Kinder Goat

What is a Kinder Goat?

There was no Kinder Goat until Breeders in Washington State came together to form the Kinder Goat Breeders Association. This was done after the breeding of a Pygmy and Nubian was done by Pat and Art Showalter in Snohomish, Washington. They and others saw potential in the results of this breeding so they came together to form the association along with rules and regulations, a breed standard and a registry. Officers were elected to over see the workings of the association. The name Kinder was decided on by the people who set up the association.

Sure there may have been this same cross done before and perhaps even now it is being done but those breeding's are not done under the specific rules and regulations of the Kinder Goat Breeders Association. The Kinder name belongs to the Kinder Goat Breeders Association and to those breeders who are breeding their goats according to the Kinder rules and regulations.

The animals used in first generation Kinder breeding must be registered with ADGA, NPGA, AGS or the Canadian Goat Society. Any American Nubian used in this first breeding must show 100% on that registration paper. Nothing but 50/50% breeding is accepted,

There is a breed standard and score card that is used for Kinder goats. This is the guide that all breeders use and also what the judges use in the show ring.

A first generation Kinder is the result of the breeding's of a Pygmy and Nubian then after that the Kinder is bred Kinder to Kinder. First generation up to fourth generation Kinder receive a Certificate of Merit. Fifth generation and future generations receive a Cerificate of Registration.

Many years of breeding has gone into this wonderful little goat. Breeders of the Kinder goat breed under the rules and regulations of the Kinder Goat Breeders Association and register their animals with the Kinder Goat Breeders Association. There are no American nor Experimental Kinder accepted by the Kinder Goat Breeders Association.

Gene Pool

Abnormalities and all sort of disease like Johne's, CAE and CL can quickly deplete the Kinder gene pool. Selling animals with any of the above will decrease the gene pool all across the country. Great care needs to be taken when selling animals and when buying stock from others.

This is true of all breeds but the Kinder is much more vulnerable because their gene pool is so small compared to the other breeds.

We need to be vigilant in our breeding practices so we sell only animals with good genetics, those that are healthy in every way and those that conform to the Kinder Breed Standard.

Abnormalities

Here is a picture of one that you must cull. Pay attention to all parts of your goats because this animal should never be bred nor should it be sold for breeding.

Johne's Disease

Several studies suggest that 60% of all cattle dairies Nation-Wide have at least 10% of their herd infected with Johne's. Studies also say that most cow dairymen are not even aware of the disease. If you are thinking that by using cow milk you will avoid exposing your kids to CAE then you should read more on these studies.
While trying to avoid CAE you may be inadvertently exposing your kids to Johne's which is just as devasting.

For more articles about Johne's
http://www.johnes.org/handouts/index.shtml#general_articles

Food Safety

The November 18th vote:
The Food Safety cloture was passed by a vote of 75 for to 25 against. This is just NAIS with another name. Big business is behind this so we must work very hard to get it stopped in the Senate.

On Monday, November the 29th there will be another vote. Please take time to call your senator. http://www.senate.gov/ tell them to oppose
S. 510.

Goats Used In Comparison Study

Boer, Kinder, Dairy Cross

One-day Milk Test Scoring

1. One point per pound of milk produced, calculated to within one decimal point.

2. One tenth (0.1) point for every complete 10-day period that the doe has been in milk since her last kidding, with a maximum of three and six tenths (3.6) points or 360 days

3. One point for every five one hundredths (0.05) pounds of butterfat yielded.

4. Total

To make a star in one-day testing the doe must have a score of 18 points or more total.

New Ruling

KINDER BREEDERS: When registration applications, transfer and original registrations are sent in they will be returned to the sender which is usually the seller. It will be up to you the seller to see that the papers are correct then it is your responsibility to send them on to the new owner.

One-day Testing

Milk weighs 8.6 # per gallon. The first column shows the quantity of milk given by each doe.

