I think this is a pretty darn good udder?? Am I right? Sorry she's so fuzzy
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
This reply was deleted.
I think this is a pretty darn good udder?? Am I right? Sorry she's so fuzzy
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
Well, I will be perfectly honest with you! I got my goats for the dairy products! Surprise, they are dairy goats after all!
I did get all of them, but 1 from people who also show and that 1 came from someone who has purchased show stock and has had animals leave them and show well also! I would like to show and hope to one day, but it will probably be a couple of years down the road, at least!
Meanwhile, I plan to learn all I can to produce the best confirmation I can, but the thing that I believe I will know the most when I see it is a good udder, and that is what is most important to me since the milking is a priority over showing for us. That (the udder) and the actual production itself of course! I too am very inclined to want goats with good personalities!
I am sure that there are plenty of people out there who are just keeping the goats to breed and sale kids. Some people who don't know us well may wrongfully assume that we are doing that because they don't realize how big our family is and what we are planning for, but we will need a LOT of milk for this family and I saw no reason to start out with just a couple of goats for so many people.
My hope is that by the time we can show, we will have the experience required to know what we are looking for and will have been able to breed goats with a very competitive conformation!
I hope that after getting these FFs through their first kidding and them and us learning about milking and us keeping barn records that we will be able to tackle milk test next. Then maybe after that we will be ready to start showing!
Geez, I really didn't think I had much of a plan going, but I swear it sounds like I just laid one out. And it really doesn't sound like a bad plan.
2011 Year 1: Research breeds and breeders and plan purchase of stock.
2012 Year 2: Acquire stock for beginning herd and start breeding program.
2013 Year 3: Get FFs through the first kiddings and learn / teach milking skills and keep barn records.
2014 Year 4: Start milk testing and evaluate and cull herd.
2015 Year 5: Start showing and winning with Bent Penny Acres Stock.
Sorry, I couldn't help myself! That is the first time in my life, I made a 5 Year plan of any kind! I am getting old! or something! Looks good to me though! He He!
I will be eating a lot of our offspring, but I'm also still in the process of growing my herd, so I'll be looking to keep doelings that come from whichever of my does are good milkers, and if I have a doe that ends up making some really great FF, then I would consider not butchering, and selling offspring from her... we'll see. I'll be looking for things like teat and orifice that make milking easier, and I'm like Deb. I'll be looking at temperament too.
Juliana Goodwin said:
I'm curious what non show people cull for in dairy animals?
Okay guys...if anyone has time to look at pics. I put under "my pics" on here photos of Annie, Annie's udder, Bliss' dam and Bliss' dam's udder.
Worth it to hang on to one of Annie's boys? She is already 6 and I have nothing of hers in the herd. I can also breed Bliss to Miyagi's daughters.
Oh and I am going to go put up Penny's udder pics if anyone feels like critiqueing them
I have seen pics on Craigslist of standard breed dairy goats with udders that are nearly dragging the ground...and it was almost as if those folks thought that was good, or else why put that pic in the ad? Me personally, I wouldn't breed an animal and make her carry milk in a bag like that...unless I was willing to buy her one of those goat bras. Sure wish I could get Penny's pic up...no dice. Maybe I can put it up in another section so you guys can see her & tell me what you think. Hers is a little saggier than Annie.
Part of the reason I am asking all of this is because I'm pondering whether or not to sell both of Annie's bucklings. So far I think she is a better producer than Bliss' dam & her udder is respectable. So I wonder if I should save one of her boys to breed to Miyagi's daughters? I can't get any new pics to load so maybe I can do that in another thread.
Other than the production I do believe that Bliss' dam is superior to Annie. Bliss' dam is an Old Mountain Farm doe and I think conformation wise she's superior...don't know anything about her personality. Annie has a good personality though and I think will produce better than what the owner of Bliss' dam said. Are you confused yet? lol
I saw video recently of an ND like that and it blew my mind! It was awful and what really upset me was that these same people were posting a pic of a beautiful udder that belonged to their herdsire' dam, who happens to belong to someone I know and respect very much. Showing it off in relation to their kids. They didn't know I had seen the video, so I just commented that under the pic that they should post pics of mom's udder when they sale the kids because people like to see that it helps sell kids! I believe they are good people and I did not want to sound offensive so I thought maybe that would get the point across! But it was pitiful!
I have a neighbor with a goat whose udder hangs to the ground... not pretty. lol
Now that I don't show any longer, my cull criteria is mostly based upon production, although I gotta say that I am not a fan of tiny orifices simply because of how long it can take to milk out a goat with small orifices. But my goat with the longest teats could have larger orifices, so I'm not kicking her to the curb anytime soon, because I love her teats, and she's a great producer. I guess that means it's the total package that's important to me! And frankly, I've sold more than one good milker with a pretty udder because I didn't like her personality. I guess my big three have always been personality, production, and teats. I don't think I've ever sold a milker that was good in all three areas. I suppose if I ever had a goat whose attachments totally blew out and she was walking around with her udder a few inches off the ground, I wouldn't be too happy about that, but I haven't really seen too many Nigerians with an udder like that.
I think it is just lovely. If my girls look that nice, I will not complain! I agree that I would love to see a side view, even if she is hairy. I think a little should be visible!
If I were not showing or something else important, I wouldn't shave it, I think it is lovely the way it is and the hair is just such a pretty color and so swirly and all. I dread doing any shaving. I want pics of all mine shaved down, but they are also so very pretty with their hair. Unless they get shown they will only get shaved completely once at this house. For pics! Because Hubby does not like any of them shaved. I on the other hand think that the show clips are very pretty and obviously you can tell more about the confirmation, but all in all, I like them hairy!
I do not worry about hair in milk etc. because I figure I am going to strain it up anyway and personally I feel the hair serves an important health and safety function for the goat and her well being is more important to me than how pretty she looks to other people or if I have to strain a few hairs out of my milk! It might be different if I were milking for the public but for us I am not concerned!
Hope I have udders that pretty to show ya'll!
Patty, I agree, I wouldn't want mine out there in the cold either. In fact as cold as I get sometimes, heck I think it might be nice if mine had a fur coat of their own!
And Rachel, I agree with you too! I love looking at the goat boobies! So does my little Kate ( 10yrs.), that encouraged me to get all these goats because she wanted to milk them! She gets so excited when she sees pretty goat udders! I think it is just hilarious! She really cracks me up! She really, really, studied them in books and on-line, when we were looking for our goats, and seems to have a good eye fur them. In fact she is VERY picky. I wouldn't want her to be the judge at a show I was at. I can see her saying "I am sorry folks, but none of these udders are good enough". She is like me, she is a real hoot!
They were seperated last night- that first pic is Annie @ 12 hours full, no kids.
This is her twin sister Penny, 12 hours full, obviously I have not kept up with the side he is not nursing as well as I should (she's got a single). I have emptied her at least once per day but obviously I needed to do twice a day.--Never mind, Penny's pic won't load...
So...besides how much milk they make- what's a deal breaker for what an udder looks like? Penny's is obviously not terribly pretty (nor is the rest of her for that matter) but she gives me a good solid 1/2 gallon a day when she's up and running, she's a good mom, kids with no problem. So I'm happy with her. Penny's teats point out slightly where Annie's point straight down. But Penny has bigger orifices so she milks out faster w/less effort.
I'm curious what non show people cull for in dairy animals?
Does she have kids on her 24/7 or had she been separated for awhile? Either way, it's nicely shaped.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next