Southern by choice
Herd Master
Looking at a herdsire and deciding what should or shouldn't stay intact etc... If you can retain enough does from a particular buck and then you see what that buck does and you know what the doe is doing then your have a better idea of what the buck can do. When you see what you are looking for then that is a buck you may want to keep intact.
The pics from my earlier post show how improvement was made- that same buck the following year was bred to that same doe.
This is a FF udder. different kid same parents.
Unfortunately the pic isn't great - as most goats about to be milked like to squat a bit and spread their legs out so it is easier to milk... so in this her back legs are spread way apart but you can still see the attachment is good- far superior to the dam's. The udder floor is higher, the attachment tighter, better medial, teats are long... although a bit flaring to outside... yet it is a FF udder. With more capacity from 2nd and 3rd udders the teats should sit a bit better.
Sadly the buck that improved these udders died from a heart issue. He had a heart issue when we bought him, we found out after buying him... What is worse is we never got to put him over any of our registered does.
Unregistered goats are IMO still worth trying to make improvements on... doing your best to improve on what you have is not contingent on reg or unregisterd animals- you can learn so much.
The LA, Production stats, maybe even show wins... ARE important. There is no discounting that. The animals doing well in those areas generally will be more expensive- understandably so. There is much that a breeder has put into those goats. I don't want it to come across that I don't think those things matter. They absolutely do.
However, the majority of goat owners are not doing those things, don't know how to look at those stats and many can not afford pricey bucks for a few backyard milkers. Yet they are going to need bucks to breed their does.
The pics from my earlier post show how improvement was made- that same buck the following year was bred to that same doe.
This is a FF udder. different kid same parents.
Unfortunately the pic isn't great - as most goats about to be milked like to squat a bit and spread their legs out so it is easier to milk... so in this her back legs are spread way apart but you can still see the attachment is good- far superior to the dam's. The udder floor is higher, the attachment tighter, better medial, teats are long... although a bit flaring to outside... yet it is a FF udder. With more capacity from 2nd and 3rd udders the teats should sit a bit better.
Sadly the buck that improved these udders died from a heart issue. He had a heart issue when we bought him, we found out after buying him... What is worse is we never got to put him over any of our registered does.
Unregistered goats are IMO still worth trying to make improvements on... doing your best to improve on what you have is not contingent on reg or unregisterd animals- you can learn so much.
The LA, Production stats, maybe even show wins... ARE important. There is no discounting that. The animals doing well in those areas generally will be more expensive- understandably so. There is much that a breeder has put into those goats. I don't want it to come across that I don't think those things matter. They absolutely do.
However, the majority of goat owners are not doing those things, don't know how to look at those stats and many can not afford pricey bucks for a few backyard milkers. Yet they are going to need bucks to breed their does.