Results of One-day Milk Testing of Kinder

Kinder at Goat Dairy

Election Time

Go to our Web Site Home Page.

Click on YOUR VOTE COUNTS

Read a brief statement from each person running for office that is on the ballot.

REMEMBER; You can always do a write in.

Milk Comparison

Comparison of Different Meats

Breeding Kinder Goats

Breeding Kinder Goats

Breeding goes hand in hand with evaluating your herd. I think there is too much voodoo written about line breeding and inbreeding. Stop thinking of breeding in human terms! Line breeding and inbreeding is very important and is done in most herds that are successfully shown, those with excellent udders, very good milk production and just general good conformation.

True that this magnifies both the bad and the good in your herd but if you have a good foundation then it is my opinion that line breeding is the only way you will continue to produce those fine animals. This is done by many breeders of all other breeds. Since the Kinder is specifically from two major breeds it is of the up most importance to do everything possible to pass these good genes on down the generation lines of the Kinder goat.

I almost shudder any more when I hear a Kinder breeder say, “Oh, I have just got to get new blood in my herd, I need something entirely unrelated to my other goats”. I have seen Kinder herds go from a top notch herd, to much lesser than in a hurry, when just adding one new herd sire.

If you have a herd that has general good conformation, that are milking well anything from 4 pounds up per day and if those animals are truly dual purpose showing a good meat carcass, then why do you want to change that? If you have sold animals to other breeders then go buy something from their lines that also has your lines in it. In this way you will be adding back some of your own genetics. If you completely cross out of your line it is hard telling what you might get. Genetics is a wild and wonderful world and we as Kinder breeders by breeding 50/50 are trying to fool mother nature into producing a goat that will continue to produces animals that conforms to our breed standards.

Look at the little doe below. Does she have a capacious udder? Some on our face book page think so. This little doe is a product of line breeding and she is lovely. God willing in a year or so I will tell you how she milks. She comes from generations of milking lines and Grand Champions.

Breeding Kinder goats is so exciting.

Udder of Young Doe

This doe was born 5/23/10. She is not bred. Have others had experience with udders on such a young doe?

Bucks Structure

Here is a buck showing its scrotal attachment. This was scored as moderately tight. Anything looser than this I would not use. If it is very hot then the scrotal will loosen because this is part of the bucks cooling system. Be sure that both sides of the scrotal is even. You do not want daughters with lopsided udders.

Look for width in the escutcheon, a tight to moderately tight scrotal, level rump and a wide front end. A buck needs to have all over good conformation being level and smooth across the top and stand on good sound legs and feet.

Buck

Evaluation of Ebony

Here is the evaluation sheet of Ebony the doe who is pictured below. A 1 is excellent, a 2 is good and a 3 is poor. You can see the score given for each different part of the body then all these scores are added together to get her final score that you see at the bottom of the page with a notation of Ex.(excellent) and signed by Harvey.

Clicking on the evaluation sheet will make it easier to read.

Ebony

She milked 12.1 pounds of milk in a one-day milk testing that is about 1 and 1/2 gallons per day.

Thoughts

We are coming to the close of Evaluate Your Own Goat, there are a few things that I need to mention in regard to breeding the best possible Kinder goat.

You want to breed for that big robust animal with a huge front end and lots of extension of brisket. You want the fleshing over the shoulders. You want those big necks that blend into those shoulders.

You want that animal to have a smooth and level top line that begins at the neck and goes all the way to the tail.

You want a rump that is not sloping. You want an udder that is high and tight. You want capacity in that udder, not an udder the size of a grapefruit. You want an udder that fills that escutcheon area. This what they mean when they mention the capacity of udder. You must have that capacity of udder to get a good volume of milk per day.

Care needs to be taken not to breed an animal that is too tall. We do not want to breed just another dairy animal we are breeding a dual purpose animal. Maximun height at the withers is 26 inches for does and 28 for bucks. If you don't where the withers are on your goat then click on Older Post and find the illustration showing the parts of a Kinder goat. Take a yardstick and measure at the withers.

