# Raising the 2017 kids-Who are you keeping/selling?



## Southern by choice (Jun 17, 2017)

Would love to see who is keeping what and who is selling what....
Post some pics and say why for keep/sell

Now that the kiddings are over (til August anyway) and the shows are done til October things have settled down. BUT... now comes the hard part.
Who to keep. Some kids we knew from the start we would keep but others we simply just go back and forth.


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 18, 2017)

Thinking we are in the same boat as you with deciding who goes and who stays....all bucklings from the 2017 kidding were wethered- yesterday 5 went to their new homes !

We have 1 yearling buck to sell. We'd like to get around 12-13 goats going into winter.  Currently we are at 18 goats....not bad for someone who only wanted 2 to start!!

No good pictures as they like to see the camera up close and personal


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## babsbag (Jun 18, 2017)

Well being that I just bought 7 new La Manchas and a new Alpine buck I technically shouldn't keep any, but of course that will never happen. 

The current keep list...subject to change.
Doelings.
2 LM
1 mini mancha 
2 mini Toggs
1 mini Alpine
1 polled Alpine (ALL goats should be polled  )
1 LM/Alpine cross

1 LM buckling


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## Green Acres Farm (Jun 18, 2017)

I only kept 2 kids this year.

Lucy, unregistered ND because I told her dam I'd let her keep a daughter, and Mary Arden, my Saanen doe's kid who I still have not DNA'd ( ) but I will before I register her. Assuming her sire is who I think he is, she will be the first goat with my herd name.






I have recently bought 2 Nigie girls.

Edelweiss

http://www.adgagenetics.org/GoatDetail.aspx?RegNumber=D001851528







And "Dazzle"

She is my show potential kid! Her dam looked very nice and some of you may recognize her sire. 

http://www.adgagenetics.org/GoatDetail.aspx?RegNumber=D001855429


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## Southern by choice (Jun 18, 2017)

@Green Acres Farm  lol- "I only kept two" but I bought two more!" 

Love the pics too!  Goats are so funny when they sleep in the I'm dead position! 

@babsbag   Wow! Those numbers are sure going up.... good thing you are almost done with your dairy! 

@Hens and Roos  yeah, it is a hard one this year for us too.  We are going to start kidding again in August and I know @Goat Whisperer  will want to keep some Nigies. I want to keep some Lamanchas.
We start breeding in August too!


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## Southern by choice (Jun 20, 2017)

After consulting with a very long time experienced Lamancha breeder we will be keeping Prynne and Pearl.


Prynne- Prynne hurt her knee so she is forward on that front leg


 

Love her head 


 


Pearl- being silly- wanting a kiss


 

behaving 


 



 

she kind of "glides" when she walks


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## Green Acres Farm (Jun 20, 2017)

Southern by choice said:


> After consulting with a very long time experienced Lamancha breeder we will be keeping Prynne and Pearl.
> 
> 
> Prynne- Prynne hurt her knee so she is forward on that front leg
> ...


I love them! They're so long and level.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 20, 2017)

babsbag said:


> Well being that I just bought 7 new La Manchas and a new Alpine buck I technically shouldn't keep any, but of course that will never happen.
> 
> The current keep list...subject to change.
> Doelings.
> ...



I'm starting to think you have a new version of goat math.


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## Southern by choice (Jun 20, 2017)

Mike CHS said:


> I'm starting to think you have a new version of goat math.



Yeah it goes like this-
I am selling a goat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ buys two more
I think I am going to sell a goat-------------------------------------------------------------- buys 2 more


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## dejavoodoo114 (Jun 29, 2017)

I sold 5 kids and 5 adults this year. Desperately needed fewer goats. Naturally, I went out and bought 3 new kids and 2 adults... At least I did end up with fewer than I started with! Mainly because my husband put his foot down and reminded me why we needed fewer goats...


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## Southern by choice (Jun 30, 2017)

So, we are making a list and checking it twice and going to see who is naughty or nice....

We actually will have to wait on some goats to see if they udder well after freshening. We expect them to just waiting. 
It boils down to wanting to keep x amount of animals... then selecting from what we have.
My thought is if GW and my DD want to show then that may be what needs to be focused on.
"Foxy" is a really nice goat but she does NOT want to be a show goat. She doesn't do well with anyone else handling her she gets nervous and really doesn't want to showboat like some of the other girls. So even if she has a spectacular udder and she is really nice she may need to move on to a home that may want to work with her kids but know that Foxy doesn't want to show.

I am going to talk with a breeder friend and see what she says. I don't know how she does it... just about every animal (she has been breeding for forever) scores very high LA's with FF generally 87-89 -89  being highest FF can get... so how does she keep those numbers down. LOL not a bad problem to have I guess... and we aren't there yet but still I think there has to be a better way.
Having more than one breed means keeping less of each breed. 

I was going to take a pic of our loved Trouble today but as soon as I went to get the phone it started pouring! We have had storms all day- everything is flooded!


