OK, I've got a choice to make on my kid here. Its a researved kid, and I have my pick of these two doelings. Genetics are exactly the same (mama is a 4*D/4*M) so its really which one will look more appealing in the ring?
A or B, give me your thoughts please!!!
A
or B
Replies
Thanks! I know there is no way to be sure, but I have no choice but to buy kids this way, all the big breeders are several states away, and to continue to improve my herd, this is the best way for me. I wish more really good breeders would sell more adult stock, that's how I bought my first two NDs. But, the folks I really want goats from (Jobi, Rosasharn, etc) all pretty much do kid reservations only, or I have to pay thousands.....I can't do that. I've researved kids with them too.
I do appreciate everyones thoughts on this, and FYI I picked the second doeling for flash, since there was no way to see past it at this point. Both are littermates, and mama is a 4*M/4*D, out of 3*buck, so lets hope he's still throwing those good kids....mama has a great history of star milker daughters.
Those babies are precious and as Deborah said, there really is absolutely no way of knowing at this point what their conformation will turn out like and that is what it is all about, just like there is no way of knowing what that mammary system will be like until after they have kids and are in milk.
If they had different genetics it would be a different story or if they could be kept for growing out to determine which one had the best conformation or turned into the best milker etc. that would be best. But if you must decide now then you just have to take your chances.
That said, if I had to choose and they were mine, with them having the same genetics etc. I would go with the flashier second kid. It's not suppose to be about flash, but if they genetically have the same potential and you can't wait to see which turns out best, then you might as well go for what looks good, IMO.
Hmm ... perhaps you misunderstood? You get no points for colors or patterns or blue eyes. If a judge ever mentioned something like that, they were merely expressing a personal opinion, not something upon which they would base a judging decision. For example, back when we showed, we happened to show under a couple of judges who bred Saanens, and they loved my goat Lizzie (pictured with me) because she was white and very dairy, so she really looks like a little Saanen. But she got no points for being white. She did get a kiss on the forehead from one of the judges though! :)
The score card only covers conformation, which is mostly related to bone structure like height of withers, angulation of legs, height of escutcheon, shape of head, spring of rib, depth of barrel, etc. That's why you can't tell much from a hairy picture of a goat, so it's always nice when sellers have pictures of their goats clipped. And as I mentioned, in a senior doe, the mammary system is 1/3 of the points, so it literally will make or a break a doe's show prospects.
I agree. I guess it's just hard for me to close my eyes and pick, so I'm interested in thoughts otherwise. I know its something of an organized crap shoot.
I've heard judges prefer certain patterns or colors, but from what I've seen online, overall there is no preference.
You really can't tell anything from pictures of kids. Even if I could see them in person, I couldn't tell you -- nor could anyone else -- which one will be the better show goat. You can't tell much with kids, which is why ads for "show quality" kids is one of my pet peeves. They change constantly as they're growing. Showing juniors is so weird because you can have a doe get dead last in one ring and go grand in the next. And you can have a doe with a junior leg who freshens with a terrible udder, and her show career is over since the udder is 1/3 of the score.