Don't just buy a buck, be very critical when buying or using a herd sire. Look at his dams udder, ask how much she milks. If possible ask to milk her to see the ease of milking. Look at the overall conformation of the dam. Once again watch that rump! That buck is more than 50% of your herd so pay very close attention to him.

Width, teat placement and top line in doelings

Here are some important things to look for in your doelings. Width in the escutcheon (width between the rear legs). This shows the room for an udder.

Teat placement, size and shape. Look for teats that are hanging plum and of nice size.

Look for a smooth and level top line. Watch that rump that it is not sloping. Look for levelness in the chine (this is the area right behind the shoulder blades).

Look at the rear legs that they do not turn inward.

Udders and Rumps

I don't mean to just beat this subject to death but I just want to remind you that it takes a good rump to have a good udder. Don't use a buck with a sloping rump, he will probably pass this on to his daughters, you will then multiply those loose, floppy udders in your herd.

Have a doe with a loose udder then look for a buck to improve this. Udders can be improved in the future generations with the right buck!

Udder Height and Fore Udder

You will notice in the illustration of the fore udder that there are pockets shown in the fore. Some times after a does second kidding some of this pocket fills in. Notice the photo that follows of a good rear and fore udder in a Kinder doe.

Rear and Fore Udder

This is a nice rear udder attachment. Notice on the fore udder how it blends itself into the belly area. This was a 1 in fore udder.

Teat Size and Shape

Teat size is very important in the ease of milking but orfice size is more important. A smaller teat with a nice size orfice can be milked with ease. A larger teat might look like a doe is easily milked when in fact this might not be true because of a smaller orfice size.

Width of Rump and Rear Legs

When you buy a young buck pay close attention to his rump. You can tell when they are very young if that rump is going to be nice. I have seen Kinder herds that were great but with using just one buck that did not have good conformation things changed in a hurry.

Angle of Rump

I am going to type this in because I cannot get it to print large enough to read easily.

The angle of the rump or pelvis from hooks to pins has a direct bearing on the reproductive performance of a goat because it influences the ease of kidding and drainage of the reproductive tract. he Angle of the rump is also related to the length of udder from foe to rear, strength of for udder attachment, and udder depth. Observing the goat on the move from the side, this is a way to evaluate the angle of the rump from hooks to pins. Rump angle is measured from steepness, which is assigned 20 or less points, to levelness, which is assigned 30 or more points. Rumps intermediate in slope (30 to 20 degrees)are assigned 20 to 30 points. Each difference of 5 degrees in the rump angle, plus or minus, results in a difference in the score of 5 points. A rump angle of 50 or more is assigned 1 point.

Udders

I feel sure there are those saying that they just want their goats for milk and really don’t care if the udder is well attached because they are not going to show. Those low floppy udders can cause great pain and suffering to that doe. A low hanging udder that floppies around causes a much greater chance of injury to the udder and also mastitis. We all want the best for our goats.

If you have a doe with a poorly attached udder this can be corrected in the next generation by using the right buck. But using a buck with a sloping rump and poorly attached scrotal will only result in more does with bad udders.

Angle of the Rump

The angle of the rump has a great bearing on both udders of does and scrotal attachments on the buck. A buck who has a sloping rump will probably have a loose scrotal attachment, it will look similar to the udder of this doe in the photo. Bucks with loose attachments will produce daughters with the same trait. Loose udders!

Slope of Rump

Please be very careful of the slope to the rump on your goats. The first of the three illustrations is very sloping this will never give you a highly attached udder. It is going to put that udder in harms ways because the medial suspensory ligament can never hold the udder up and tight with a rump like this.

Front ends

The front end of the first one on the left is much too pinched. The heart and lungs cannot function properly when pinched as shown in the first illustration.

