2009 News and Highlights
October
17
Our last show of the season was this weekend at the Lone Star Goat Fest in Kaufman. In the AGS/ADGA dual-sanctioned show we earned a leg on Topeka Nites out of 41 junior does, and two of our young herdsires, Piddlin Acres Simon Birch and Ginseng, were CH and RsCH Junior Bucks. Thanks to Joe Belle for the nice show photos.
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| Topeka Nites - GCH Junior Doe | Simon Birch - CH Junior Buck | Ginseng - RsCH Junior Buck |
Now we're just waiting for mid-December for a big early Christmas kidding season!
September
19
Had a great time at the TX-OK Fair in Wichita Falls. I only brought 2 milkers, both first fresheners, and Ladies Maid was RsCH Senior Doe and Best Udder of Breed under judge Scott Horner. We cleaned up in juniors with Gossip Girl and Sorcha taking grands and Topeka Nites reserving behind each of them.
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| Ladies Maid - RsCH and Best Udder | Gossip Girl - GCH Jr | Sorcha - GCH Jr | Topeka Nites - 2 x RsCH |
Had pregnancy sonograms done and it looks like I have 14 does bred for mid-December. It's going to be a very busy Christmas season around here! We are not taking reservations at this time but will keep a waiting list for those of you who would like to be notified when kids are available out of a particular breeding.
August
It has been a very successful year so far. In the show ring we finished 3 animals in both AGS and ADGA: our herd sire Meteor Shower, a 2 year old milker Rockin'Robin, and a beautiful 3 year old Sarafina. We earned Best in Show awards with Sarafina and our lovely 10 year old Black Dahlia. Our animals earned 6 Excellents in linear appraisal, and several earned their milking stars on one day test in AGS, ADGA or both.
As has been our practice for the last few years, everyone was dried off for the summer so I could spend quality time with the family, and my summer vacation included trips to Cancun as well as the mountain and river areas of New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Now in August I just wrapped up a small "fall" kidding season with 4 first fresheners giving me 4 does and 2 bucks. Two of those first fresheners have come in with very promising mammary systems that I'm excited about, and we are retaining one perfect little doe kid out of the crop.
We will be attending the TX-OK Fair in Wichita Falls, TX, in mid-September, and possibly another show in October, and that will be the end of our show season for the year.
We're expecting a BIG kid crop in December with lots of first fresheners as well as finished champion does kidding then - stay tuned!
May
29
Rockin' Robin is our newest AGS/ ADGA Permanent Champion!
20
It's official - Sarafina is our newest AGS & ADGA Permanent Champion!
2-3
We made the 6-1/2 trip to Little Rock, Arkansas for the Arkansas Goat Producers Spring Quad Show. It was well worth the drive! On Saturday we won GCH and RsCH Senior Doe and Best of Breed with Rockin'Robin and Sarafina, as well as GCH and RsCH Junior Doe with Wonder Witch and Gossip Girl. We didn't show juniors on Sunday, but won GCH and RsCH Senior Doe in both rings with Sarafina, who was also Best of Breed under one judge. Oh - and Meteor Shower won GCH Buck on Friday night! What a weekend!
April
28
Our second ADGA linear appraisal was much like our first in 2007 - extremely well organized, professional and educational. I recommend this program highly!
We appraised 15 adult animals - 12 does and 3 bucks. Of those, 6 earned Excellent Appraisal scores, 6 were Very Good, and 3 were in the Good Plus category. We're pretty happy! Below are our top scores:
|
NAME |
DOB |
GENERAL APPEARANCE |
DAIRY CHARACTER |
BODY |
MAMMARY |
FINAL SCORE |
| Black Dahlia | 09/98 | E | E | E | E | 92 |
| Sarafina | 10/04 | E | E | E | E | 92 |
| Obsidian Bay | 03/04 | V | E | E | E | 90 |
| Rockin Robin | 02/07 | V | E | E | E | 90 |
| Maid Marian | 08/04 | + | E | E | E | 90 |
| Madam Butterfly | 09/02 | V | E | E | E | 90 |
| Seminole | 08/06 | V | E | E | 88 | |
| Meteor Shower | 01/07 | V | E | E | 88 | |
| Fancy Free | 03/05 | V+ | E | E | V | 88 |
| Mithril Silver | 01/04 | V | V | E | V | 87 |
| Kissing Kate | 11/06 | + | E | V | V | 86 |
| Morning After | 10/07 | V | E | V | + | 85 |
26
We took 8 does, 4 juniors and 4 milkers, to the Cibolo Classic Show in Decatur. This was an AGS/ADGA sanctioned show and was big, with the biggest turnout of Nigerian Dwarf milkers that I've seen in some time. I know in one ring it was 40 milking does, and the other was a few less I believe. I was beyond thrilled to win ND Champ Senior Doe with TX Twincreeks WDF Sarafina, and then estatic when she was honored with Best Senior Doe in Show under judge Sara Stewart. In the second ring on Sunday Sarafine was reserve to a wonderful old Holly Berri Farm doe, and my old 10-1/2 year old MCH/GCH Little Rascals Black Dahlia went Best Senior Doe in show in that ring, under Melinda Butler! Two Best in Show awards in one day - wow!
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Sarafina |
Rockin'Robin |
Our annual (or actually, it's been more like every other year here lately it seems) CAE test results are back from Washington State University and we are - as expected - 100% negative! All breeding does over 6 months of age were tested.
March
My updating seems to occur in fits and spurts over the years, and apologize to all of you who so loyally follow my website for news. I will try to do better!
Rather than try to fill in so many months of blank spaces, I will just jump right in where I am now. The biggest news is that I have been on some kind of big crazy buying spree - the kind I haven't been on since I first got into goats back in 1994. It was a combination of things: wanting to bring in some new lines, waiting too long to kid this year and not having kids of my own yet and seeing other people's beautiful fresh does, drooling over everyone's cute babies (and in some cases helping birth them).....My impulsiveness plus planned reservations all becoming filled resulted in my adding .....drum roll.... 7 outside kids to the herd this spring. This total includes 2 bucks and a doe from the Piddlin Acres herd, 2 bucks from Pecan Hollow, and one doe each from Lost Valley and Hill Country. These are gorgeous kids with a lot to offer my breeding program, combining some tried and true lines with some new and exciting ones. I'm looking forward to seeing how my splurges pay off over the next few years!
