As usual, time flys by and it is already June. We were at a Goat Show this weekend in Georgia. It was the Peachy Keen Show in Monroe. I really did not have anyone I felt was competitive, then Brat (Chelone) freshened a week before the show. She does milk now and her pictures are below and to the right.
We had not been to a show in over a year due to the time factor with moving to the new farm. We placed, but did nothing spectacular. Mr General, my buck had turned a year two days before the show and had to go up against bucks up to two years. He is not mature enough to compete in that age group, but got him out there for practice. He and all the goats, except Brat did a great job. Brat has an attitude, always has, always will. Milking her out after the competition was a challenge as well. She usually throws a BF, then settles down to be milked. If she did not throw a fit, I would think she was sick.
The picture to the left is Oldesouth Thunder Madonna. She is a Thundersnow daughter, sired by Bubba. She has the brush creek look to her and again not mature enough to be competitive. She went into the year to two year milkers and is barely a year. The experience and exposure did this little doe good. Her baby daughter though was not a happy camper. The babies must be removed for 12 hours for the udders to fill up to show. This upsets the youngsters, but everyone is reunited after the classes are through and all is well.
The picture to the right is Oldesouth FLA Beauty. She is a six month old doe out of Butter, my best milker, sired by Flash. We had a bit of difficulty in the tattooing department and the more I tried to clean off the tattoo ink, the more it spread. So, we stopped while we were ahead so the little girl did not show as green. She is a lovely doe and placed, but not competitive at this time. A bit more training to get her relaxed and not bunching up. When they bunch up, the top line is lost. We will work more with this young doe and see how she matures.
The Nigerian Dwarf goat is shaved down for a show. The bucks are especially hairy and have large Mohawks running the length of their body. I like to use a 1/4 inch comb to clip my goats, which leaves enough hair to see the rich color of the goats and they are not naked. A little tuff of hair is left on the tail, like a little poodle pom pom.
Mr General is pictured to the left at 1 year of age. He has a great topline and angulation, but needs some time to grown up and mature. I think he actually enjoyed the show and did a great job.
Pictured below are Blue's latest family. She went into labor, Sunday 24th before Memorial Day. I had brought her to a kidding pen that morning and she went into labor that afternoon. She had triplets, but then continued... and continued... until 5 kids were born. I believe 5 kids are Quints, and correct me if I am wrong. This is the second time we had 5 kids, the first, only 4 survived. All these little ones survived with one slight problem... THEY ARE NOT NIGERIANS!!! They are half BOER!!! UGGHHH!!! One can tell immediately by the ears, which are longer and folded like a dog. The 5 have 2 does and 3 bucks, pictured below and to the left. The picture on the right are Eve's two daughters which are pure Nigerian. See the difference in the ears. The ears are small , short and go straight out.
Well, we are not pleased and the Big Boer Buck is For Sale. Yes he is the man, just ask Blue... We figured out how the party girls were getting into his pen and hopefully took care of the problem until he is sold.
Life on the farm is always full of surprises to say the least. With all the rain we have had the last couple of months, this weekend was fantastic. I was off yesterday as well and was able to get a ton of things done. We even got the sheep taken care of. Moms and lambs checked, hooves, vaccinations and ear tags squared away.
Will blog more later...