Kinder front ends

Evaluate Your Own Goat

Chocolate Kinder Milk Pudding

2/3 c sugar
3 T (heaping) cornstarch
3 T baking cocoa
3 c Kinder milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T (heaping) butter
1 tsp vanilla
Combine sugar, cornstarch and cocoa in a sauce pan. Gradually add Kinder milk and beaten egg. Cook stirring often over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Cool. Enjoy!!

Goat Cheese

Take some of that fresh goat cheese mix it with some basil, dried tomato's and garlic then enjoy it on some crusty bread or crackers.

Just a little reminder.

Zucchini Casserole

1 1/2 lbs. zucchini
1 1/2 lbs. ground chevon
1 medium onion
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup goat milk
salt and pepper

Trim and slice zucchini (do not peel); cook in small amount of boiling water until just crispy tender; drain. Cook chevon in skillet until lightly brown, add chopped onion, cover, and cook over low heat until onion is barely tender. Season to taste.

In a lightly buttered two-quart casserole, arrange layers of zucchini, meat ,and cheese; repeat, ending with cheese. Combine mushroom soup and milk; pour over all. Sprinkle top with cheese. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 35 minutes, or until bubbly.

Nice served with a side of slice tomatoes and crusty bread.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup of sugar
2 T. butter


Since Kinder milk is so rich I just used all milk in the recipe.(no half and half and whipping cream) A total of 6 cups of milk.

2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
2 T. butter (use goat butter if you have it)
2 cups half and half
2 cups whipping cream
2 t. vanilla

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, combine sugar, butter and pecans, stirring constantly for about 6 minutes or until sugar has melted and browned. Remove from heat;spread nuts on foil. Once nuts have cooled, break into bit-size pieces and reserve.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, and salt. Place pan over medium-high heat until mixture reaches a simmer. Lower heat to medium and whisk mixture for 5 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Strain mixture into a large bowl and whisk in butter until combined; then incorporate half and half and cream and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Pour mixture into ice-cream maker; process as directed. When the ice cream is made stir in the reserved pecans.

Enjoy!

Orange Sherbet

1 (3oz.) pkg. orange jell-o
1 pkg. orange Kool-Aid
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
1 qt. goat milk

Combine Jello, Kool-Aid, sugar and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in cold goat milk and freeze in ice cream maker. Taste just like store bought. You can substitute any flavors of Kool-Aid and Jello.

Meningeal worm

Meningeal worm
Brain Worm - Deer Worm
Paralaphostrongylus tenius

What is it?
The meningeal worm is an internal parasite (Paralaphostrongylus tenius) of the white-tailed deer that usually completes its life cycle in the deer without causing significant problems. However, when unnatural hosts, such as sheep and goats, become infested with meningeal worm, the parasite moves into the brain and/or spinal cord and causes neurological problems that can be fatal. Llamas and alpacas are even more susceptible to meningeal worm infection than sheep or goats. Cattle are not known to be affected. Meningeal worm is not a health concern to humans.


The life cycle of the meningeal worm requires terrestrial snails or slugs as intermediate hosts. White-tailed deer become infested with P. tenius by eating snails or slugs that contain the infective stage of the larvae. The larvae migrate through the deer's gut and eventually move into the central nervous system where they mature into adults, produce eggs, and the life cycle begins again. However, when P. tenius-infected snails and slugs are ingested by aberrant hosts, the larvae migrate into the brain and/or spinal cord.

The larvae do not mature into adults, but rather wander through the central nervous system causing inflammation and swelling which damages sensitive nervous tissue producing a variety of neurologic symptoms. Experimental evidence suggests that it takes 10 to 14 days for the parasite to reach the brain and/or spinal cord after the animal eats the infected snail or slug.

Symptoms
The neurologic signs observed in infected sheep and goats depend upon the number of larvae present in the nervous tissue and the portion of the brain or spinal cord that has been affected.

