rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

I'd say they're not worth much $ if they are Pita animals. I'm telling myself she'll be very, very inexpensive after kidding.

 

[Baymule]

I'd say they're not worth much $ if they are Pita animals. I'm telling myself she'll be very, very inexpensive after kidding.

Auction maybe? I don't like selling culls or problems to a face to face buyer, even with full disclosure. Auction is buyer beware.

 

[rachels.haven]

Wow. I'm wanting to add a nigerian dwarf buck to my buck pen with both a nice dairy udder history (hand milk able, tight, sound) and good production. Apparently it's nearly impossible to get even good bucks within 6 hours drive like that unless you are on milk testing and will help them make their herd look good. They'd rather make them wethers. And with the baby and the moving and setting up I am too busy to milk test this season.
And it's even more impossible to get them from herds disease screened for CAE, Johnes AND CL. The state does not provide free cl testing like it does for CAE and Johnes and I suspect many of the herds here are positive. I brought in 2 does from one of these "clean tested" herds and tested them a month later and one of them came back as suspect so she went back and I'll be retesting the other when I draw blood on my bucks to send in (they don't want her back-she's shy, so if Ms. Negative turns into Ms.suspect this time she'd go to auction)
But you just can't get bucks with those criteria apparently. I have to join the lofty club of the dwarf milk testing and be okay with CL. So I guess the semen tank was a good idea and I guess I'd better cross my fingers I can get good at it.

Contacting someone for a buckling they have advertised, getting their sales spheel, you tell them you'd like him, then after the fact they ask you if you milk test and then they tell you that their public ad was not meant for you and non-milk testers need not apply and you are second rate, if they sell to you you get what's left and not your choice for often a higher price is frustrating-very dwarf breederish. How the heck are normal people supposed to improve their herds if the genetics that can improve them are inaccessible and out of reach for them? No wonder Nigerian dwarves have been improving so slowly as a breed.

I have options though. If I discovered I just couldn't do AI I could probably do a road trip back to Rosasharn farm, or to an aquaintence I have in Mass who has Old mountain farm goats that I'm allowed to pay full price and buy one of her otherwise future wethers. and those are totally regularly screened for CL too. Whoopie.

Not much else going on here. Just milking and bottle feeding and getting ready to spray to kill the fescue.

I have pictures to put up, but I need to use my phone.

 

[rachels.haven]

Oh, one odd thing that did happen. One of my quail hens had been laying 2 eggs per day several days a week for the last several weeks. I wasn't sure which one but I got to find out which one on Sunday. I had assumed she was laying them hours apart, but Sunday it became apparent they were coming at the same time and the two eggs had somehow gotten stuck and she'd ripped her vent off Like big open hole, chunk of vent, two smaller bloody eggs, blood in the droppings pan, dead quail. What a horrible way to die, but yet another illustration why egg birds should only lay one egg per day max. This strain I'm breeding is not a meat strain and has been bred to be one of the highest producing strains the hatchery carries...I think I'm going to wait a good long time before hatching any eggs to help weed out issues like this from my gene pool. Then maybe I might cross some of them to something else to help temper this, I hope.

My jumbo chicks are growing great and almost sexable and we have another batch of jumbo (and jumbo manchurian) eggs from a different source going into lockdown on Friday/Saturday. If my Rosetta/Tibetians give me issues we will probably just do the jumbo line from this one source and sell or eggpen the rest and not keep them going.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I'm sorry you lost a bird, that's never a pleasant thing to find. Hopefully the rest aren't such over achievers.

 

[Ridgetop]

We are still trying to bring in a buckling or two from Lucky*Stars farm and bloodlines this spring,

We had several Lucky Star LaManchas and bred along those bloodlines. Gorgeous does and with spectacular udders. DS2's buck, Magnet, threw gorgeous type and lovely udders. Lucky Star did some breeding in conjunction with a breeder in northern California in Napa and we got a buck from them a year or so later. Naguchi was beautiful too but he was a fabulous udder buck - threw fantastic udders! Also threw small birth weight kids so we used him on first fresheners. Magnet's kids were larger at birth. Both bucks were out of star dams and sires. We loved the Lucky Star bloodlines. If I ever get more goats I will reserve and buy a trio from Judy Hoy and take a trip to visit relatives in Washington state to pick them up. Love their LaManchas. Kastdemur was always known for their beautiful Nubians. Interesting that they now have LaManchas. Their Nubians were high production too since they had a large dairy and cheese business.

Milk test is not overly difficult if you are already keeping weight records of milk production. You do need to try for a 10 month lactation, but if there is a tester in your area, or another breeder that wants to do milk test, your have several options. You can both take the 1 day ADGA tester training and both become testers and do each other's herds, or have a friend take the training and have her test both your herds. A fellow goat project mom became our tester. We both took the training and she would come and do the testing. If the breeder knows you and that you plan to do testing, they will probably keep you on their list for a stud buck.

I have options though. If I discovered I just couldn't do AI

You need to take the classes but it is not easy to do successfully, However since you have your tank, you can arrange to have your bucks collected. Usually several breeders will get together to share the collection expenses and do it at one location. It is an excellent experience for any children in 4-H that are older. DS2 was 13 or 14 and we collected several bucks over the years. He also attended AI classes with me. He was super into his LaMancha breeding program.

 

[rachels.haven]

I've wanted animals from Judi since I started lamanchas. I'm finally blowing the cash to purchase and ship one, and then getting a buck from someone who did the trio from Judi thing, like you'd want to do @Ridgetop .
Ironically, the lucky*stars lines in her pedigree is a big reason why Lace was purchased. She has some of Judi's animals not far back in her pedigree (she also has a pinecone up her goat bum)

 

[Ridgetop]

The best way to have sweet natured milkers is to bottle feed all kids. The kids think you are their mom, the does think you are their kids,
For drinking we loved the Nubian milk though - so rich it would actually get a cream coating on top after 24 hours that you could skim off! We used a mechanical separator sometimes and my sons would make ice cream!

 

[rachels.haven]

Last night it snowed. So I walked the does up to be fed and milked in a blizzard. The pigs were less than impressed. This morning they seemed cold, so they got two new haybales added to their beds, 2 animal crackers in the mouth each, and breakfast in bed.

Waiting on baby pigs and baby goats. Next goat due date is Tuesday.

 

[farmerjan]

Your poor animals are so neglected and are taken care of so poorly