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Neo, I know, right? XD
She is such a helicopter mom! Hurry, Thank you! I think so, too, and it'll be so fun to show her ^^ |
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Alright, so I have come back from break from WP, and I have shown my goats at the fair in that time. Below are the bigger show results (there were some smaller wins and such, but I left them out. If you're curious, let me know). I have also updated the first page a little bit, so be sure to check it out :D ~~
~~ Grand Champion of her breed: Stella!! We expected this, but it's still great! (She got 4th place for all breeds) Reserve Grand Champion for her breed: Destiny!! Okay, we did not expect this, but the judge just loved her mammary system (udder, teats, udder attachment, etc.) so much, that it earned her reserve champion. :) Junior Grand Champion: Bean! We saw this one coming, too, but it was still exciting. Dam and Daughter for the breed: Stella and Bean won. We knew they were beautiful, but we expected a mother with an adult daughter to win because adult does have udders for comparison. But no! Bean and Stella swooped in and took the ribbon! Three does in Milk: We got first place for this one, as well, mostly because we were the only ones entered in this show. But we'll take it! XD |
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Congratulations to you and goats on such ahievements :D No wonder Bean got so many prizes uwu she is adorable and will be a beauty once grown up~ P.S. What parts of goats are judged? And what makes a mammary system good ^^ I am curious cause I never really thought about it. I saw a dog breeds competition once, they put them in a pose and there is a walk/run part where they see how animal moves I think. |
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What is Three does in Milk ^^ ? My guess is that they see which team of 3 goats gives the most milk, but I dunno |
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Darkseeker
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Hurry, Aww, thanks. Bean sure is precious, isn't she? <3 . "Three does in Milk" is just showing three does from the same herd together. It's called "Three does in Milk" Just to imply that they're all adults because adult does (1.5 and older) Have to be in milk in order to show. . There are four main parts of a goat that are judged: Mammary system (most important), General appearance, body capacity, and dairy strength. (Here's a link if you'd like to check out the official score card. CLICK) Mammary System: They judge the teats, symmetry, how well the udder is attached, and the overall quality of the udder. Here's a picture of my goats' udders at the show. Destiny (in the middle) has the best udder, Catalina (right) has the second best, and then Stella (left) has a pretty weak mammary system. CLICK Body Capacity: The goats are judged on their "wedge shape." Here are some images of what I mean by that. Good Good Good Good / Bad Bad Bad wedge shape. (By the way, our goats aren't nearly as good as dairy goat breeding can get, though they're decent. These are just "better" and "worse" examples, not really good and bad) Dairy Strength: This judged the goats on their ability to produce a good balance of meat and milk. Stella is our best in this, as the other two get a bit thinner than is ideal when they're in milk. A goat with strong dairy strength has wrinkles, a strong yet feminine build, and decent amounts of muscle and fat even when in milk (but definitely not too much). General Appearance: As it suggests, this judges based on general appearance. This is the smaller things and how they tie the goat together, the "smoothness" of how her body parts go together, the shape of her head, (for Nubians) the length of her ears (longer is good, but not too long), how she moves, how she holds herself. Small things like an under/ over bite, scars, moles/ skin tags, her ears being above her nose (for Nubians), fur shine/ quality, etc. can retract points in this category. . During the show, the goats both walk clockwise around the judge and stand posed, so the judge can see how the goat moves, but can also appraise her while she stands still, which is mostly needed so the judge can get a closer look at her smaller details and udder. |
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Okay so it was metaphorical name x3 Thank you a looooooot on making time and care to explain it all this good :D I didnt really get the shape part, but okay :3 For goat to have fat while in milk it probably means it is very strong ^^ |
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Darkseeker
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No problem! I enjoy talking about goats. XD It took me a year to really start understanding how a goat is supposed to look, so I guess it isn't something that's too easy to pick up on. They're basically just supposed to have a large abdomen and their back should have an easy, level slope to it. They be "angular" like a triangle, but also smoothly built. Yeah, if a farmer has to struggle to keep a well producing goat from getting fat while she's in milk, then she's definitely got some dairy strength. :D |
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Goat Update: Well, Catalina's really sick. :( It's pretty bad, and there's not much we can do. She's seen the vet, and, while we are giving her daily injections, there's a possibility it's too little too late. Since she's always been on the thinner side, and done just fine, we didn't think much of it until it became apparent that she was losing weight too quickly. We can't help her much because she isn't eating much, meaning we can't give her any nutrient supplements (ex: grain) to help her put on extra weight. I won't be posting any pictures of her because she is in very rough shape. I will definitely be quicker to get a thin goat to the vet in the future, but I'm still hoping she can pull through. ^^ ~~~ ~~~
On a lighter note, Destiny's daughters are up for sale now, and we're just waiting for ad responses until we say goodbye to them. :') Here are some images of the photo shoot we took. :D . In Jade: I like the slope to her back, her stature, and the smoothness of her build. In Iris: I like her body capacity, her legs, and her width. I think they both got a pretty even mix of Destiny and Castaway in them ^^ ~~~ I really think that Jade turned out to be the prettier of the girls build-wise, but I bet if anybody's looking for just a pet they're probably gonna want Iris because she's flashy :3 Fun Fact: Bucks (or male goats) are more likely to be flashy and colorful because females are more attracted to the flashy guys. |
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Catalina died on Wednesday 😢 She was laying down in the shed when we got home, and we were all very sad. She will be missed. I just wish I could have gotten a girl out of her so we could at least keep her line, but that's alright. |
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I am sorry for your loss :'( specially considering you are new to this, it can be a heavy blow to some people to lose an animal for the first(and every time) to an extent they stop with that work altogether, which is okay, not everyone can do and handle everything. I am not here to deter you, but let you know how there are things out of our control and how we can make mistakes, but also learn from them-I don't know if this was something unprevetable or something you need to experience or hear about to know how to help so I covered both options. You are taking good care of them, you are knowledgable and learn more and you have beautiful healthy kids to prove it, plus you got them in a competition and now are selling them-those are not small things, they deserve recognition. I have no experience with farm animals, but as someone who worked(I was a kid thou, so I was more of a helper) with stray city cats which includes catching them and taking to vet, I heard of other people's unfortunate experiences and had some of my own-one of a kitten just dying in its sleep for no visible reason(it is worth mentioning it and its siblings realisitically had slim chances, so before I took them to help them I was warned about that they might all die, how I shouldn't hope too much, they were 10 days old with no mother,found in a garbage) and other with a kitten I was trying to catch in a busy street area, it was small and afraid, meowing a lot, but shying away too, and I had zero equipement so bare arms it was, that time it wasn't enough and I only held it for a moment before it wiggled out of my grasp and ran off. I don't know if that kitten was okay, I didn't see it die, maybe someone helped it, but I know I was crying about it anyway. On a lighter note, rest of kitten siblings(those 10 days old guys) survived and got adopted in a truly beautiful home that even got upgraded in special for cats fashion,so they can play and hide and run and everything cats do :) I mean like wodden shelves on the walls that are near enough so cats can practically walk on walls, litte bridges, sunny spot with blankets, garden part and so on. I'd go for Iris X3 my favourite cause of triple coloring, but I can't keep a goat so I'll have to pass ^^" Question: Is it easier to keep a buck or a doe, behaviour wise? Cause I know that having a tom that is not neutered includes him pissing on furniture while a female fertile cat wouldn't do that. |
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Spring 
Day Weather: 
Flood