A mild infection may produce a slight limp or weakness in one or more legs, while a more severe infection may cause an animal to be partially or completely paralyzed. When larvae migrate to the brain, they may cause blindness, a head tilt, circling, disinterest in or inability to eat, or other signs that mimic brain diseases.

Affected animals may get progressively worse, remain static, or in some cases improve without therapeutic involvement. In most cases, infected animals remain alert and continue to eat and drink normally.

Diagnosis
Meningeal worm infection cannot be diagnosed in the live animal. A fecal examination is not useful since sheep and goats are “dead end” hosts for the parasite and the larvae do not produce eggs or pass larvae into the feces. The parasites cannot be detected by blood testing. The only way to confirm diagnosis is to find the parasite in the nervous system, which requires a necropsy examination. Testing the cerebrospinal fluid, which requires the animal to be tranquilized or anesthetized for extraction, may help to support suspicions of brain worm infection.

Thus, diagnosis of meningeal worm in the live animal is based on symptoms and clinical history. Usually animals have been grazing for at least two months and there is a history of deer in the area. Diseases which look similar to meningeal worm infection include: listeriosis, CAE, scrapie, rabies, trauma, copper deficiency, vitamin E/selenium deficiency, spinal cord or brain abscesses, or polioencephalomalacia.

Treatment
Treatment regimes usually involve high, repetitive doses of anthelmintics, along with steroids, and other supportive therapies. Many different anthelmintics (levamisol, ivermectin, albendazole, fenbendazole, thiabendazole) have been used to treat meningeal worm infection. It is believed that some anthelmintics can kill the larvae before it enters the central nervous system, while others may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier and kill the larvae regardless of its location in the body.

However, it is important to note that no controlled studies have confirmed or refuted the efficacy of different treatment regimes. Nor does treatment repair damaged nervous tissue. Producers who suspect meningeal worm should contact their veterinarian for treament recommendations.

Prevention
As with other disease conditions, prevention is usually more satisfying than treatment. Unfortunately, the meningeal worm is a hard one to prevent. Reducing deer populations is usually impractical. A single deer can shed thousands of eggs per gram of feces, and the larvae are highly resistant to environmental forces. However if feasible, sheep and goats should not be pastured in areas which receive high deer utilization or removed from these pastures before the weather turns wet and cool. It may be helpful to limit sheep and goat pasturing to fields without contiguous woodlands and to pastures that are on high ground and well-drained.

Controlling the intermediate hosts may be a more effective means of prevention. Sheep and goats can be fenced away from likely snail and slug habitats: ponds, swamps, wetlands, low-lying, poorly-drained fields, and woodlands. Some veterinarians advocate strategic deworming as a means of preventing infection. However, it is important to realize that regular use of anthelmintics (e.g. monthly treatments) rapidly leads to anthelmintic resistance, so while regular treatments may help to control the meningeal worm, eventually those drugs will lose their efficacy against ordinary stomach worms, which may be an even greater problem on most sheep and goat farms.

References: P. tenuis - The White-tailed Deer Parasite, Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Goat Medicine (1994) by Smith and Sherman.


Copyright © 2004.

Summer came to the Rogue Valley on June 21st. That was the first nice day that we have had all year. Last week we still had the risk of frost so my garden starts have been sitting in their pots waiting for the ground to dry up and warm up. I finally got them all in and hope they get to growing.

Our Kinder kids have really started growing too. The boys are all banded and I put two sets of twin bucklings into the weaning pen. Finally I get that great Kinder milk for myself. I have two large freezers that I put the one quart plastic bags of milk in for my soapmakaing. The rest is for cheese.

I love to make a soft spreadable cheese for toast. Heat one gallon of milk to 170 degrees and add 3/4 cup of lemon juice let sit for a few minutes until a fine curd forms. Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander to drain. Tie the four corners of the cheesecloth into a knot and hang the bag to drain for a couple of hours. The cheese can then be salted a little or have herbs added. My favorite is to leave the salt out and use one of the Ms. Dash seasonings like the chipotle, herb and garlic, or spicy hot.

