One Fine Acre - 2023 4H Steer Project Update

Green Acres Farm said:

I was gonna say...

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My wife is going to actually make some money as a milk tester next year.
Our Vet is going to milk test his Toggenburgs next year and he does not want to self report. (if you self report you aren't eligible for certain performance awards)
So, he wants my wife to test for him once per month.
They are still discussing the financials. The good thing is we are fairly close to each other about 25 miles.

I got some "above shots" that kind of show my girls condition.

Clara Belle




Zamia




Taffy


@Green Acres Farm
I had said our milk test was next week. It was today.
These are the samples you send to Dairy One for testing for fat and protein.
Taffy is still our highest volume she did 3.2 lbs today. Rosie was 2.9 and Zamia 2.7
When we get our report next week I'll post a copy and explain.

They look great!

Wish I could get my fat-as-all-get out Ruth to slim down a little more. I'll be sending you a pic over the next few days.

I'm sure it's gotta make you happy that your home bred girl is giving the most milk

I didn't realize how dark Zamia and Clara Belle's coat are! I think every time I've seen them they've been recently clipped. So pretty!

Goat Whisperer said:

They look great!

Wish I could get my fat-as-all-get out Ruth to slim down a little more. I'll be sending you a pic over the next few days.

I'm sure it's gotta make you happy that your home bred girl is giving the most milk

I didn't realize how dark Zamia and Clara Belle's coat are! I think every time I've seen them they've been recently clipped. So pretty!

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Ruth seems to be a model of efficiency of she can raise those big babies and still be fat in Sept
She may not end up being your Champ but maybe your Champs mama if you can find the right sire

Think about how Rocky has done with Gimger

Thanks, I feel the same way. She is a goat that needs to be WORKED HARD. If she isn't she gets obese, and we all know what affect that can have. I don't like to tax my animals but I think I'm going to freshen her 3 times in the next 2 years.
Most of our goats loose a little weight after kidding, 1 week after Ruth kidded you wouldn't have been able to tell other than her udder.

So we carried Valiant and Fortunate Son to a buck collection by a company called Capra Gia on Sunday.
We collected Rocky and Big Brown last year. Sadly, we did not take Fortunato last year.
We are mostly collecting them in case something happens to the animal to preserve their DNA.

Fortunate Son didn't get the hang of it
The collection that is. We've bred a doe with him so he's capable, but he would not cooperate at the collection. He's only 6 months old. They did get a little but only enough for about 5 straws

Valiant did quite well and made 74 straws on 2 "jumps".
We are keeping 34 of those in our tank. Capra Gia was interested in marketing the others for us, so they are for sale.
They said that since he is unproven, but still with a great pedigree that $20 per straw the appropriate price.

that's great! Will you try recollecting with Fortunate Son?

Hens and Roos said:

that's great! Will you try recollecting with Fortunate Son?

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Not this year but next

We got the milk test paperwork back yesterday.
Taffy, Zamia, Rosemary, and Clara Belle have all earned their *M and advanced registry designation. They have made it on fat and there are 4 more tests to go. All of them are still on track to make it on production.

This is the latest test.
The Last Milk column shows how much they produced on this test.



This is the summary page. On the milk column the top number is the lbs they have produced to date. The bottom number is what they are on pace to produce in 305 days.
So Clarabelle at 173 days in milk has produced 468 lbs. She is on pace to produce 676 lbs in 305 days.
It's the same for fat. Clarabelle has produced 26lbs of fat in 173 days and is on pace to produce 41lbs of fat in 305 days.
It looks like Coco and Ginger will most likely earn their *M in fat on the next test.
Everyone of the does can still get stars in volume too except the FF, and they will likely get theirs in Fat.


Edited:
Correction. I said the FF's couldn't get star on volume. Opal can't, but Shea has a chance.