Just Got Back From the NDGA Nationals

[Annie Alecock]

My daughters and I just got back from the NDGA nationals in Greenfield, IN. It was amazing to see so many quality Nigerians in one place. We were a little nervous to show against so many awesome herds, but everyone was so nice and welcomed us immediately. We came home with 4 new herd members and hope to improve our herd with new bloodlines. It was a great experience for us. We learned a lot from the judges and from other members. It was nice to see the experienced breeders take time to work with the youth. Several NDGA board members took time to take the kids (human) into pens and get hands on lessons of what spring of rib and dairy skin feels like. Kudos to NDGA and its members.

[Annie Alecock]

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

You have to send in the originals to ADGA. If they were lost, you could get them replaced, although I've never heard of anyone losing their papers.


Annie Alecock said:

Thanks for the tip Dianea. I will call Natasha and have her walk me through it. Would you suggest that I get the paper work needed from AGS vs. sending in the orginals?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

You have to send in the originals to ADGA. If they were lost, you could get them replaced, although I've never heard of anyone losing their papers.


Annie Alecock said:

Thanks for the tip Dianea. I will call Natasha and have her walk me through it. Would you suggest that I get the paper work needed from AGS vs. sending in the orginals?

[Annie Alecock]

Thanks for the tip Dianea. I will call Natasha and have her walk me through it. Would you suggest that I get the paper work needed from AGS vs. sending in the orginals?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I added tattoos in the tail, but only on paper. One of the goats is a finished champion in AGS, and I'm not going to tattoo her in the tail just to take her to ADGA shows. Besides, she's almost seven, so I personally don't see the point. I know she's nice, and I'd rather have some of my younger does in the show ring, if I start showing again. If I were to ever show them in an ADGA show or get them LAed, I'd have to tattoo them, so for now I'm just doing AGS classifications and milk testing.

Don't do any new tattoos before ADGA approves your paperwork, because whatever you send in might not work. One of my older goats had to be tattooed in the tail because her breeder was no longer an ADGA member. That one took me totally by surprise!

I should email some people who've come to previous shows and see if they'd be interested in a show next year. Feel free to bug me about it, if I don't mention anything fairly soon.

Annie Alecock said:

Thanks for the tip about the tattoo problem with ADGA. We have several older does and others from various herds out west. I read the "how too" on registering Nigerians with ADGA and the tattoo, but it was confusing. Did you have to retattoo some?
If you do decide to put on another show let me know. I would like to tag along and see how the process works.

[Annie Alecock]

Thanks for the tip about the tattoo problem with ADGA. We have several older does and others from various herds out west. I read the "how too" on registering Nigerians with ADGA and the tattoo, but it was confusing. Did you have to retattoo some?
If you do decide to put on another show let me know. I would like to tag along and see how the process works.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I just now finally got all my goats registered with ADGA. Sending in the original paperwork wasn't a big deal, but we had several problems that needed additional attention -- mostly with tattoo issues on my older goats or goats from other herds.

Hosting a show is not hard at all. My main problem was cost. I barely broke even all three years -- and that was even "paying" for my own does to be in the show. Basically, if I included what I would have paid myself for entry fees, I barely broke even. I made myself feel better by saying that at least I didn't have any transportation costs. There were about 50 goats in each show. I did two rings for two years and three rings one year. One year when we did the two rings, we also had classifications, which everyone liked. Lois Jordan in Wisconsin did an AGS show a couple times, but one year she canceled it due to not enough entries to break even. Of the three shows I did, there was only one where we had anyone from Illinois. It's mostly Wisconsin breeders coming down. I've sold a few goats in the last couple years to Illinois people who have gone to a show or two, so maybe we'd get a bigger turnout if we did it again. I've been thinking about it.

Annie Alecock said:

I went to the Heartland show two years ago and it was good. Our herd is registered with NDGA and AGS. We moved from AZ two years ago and most of the show out there were AGS or NDGA. We are in the process of getting them with ADGA, but it is confusing and I get nervous sending in orginal AGS certificates to another organization.
Are you planning on holding any more AGS shows? Was it hard to run/set up a show?

[Annie Alecock]

I went to the Heartland show two years ago and it was good. Our herd is registered with NDGA and AGS. We moved from AZ two years ago and most of the show out there were AGS or NDGA. We are in the process of getting them with ADGA, but it is confusing and I get nervous sending in orginal AGS certificates to another organization.
Are you planning on holding any more AGS shows? Was it hard to run/set up a show?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

There is an ADGA show in Cambridge, IL, in May and June, which I've gone to in the past. Third weekend in May is the Heartland Dairy Goat Assn. club show, which also includes a one-day milk test, and fourth weekend in June is the Henry County Fair at that same location. I've held an AGS show three times. Who are your goats registered with?

Annie Alecock said:

I am in Illinois as well about 20 milies from Burlington Iowa. It was a long haul for the show about 6 1/2 hours. We stopped every two hours to water the goats and take the babies for a walk. It was worth the drive to see everyone's herd. We plan on going to at least one next year. I sure would like to see more shows in our area.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

I've heard great things about NDGA shows. I'm in Illinois, so it's always tempting to go to the Indiana shows, but late April and early September are not good times for me. Where are you located?

[Annie Alecock]

I am in Illinois as well about 20 milies from Burlington Iowa. It was a long haul for the show about 6 1/2 hours. We stopped every two hours to water the goats and take the babies for a walk. It was worth the drive to see everyone's herd. We plan on going to at least one next year. I sure would like to see more shows in our area.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

I've heard great things about NDGA shows. I'm in Illinois, so it's always tempting to go to the Indiana shows, but late April and early September are not good times for me. Where are you located?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I've heard great things about NDGA shows. I'm in Illinois, so it's always tempting to go to the Indiana shows, but late April and early September are not good times for me. Where are you located?