As you increase the temperature up from 170 toward 180 the curd will become a bit tougher and larger and you can actually press it into a log shape and slice it. If you heat it to 180 and use 1/4 cup of vinegar in place of the lemon juice you will get queso blanco . This cheese can be cut and used in salads, soups and stir-fries.

There are a lot of great cheese and meat recipes in the book "Goats Produce too! The Udder Real Thing Volume 2 by Mary Jane Toth. It is well worth the $13 price tag.

One of my favorite recipes is for Cajeta which is Mexican caramel candy.

3 qts goat milk

3 C sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp baking soda.

dissolve the corn starch and baking soda in 1 cup of the milk to get out all the lumps then add it to the milk and sugar in the pot. I use a very heavy large pot for this as it will foam up and boil over in a small pot. Cook the mixture until it is thick and creamy like caramel sauce. It can be poured into jars and refrigerated. It is great on ice cream. If cooked to a soft caramel stage it is delicious on graham crackers.

Jean Jajan

Gray J Ranch

What to do with all that milk?

That was the question in my mind when the milk started building up. How can I make money from the milk without selling milk directly. I had heard about goat milk soap and searched for a recipe on the internet. I was a crafter and loved to cook so what better than cooking up a batch of soap. I found a fragrance oil supplier near me and bought a few small bottles of fragrance. I remember the first batch was oatmeal, milk and honey fragrance and it had oatmeal, goat milk and honey in it. It was a hit with family and friends. I added a few new scents and started making it up in decorative molds as gifts.

Over the winter I worked on my recipe until I had a really rich creamy bar of soap with great lather. I decided to try to get into the local farmers market as a vendor. I attended the state agriculture department seminar on small farm marketing where I met our local market manager and learned the most valuable information of all. I was not a crafter. I was a value added agricultural product because I raised the goats, milked them, and a high percentage of the soap was goat milk. While crafters were limited in the market, with a value added product I was move to space availability right after the growers and did not have to wait in line for a crafting space to become available. Wild River Soaps was born

The first year I made up small batches and sold them my self at the local growers market on Saturdays. That first year I actually made a profit. It was enough to pay for all the feed for the goats and all the ranch supplies. That winter my husband was laid off and my son moved out of our 600 sq ft guest house which had a full kitchen so we decided to make soap making our living. We got into two other growers markets that were held on different days and my husband became the salesman and I did the production.

Actually soap making is easy to learn and just plain old clean fun. Here is what you need to get started.

Equipment

1. Mixing containers such as enamel or stainless steel pots to melt the oils in and plastic bowl to weight the ingredients in NOTE: NEVER, NEVER USE ALUMINUM, it reacts with the lye

2. A heatproof container for your lye mixture such as a large plastic or glass bowl or pitcher.

3. Stainless steel slotted spoon or plastic heat proof spoon or heat proof rubber spatula. Do not use wood.

4. A stick blender, good for 3 lbs. or larger batches. The stick blender enables you to get a faster trace. Use only for a minute at a time and stir in between. This is optional if you don't mind stirring.

5. Use eye protections. Eyeglasses are not enough. You can get some that will fit over your glasses. A splash of raw soap in the eyes can be very painful and damage the eyes.

6. Latex or Chemical gloves. Use this to keep any possible splashes off arms and hands and when stirring the lye water, to keep the steam off the arms.

7. Scale to weight the oils and lye. A digital scale is the best

8. Soap molds. You can use rubbermade drawer liners or any plastic container you have around. Vinyl down spouts, PVC pipes, cut in about 12" lengths. Jello Molds or even cookie cutters for animal shapes and toy shapes, for the kiddies. Be sure it is not aluminum.

9. Thermometer. I prefer the quick read digital one. You can wipe it clean between testing the oil or lye mixtures and it gives you an instant readings.

