Our New Nubian Buckling :)

[Latestarter]

@frustratedearthmother I'm looking at: http://www.whiteoakbenddairygoats.com/ and a couple others that are within my "reach" for this coming kidding season... http://forrestpride.com/ & http://www.lattedadairy.com/ What do all you Lamancha connoisseurs think of these breeders? So many breeds, so few dollars

 

[babsbag]

What do I do with all these grades?

The same thing you do with all those purebreds. I'm a firm believer that grades are hardier goats. JMO so don't beat me up.

 

[babsbag]

@Latestarter, unless you are planning on showing there are a lot of good dairy goats out there that don't have the fancy herd names attached and many of them will milk the same or better and be a whole lot cheaper.

 

[Latestarter]

I actually would like to show if I can find some helpers. I'd also like to provide quality animals for 4H and FFA folks.

 

[babsbag]

Alrighty then, I'll let the people that follow those things give you an opinion on those breeders. I can't even remember my own name most of the time let alone those of goat herds.

 

[Southern by choice]

@frustratedearthmother I'm looking at: http://www.whiteoakbenddairygoats.com/ and a couple others that are within my "reach" for this coming kidding season... http://forrestpride.com/ & http://www.lattedadairy.com/ What do all you Lamancha connoisseurs think of these breeders? So many breeds, so few dollars

Yep. They are all the "normal" show names... that produce beautiful animals. At least for the Lamanchas.

@babsbag is right though. There are many that once had the "name" but grew older retired from showing but they provided the start for the known names now. Many still do LA's and milktest but no more ribbons as they retired from showing. Often people get the animals and start their breeding programs but their farm name is not known and they cannot charge the same big money.

Personally I think you should get good clean tested animals to start with but not necessarily break the bank in doing so. These will be your first goats and you have a big learning curve ahead of you.

We have never shown because I am paranoid of my goats picking up something. This year we are... well @Goat Whisperer is... I will be dividing the herd. Show goats will be in one field. I can't risk it.
GW wants to show my Lamanchas but I am still not sure. Right now I think she can stick with her herd of Nigerians....
My vets shake their head and would rather us not show. Yet it is a lot of fun to watch and I know my youngest DD wants to show. So maybe Little DD and Goat Whisperer can have their show field and my foundation does can stay where they are.

I dunno.

 

[babsbag]

My vets shake their head and would rather us not show.

And yet I know of three vets that do show their own goats; but one does house her herd in her trailer when showing. She won't use the provided pens. It only takes one time but I have many friends that show with no problems.

Personally I find goat shows dull and boring and I am just not interested or tempted in the least to spend hours and days waiting so I can walk my goat in circles for a few minutes. If I was truly wanting some teeth behind my claims that I have quality animals I would do LA and milk test and skip the shows. Ribbons don't milk.

 

[misfitmorgan]

He is a typical standard breed buck, he isn't
the brightest bulb in the bunch He acts like a BIG BABY! He uses it too. Whenever it rains he wont go into his shelters, he WAILS and SCREAMS until I come rescue him I go over and gently say "come on lil' Olaf" and he puppy dog prances to one of the buildings for shelter. No lead, he knows right where to go

I have noticed that large breed bucks aren't quite as smart as the ND's and Mini's! I love em anyway!

He is actually super smart....he has you trained to not only come when he calls but to come out in the rain and "lead" him back to shelter.

Honestly i find my large breeds to be mostly much smarter then the mini's we own and the ND we had...by comparison they actually seemed downright stupid. Our mini's you can drop grain/treats literally right next to them and they look at you and yell because your not giving them anything. DH bounced apple chunks off their backs in an effort to get them to notice and they didnt have a clue. They also perpetually get their heads....(yes heads they have no horns)stuck in one spot on the feeder where that particular hole overlaps and is to small for them to get their head out...mind it is a 360 degree feeder ment to stick a full 4X5 round bale in.

Our alpine buck learned where to jump the fence, even when we change it so he cant he just looks at the ground and finds the next highest spot and jumps it again...takes him roughly 20 minutes to find a new spot lol. He also opens all the doors and gates in the barn, even when we change latches it only keeps him in for a day or two.

We have resigned to the fact that he will just roam the property and the road....our neighbors dont seem to care much and most always slow down when going past our place lol.

All that being said i really love my mini does...so i will never admit to DH that i too think they are some burned out light bulbs.

 

[OneFineAcre]

@frustratedearthmother I'm looking at: http://www.whiteoakbenddairygoats.com/ and a couple others that are within my "reach" for this coming kidding season... http://forrestpride.com/ & http://www.lattedadairy.com/ What do all you Lamancha connoisseurs think of these breeders? So many breeds, so few dollars

Don't know too much about them, but they seem to have nice goats.

The one who was the reserve breeder at National 2 years ago is probably still charging a premium for all of their animals.

 

[OneFineAcre]

And yet I know of three vets that do show their own goats; but one does house her herd in her trailer when showing. She won't use the provided pens. It only takes one time but I have many friends that show with no problems.

Personally I find goat shows dull and boring and I am just not interested or tempted in the least to spend hours and days waiting so I can walk my goat in circles for a few minutes. If I was truly wanting some teeth behind my claims that I have quality animals I would do LA and milk test and skip the shows. Ribbons don't milk.

Our vet shows goats and we know another vet that shows with us as well.