mirror, we move into the next of the three dairy goat seasons – show season. Or, the reward for the years hard work. The first show of the season started with the Plymouth DGA show. This is such a fun show because it is only an hour away. Not only do we get to go up the day of, we get to come home at a reasonable time as well. Plus, for the last few years Jenn and I have been the ring stewards. This is probably my favorite job because you get the best seat in the house and people have to actually listen to you. This year the show was particularly fun because we brought some of our first year 4Hers with us. This was their first exposure to a goat show and I really think they enjoyed themselves. Not only did they get to show our goats, they helped lots of other breeders show their as well. Nothing like handling national show winning quality animals to get you excited about goats! To top it all off we were able to put a dry leg on my favorite of Jenn’s kids this year – Arizona. The way it works in the dairy goat shows, in case anyone doesn’t know, is that to become a permanent champion and have the “CH” designation on the goats papers you need to acquire 3 grand champion wins (we call them legs). All of the wins must be over 10 animals and at least 2 of the wins need to be when the goat is milking. The 3rd win can occur when the goat is still a kid or dry yearling. Most of the time this is the first win and it lets you know just how nice the kid is because she already has her first leg. There are a few other clauses and variations but really this is a huge step for Arizona. I can’t wait to see that happens in the next few years after she kids. The second show for our herd was a buck show where both Arabica and Brazil went. I was judging out in Idaho so I will have to let someone else write about this one. The next weekend (we have a crazy life) we went to our third show. The was a new show that we had not been to before. It was up in Red Bluff and it was holding the Togg specialty this year which was the deciding factor to go up instead of the show in Paso Robles where we have gone before. Not nearly as much fun as Plymouth but enjoyable in its own right. Zinfandel has held her own in both of the last 2 shows. As a yearling milker she is not really expected to beat the older does, but really she has something special and I really hope to see her bloom in the next few years. The star of this show was Ysis my grade Saanen/Lamancha 2 year old. Sat she came in 3rd and 2nd behind UC Davis’ beautiful does. We were not planning to stay for Sunday but we decided to go for it just for her at the last minute. In the first ring she took 1st in her class over a large class of 8 other does and then took RGCH to a 4yr old! I was really excited. In the second class she I employed all my showing magic and nearly cried when she was awarded GCH! My first unrestricted milking leg ever!!! I will write about the jr show later, because today it is all about her. The thrill of standing in the BIS line-up with a 9 yr old saanen who I admire greatly and Kastdemur’s Make7upYours who Arabica is 2x bred on was just a moment for the books. So exciting!!!! and what is more is we still have more shows to go this season. Here is to sleepless weekends and tired weeks for the thrill of it all!!

The Bonus of Bucks

Had someone tried to convince me that I would voluntarily care for, pet and become attached to a buck even as recently as early 2009, I would have cringed and possibly emitted a cynical chuckle followed by a scoff. I have never been markedly fond of bucks - they served for the purpose of propagation of offspring. A necessary nuisance if you will. During my years of having a 4-H herd, I mostly took does to bucks, although at different times did own a Togg buck for one breeding season, then a LaMancha buck I won at a show raffle several years later. Beyond that, my interaction has predominantly been at the commercial dairy where I was employed during college and in most recent years, at shows throughout the US that I have been privileged to judge. A series of bucks over the last 8 months have served to alter my opinion to the better.

Pineapple was the first buck who served to at least mellow my opinion of bucks. Pineapple arrived in the middle of an August heat wave and reacting to this stress, while exiting from the truck, landed himself in the middle of a shrub in my front yard, effectively re-landscaping it before running up and down the block not once, but twice (this during a time of goat keeping on the edge of a 300,000 population city). Over time, however, this free spirited buck began to tame and would appeal for attention over the top of the livestock panels. By the time he returned home, he was so tame that, when the truck couldn’t make it up a steep, moss covered Santa Cruz mountain road, he agreeably hiked the last 1/4 mile with us up to his home.

Then in late January the opportunity to purchase Elm*Glen Brazil presented. Talking with Karen Senn, she warned me that he was spoiled and more than a little attention seeking. In the time since Brazil’s arrival, he is more docile than some of the does. After trimming his hooves yesterday, he placed his head in the crook of my elbow and closed his eyes as I rubbed his chin and neck. I mean, really, as smelly as he is, who could really resist that charm?

Early this month, thanks to Trinity Smith of Goat-San LaManchas, we brought home Arabica, a beautiful little buckling full of spunk. A bottle baby in our herd of dam-raised kids, Arabica lived the first 10 nights in the bathtub of our spare room. He would vociferously protest the outrage of being “abandoned” by his human mothers, leading to the shutting of the bathroom door. Arabica is truly the buck who has won over my heart. No matter how much a slobbering, hormone driven buck he becomes, chances are I will still have a deep attachment to the creature who drapes himself over my knee foraging for the bottle he know I must be hiding somewhere!

This said, I suppose I should be grateful I recently discovered my ginger salt bath scrub does a near miraculous job of removing buck “cologne” so I can continue to enjoy petting the boys after the start of breeding season. With their unique personalities, the bucks truly are a bonus to the herd.