Creamy Goat Milk Soap

8 oz olive oil

5 oz coconut oil

3 oz palm oil

2.3 oz lye

7 oz frozen goat milk

Melt the coconut and palm oil in an enameled pan on low heat. Place the frozen goat milk in a glass bowl and slowly add lye while stirring with a plastic spoon. Stir until lye is dissolved and all milk is thawed. When the oils are warm to the touch (105 degrees) pour in the olive oil. Pour the goat milk & lye mixture into the oil mixture while stirring. Keep stirring until you get trace. Trace is when it thickens to the point where you can drop some of the mix back into itself and it leaves a trail. At this point use any herb, scent, or coloring and stir and pour into molds. Place plastic wrap on top of soap. Let sit for 24 hours. Unmold, cut into bars, and place on a rack to cure for 3-4 weeks.

"Oh my gosh she is big"

My friend and I sat down and planned out my breeding schedule to work around hers. I was to take her beautiful caramel buck to breed to my spotted brown Nubian. Then I would return him and take her dark grey agouti buck to breed my black doe. My young Nubian would wait a few months and then be bred to a second caramel buck she had. Perfect, three does and three different bucks.

The love nest was set up and everything put in order. A private corral and barn and just to really make it easy I set up my folding leg milking stand on a down slope. When I held the doe backed up to it the buck could just walk out on the stand and do his business. He did not even have to jump up on the stand. What could be easier. The handsome suitor was named Major Force. The doe came in heat and Major let us know with all his romancing. We backed the doe up to the stand and Major would walk out but not mount. We backed her up to the bank beside the stand so he could reach and he still would not do it with that big doe. This doe stays in heat for about thirty six hours so we tried every few hour all day into the cool night and early morning and nothing. It seems that Major Force was a Minor Farce.

Back he went and I picked up buck number two. Buckeye was an old buck who was getting a touch of arthritis but he was built like a little tank. He was after those two does like an old pro. I would back the does up to the stand and he was out there doing his job in an instant. Success. Two month later we were so excited to see the pygmy type ears in the ultrasound. Both the does had settled.

When it came time in late January to breed the third doe, my friend had sold her second caramel buck and had her fourth buck in breeding her does. Back came Buckeye to the rescue. While my breeding plans had not turned out as I had hoped, at least my does were bred.

Over the next three years I used my buck and three different bucks of my friend's to get more diversity in my herd. I have crossed the different lines but have never kept a second generation to breed. Last year I decided to keep one second generation doeling and buckling to breed to each other. I finally have a third generation doeling and buckling.

After having raised Boers for so many years, I get excited at the variety of color combinations and spots on the kids. I also love the vigor of the Kinder kids. They are up and about in a matter of minutes not hours like with the Boers.

Next: What to do with all that milk.

Greetings from the Gray J Ranch

Many people have asked me how I got into Kinder Goats. The truth is, almost by accident and a long round about way. We had just moved from the city and wanted some goats as our property was covered with brush and poison oak. I saw an ad in the paper for Pygmies and bought a little buck and doe. Then I started reading all I could about goats. Whoops, ran the buck to the vet to get wethered and hoped he hadn't bred his little sister yet. They were darling and we named them Poco and Poca which means little in Spanish and also stands for for Poison Oak Control Officer and Poison Oak Control Assistant. No way could those two little Pygmies get much brush and poison oak under control.

We needed bigger goats to do the job and I read about all the dairy breeds and the Boer goat. The county ag extension office had their first Dairy goats and friends program which we attended and got a lot of great information on the different breeds and contacts for breeders. I got the address for the Pygmy goat club in our area and we joined. We showed in their first show and I was hooked as I had showed horses as a youngster. We went to the county fair and my husband stared into the eyes of a Nubian doe and instantly fell in love with the Nubians and I fell for the Boers. Some of my new Pygmy breeder friends also had Boers and Nubians so within 5 months of our getting into goats we had two Pygmies, two Nubian doelings, 1 Boer doeling and three bred percentage Boer does and only a small dog house connecting two 10 x 10 chain link kennels.