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 30, 2017)

Just a thought I'll share
Our appraiser last year is very respected 
He told us it isn't always a good thing when a FF scores an 89 
Peaking too early


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## Southern by choice (Jun 30, 2017)

OneFineAcre said:


> Just a thought I'll share
> Our appraiser last year is very respected
> He told us it isn't always a good thing when a FF scores an 89
> Peaking too early



I don't think she's worried considering her goats are still kidding, on test at 10,11, & 12 years old and look phenomenal.  She still does LA too just retired from showing  years back.
That is why I really love her goats they have longevity.

I know what you mean though- some goats are burnt at 5 years old and by 8 done and cannot settle or kid. Don't really see that with Nigerians though.


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 30, 2017)

Didn't say she was worried
I'm sure she has nice goats

Just  saying you can't go by that FF LA score when making decisions on who to keep 

And if a doe scores 89 as a FF she may not score a 90 as a 2nd freshener

I know someone who goes by that if they don't score a 90 as a 2nd freshener they get sold


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## Goat Whisperer (Jun 30, 2017)

OneFineAcre said:


> Didn't say she was worried
> I'm sure she has nice goats
> 
> Just  saying you can't go by that FF LA score when making decisions on who to keep
> ...


You are right, you can't just go by the FF score. I've seen FF's score in the low 80's but after a few years they are spectacular. We all know how that goes. 

Like I've said before, I do like it when goats are a little slower maturing so that they aren't "blown out" at 6 and 7 years old. 
I have certainly seen that before and this is not the case with this breeder. 
This breeder in particular though has done an amazing job though. She doesn't breed the first year, so the does are 2 or older (usually). I think that plays a role. 
She's been breeding longer than most of the big names we know now. Because she isn't showing she doesn't get a lot of acknowledgement. But looking at the milk test info and year of LA… it's very impressive. 
Those same does are scoring 90 or higher when they are 7 and 8 and still doing great at 9 and 10. 
Last time I was at her farm she had an 11 year old milking over 10# a day and looked great. I don't know how she does it, but she has high scoring FF's (and getting better with age) and has the incredible longevity. 

That same appraiser had also said he wanted to take a FF home with him when she scored an 89 

All joking aside- I so wish I could have gone to the convention last year and taken his class. I'd love to pick his brain one day!


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## OneFineAcre (Jul 1, 2017)

Green Acres Farm said:


> I only kept 2 kids this year.
> 
> Lucy, unregistered ND because I told her dam I'd let her keep a daughter, and Mary Arden, my Saanen doe's kid who I still have not DNA'd ( ) but I will before I register her. Assuming her sire is who I think he is, she will be the first goat with my herd name.
> 
> ...



I like Dazzle


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## OneFineAcre (Jul 1, 2017)

Southern by choice said:


> After consulting with a very long time experienced Lamancha breeder we will be keeping Prynne and Pearl.
> 
> 
> Prynne- Prynne hurt her knee so she is forward on that front leg
> ...



They are lovely


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## Southern by choice (Jul 1, 2017)

OneFineAcre said:


> They are lovely


Thank you.


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## soarwitheagles (Jul 8, 2017)

Well, we have quite a list...

*Sold List:*

Some of our lovely chickens.
Nearly all our older lambs [20+].
Our super beautiful and prolific two year old Barbados breeder ram [not sure I made the right choice, but the guy wanted it so bad and paid us top dollar, nearly double our normal prices].
Our first mixed Barbados/Dorper who looked like a cross between a skunk and a Holstein cow whose name was moo-moo [he got really big in only 8 months time].  BTW, my wife cried like crazy when I told her....whoops.  He wound up being a nice barbecue for a really nice family on the fourth of July.
Our one and only California Red/Barbados cross ram
Lots and lots of chicken eggs.
Lots and lots of veggies.
Soon to be sold: lots and lots of beehives [at this rate, our apiary will have increased from 5-7 hives last spring to over 25 now, and over 50 if all our splits go well.

*List of what we have bought or will buy:*

We will buy a beautiful new Barbados breeder ram [I already picked him out], from a good friend, for a fraction of the cost of what we got for the other breeder ram.
10+ new chickens [existing chickens are nearing the two year old mark].
My wife wants a pig [oh my] but I hope she changes her mind...
Maybe a boatload of Friesian milk baby ram lambs [I found a seller that sells them for $25].
One or two baby male cows [not even sure what ya call them [but the rancher offered me as many as I would like for $50 per head].  We will definitely wait until rain starts for then we will have lots of free grass...

And that is all I can think of for now...


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## Goatgirl47 (Jul 8, 2017)

@soarwitheagles - that is a long list!

And male calves are called bulls (or bull calves).


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## soarwitheagles (Jul 9, 2017)

Goatgirl47 said:


> @soarwitheagles - that is a long list!
> 
> And male calves are called bulls (or bull calves).



Bull calves...thank you Goatgirl...never had a cow or bull before...hope it works out!


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