Goat Whisperer's & SBC's kidding thread: kidding storm

He is beautiful, @Southern by choice! I love his blue eyes...

I looked into the Mini Nub's and found a mother daughter pair but no testing. It is really hard to find tested for anything in my area. I am having to travel 2 or more hours to find anyone with Nubians. If they test for CAE or CL they don't test for G6S. Talk about frustrating! You also want tested for Johne's. Any mix of Nubian needs to be tested. I did not know this when I bought my Snubian girl so she will be tested this summer before we breed her this coming winter.

@Samantha drawz, when I was looking for a Mini-Nubian, I couldn't find tested ones who were closer then five hours away. I did find a beautiful tri-colored Mini-Nubian doeling who was only a few days old (and on a bottle) - and she was completely tested - but by the time we asked about her, she was sold. Tested or not, Mini-Nubians are so hard to find!

Yep I agree @Goatgirl47 Nubians in general inmy area. But if I go out of state, I find them left and right ttested and all. Just a matter of patience to find the right ones. Needless to say, I have had to work on my patience for that fact alone.

Thanks for all your feedback, everyone. Southern explanation of f1 and ear length/airplane ears helped me see that it might take some work, to get the cute floppy ears. But, then if I understand correctly, then you are increasing the percentage of Nubian and they are getting away from true "mini" which is what I want.

I know taste preference is subjective, but I'm thinking my original thought of Mini-Mancha is still what I'm looking for.

Devonviolet said:

Thanks for all your feedback, everyone. Southern explanation of f1 and ear length/airplane ears helped me see that it might take some work, to get the cute floppy ears. But, then if I understand correctly, then you are increasing the percentage of Nubian and they are getting away from true "mini" which is what I want.

I know taste preference is subjective, but I'm thinking my original thought of Mini-Mancha is still what I'm looking for.

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I sent out an inquiry last night... It was a breeder that had contacted me to buy Elliott ( my boy pictured). Certain things she wanted to bring into her line and Elliotts Dam sure has it BUT Elliott is a f-1 and for her it would be going "backwards"...
That is where it gets into what a breeder is looking for.
When I contacted her there is only one breeding out of all the mating pairs she had that I would even consider.
So here is what I asked for...
She will be a FF right? Can you send udder pics.
Do you have any pics pf the sires dam's udder? and sibling udders?

Any reference pics of what the sire has produced? Do you have an idea of his areas of improvement? ie- teat placement, medial, etc?

These kids should be 61/39 correct?

After I see pics I will go from there. I am not overly concerned that it is a 61/39 % because bred to my 50/50 I still have a good mini... 55/45%

Today we are 23 days into lactation from our first 4 does.
I was going to put this on my journal but I guess I will just put it here.

This is MORNING milking only... we will milk tonight and I will get a total of #lbs per goat in 24 hours. I like to weigh individually every week but I don't always get the chance. This am just happened to be a good morning to do it.

Of course no one is at peak yet and still early in lactation...
12 hour fill...

1st jar- Trouble f-1 50/50 mini 3lbs 3oz
2nd jar - 2 Dwarfs Leah @ 1lb 7 oz & Ruth @ 1lb 7 oz = 2lb 14oz
3rd jar- Mariah Lamancha 3lbs

Of course I am very please with Trouble- she will give 6lbs+ today
Leah & Ruth I'd like to see more but they should give around 3lbs each today. I am happy with 3-4 lbs per day per dwarf.
Mariah I am so not happy with, but there is more to the story... which I will share later...
But if you look at the pics of the first 2 jars (take the 3rd away for now til I explain later) 1 mini produced more than 2 dawrfs and will only get better. Not downing the dwarfs they are milking very well ... it is IMO all about the volume of milk a family needs.
If a mini producing 6-8 # per day x 7 days is more milk than can be utilized than it is simply too much and dwarfs would be better. On the other side Standards... don't use Mariah as an example LOL may only produce slightly more or considerably more but then the feed conversion and cost is significantly more than a mini.

I have noticed than many breeders are bringing in the Lamancha to their herds ... there are so many experimentals now... I love my Nubian to pieces, I love my Lamanchas for a whole different set of reasons. BUT I really think all goats are pretty cool animals... and there really is no one "best breed"

Our mini nubian and mini lamancha from last years kiddings were bred and will kid this year- very excited to see their udders and what they produce.

with the way DS(14) and DS(10) drink milk- we should probably consider adding a mini to our herd....would most likely consider a mini-mancha

Southern by choice said:

Video up on FB- it is an open page so you don't need a FB account... best I can do right now.

Babies all slept through the night last night! WooHoo!

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I just got a chance to go to your FB page to look at the video.
I saw on your page that you lost a couple of your bucklings a couple of days after this.
What happened?

Thanks, Southern, for giving your thoughts on your MM, 2-NDs & LM. Seeing how much your MM gives is really helpful. Given that I make 4-6 gallons of Kefir a week, that we drink & feed to the dogs & cats - I'm culturing 2-1\2 gallons right now. We also drink about 2 gallons a week, AND I want to start making cheese, I'm thinking with 2 MMs I should be good to go! That has been my thinking all along, and my reason for wanting mini's.

Since I can't find any MMs locally, I might end up with a Standard LaMancha (if I don't buy your 2 girls). So, I will be interested in seeing what you have to say about your bad girl, Mariah.

I also appreciate your list of the questions you asked the breeder you contacted. I just hope I remember where to find it when I'm ready to talk to breeders!

I have a Mini-Lamancha that will freshen in April, maybe she will give that much milk!

Southern, is Trouble a first-freshener?