12/26/2019 0 Comments Who's Right for your herd? Part 3Our 2 youngest does are Treasured Rosegold and Treasured Shimmer. Both of these does kidded singles this year, were excellent mothers and have been long, steady producers. They are still milking once a day at almost 10 months and 9 months fresh respectively. Treasured Rosegold, we call her Ivy, is exceptionally friendly, has fantastic conformation, a beautiful udder and raised a fast growing, super friendly lap-goat doeling this spring, Goldfinch. Ivy is a registered British Guernsey and was bred to Joe Cotton. Her offspring will be BG as well. A buckling out of this breeding will raise or maintain your herd's Guernsey status, and could bring heavy milk and show potential. A doeling would add a Purebred Guernsey to your herd and would most likely have the friendly, beautifully put together and excellent udder genetics of her dam and sire. Treasured Shimmer, we call her Ruthie, has a beautiful little spirit and is a power-milker for the little goat that she is. Her lovely long locks make her stand out in a herd. She raised a hardy, spunky buckling this spring, making close to 3/4 of a gallon while dam raising and became steady at a 1/2 gallon a day. She is still going strong milking 3 cups each morning. She comes from long lactation lines and we are seeing that here. We bred her to Stumphollo Jeroboam this fall like last year. A buckling out of this breeding would bring British Guernsey status to your herd and also raise the American Guernsey level of offspring in your herd. He could also pass on milky lines, sturdy build and the great Guernsey long hair, all with a docile personality. A doeling will add a British Guernsey to your herd with potential to be a fantastic milker with a darling personality, that's certain to be a show stopper in the show ring.
Deposits for Reservations open January 1st. Feel free to email us for more information on who might be right for your herd!
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12/23/2019 0 Comments Who's Right for your Herd? Part 2 Babies on Board! Debutante is always so sleek in the summertime, then shortly after breeding season has ended she has the loveliest saddle-bag baby bump! (kids on right) Deb is our high point milker on the homestead giving over a gallon a day at peak and steady at 3/4 of a gallon until September when she starts to decline. All that on a quart of grain, forage and hay. Deb's pedigree is heavy with Purebred Golden Guernseys. She kidded twin doelings with ease last year and raised up the feminine littles like a pro. She produced milk in abundance for them and us! Even though she is super easy to milk and milks out quickly, her udder is not picture perfect. It does not have very good attatchments and swings. We have seen this improve in her daughters, though. This year we have bred her to Worth it Farms Joe Cotton who carries strong excellent udder genetics and is a fantastic forager. You can check out Worth it Farms here: http://members.guernseygoats.org/farms/8384/worth-it-farms-llc Debutante's offspring can be registered with the British Goat Society as HB2, and with the GGBoA as American Guernsey. A buckling out of this breeding will carry on her strong Golden Guernsey pedigree and add high milk volume to a herd. Similarly, a doeling would have excellent potential to milk a gallon or more a day on minimal grain as well as keep the strong Golden Guernsey lines going. We hope to retain a doeling out of Deb, but we shall see once mid-March rolls around!
12/17/2019 0 Comments Who's Right for your Herd? Part 1Breeding season is complete here on the homestead. All the does and ewes appear to have settled; at least no one is going crazy to try to get to the bucks and rams and vice versa! Milk production is winding down with 2 does dried off, 2 almost dry and 1 that had a late kidding so will be in milk for a few more weeks, and thus their bodies will put energy into growing their young. I get many questions this time of year about our herd and which potential offspring would be a good fit for their farm, so I thought I'd answer a few questions over the next week about the breedings and their potential. Delta and Olive, our mama and daughter duo, look to be the first goats to kid this year with a due date at the end of February. Normally I might be apprehensive about a winter birth in Maine but our barn is tight against the wind, has electricity if we need heat lamps, and extra horse stalls close to the house if it is really cold. After much deliberation, Delta and Olive have been bred to Joe Cotton. His pedigree is full of show lines and high milk production so, when added to their parasite resistence, very good udder attachments, ability to keep great milking condition on forage/hay with minimal grain, and ability to raise up sturdy, hardy, quick growing kids, we are eager to kick off the kidding season with them. Delta and Olive both milk a little over 1/2 gallon a day and dry up after 9 months. Their milk is creamy and sweet; delicious to drink and fantastic for cheese and yogurt!
Bucklings out of this match up would bring excellent Guernsey character to a herd that is registering as American Guernsey, and be ready for the 2020 breeding season. Their past doelings have grown quickly, carry their high and tight udder, and are very easy to milk. Delta and Olive are both registered as American Guernseys. The breed will be fully accepted by the ADGA in 2020 and will bring a unique flare to the show ring. |
We are the Lowers....a homesteading, homeschooling, family of seven living in central Maine. We aim to be purposeful in what we do each day as we strive to be good stewards of God's gifts. Archives
February 2021
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