We decided that would never do come the rainy season and kidding time. There was a nice two stall barn down the hill from the house with a large horse corral near by but no other kind of fencing anywhere on the property and there were coyotes running around at night. We put up a six foot chain link paddock on the front of the barn that was 12 x 30 and field fenced the inside of the wooden corral. Then we fenced off the area between them to make a runway for the goats to go into the corral during the day and come into the barn area at night for safety.

We had our perfect goat barn and paddock area or so we thought. The Boer herd over the next few years grew at one time to over 40 counting the new kids . We fenced more land and built more barns and areas for the bucks and the new kids. I spent most of the summer traveling to shows and helping put them on and making goat milk soap which my husband sold for me at three growers markets a week to support the goats. This was work not retirement.

I was sitting there the night before a big Boer show I was putting on. I was exhausted and frustrated over trying to finish up the show program when it dawned on me that my goats were not going to be competitive for the championships any more. A lot of the breeders were bringing in high priced new Texas stock to the area and I would have to do the same and spend many, many thousands of dollars to remain competitive.

My mind snapped. I told my husband I was selling out while still ahead and we were going to be done with the Boers. Just then the phone rang and it was a late entering Boer breeder who wanted to get his entries into the program. I mentioned to him that I had decided to sell out my Boers and would have them for sale at the show. He told me he would be there at the show cash in hand first thing in the morning. I had one old buck and doe who I didn't show any more so they stayed home. Well, word got around over night and when I pulled in and started unloading I was getting offers left and right. By the start of the show, I only owned one older percentage doe that I refused to sell and two young bucklings. It was a sad, lonely ride home and a very empty barnyard the next morning.

What to do about freshening my three Nubians? I didn't want to breed them to my old Boer buck and have percentages I would have to sell for meat. I jokingly mentioned to my Pygmy breeder girl friend that I should breed them to one of her Pygmy bucks and get little Pygnubians. She said that the cross was actually a breed called the Kinder and we researched it. She called Pat and asked her about the breed and getting started. I traded my friend my Boer buckling for a Pygmy buckling and she lent me a mature buck for the first breeding. I was in the Kinder business.

Jean

Next: Getting the important breeding business done. "Oh my gosh she is big"

Happy Memorial Day!

Well the soap is in the primary mold. We will see how it turns out.

The garden is growing like crazy and it is extreeeemely hot outside each day. So I am doing a lot of chores in the evening now.

The kids are growing great. Saphira has acquired her mother's loud mouth. She is quite vocal every morning about me milking her mother before she has the chance. Derrick is a sweetheart. He is so easy to handle. Desarae is still very shy, as are Saphira and Carlisle. I need to visit with them more often, I guess.

Well this is the end of my time here. Again, thanks for the invite. And thanks for visiting with me this month. Feel free to drop me a line anytime.

Happy Goat Adventures to you all.

God Bless,

DaLinda

This is our goat complex. I have it configured with two large pens and two smaller pens at the moment. One for the kids at night. And one for Galileo - he was tearing up the other boys heads with his scurs, so he had to be separated. Now Derrick has scurs too, so I will have to figure out what to do with him if they tussle too much. Eventually I want to have separate pens for each of the bucks. The goat complex is on one side of Rustee's paddock. I had to put hot wire around it because Russtee was stealing hay and using the kennels has scratching posts.

This is my milk and feed "room", under an awning on the side of the landlord's shed. Ken, best hubby in the world, made me the cool milk stand.

This is the manor castle, laundry room, banquet hall, and aviary (chicken coop). Oh yes, and part of the garden too.

This is a shot of the main garden earlier this month. Wow, I didn't realize how much had grown in the last month. The last bed is packed with flowers now. The second on the right is full of tomato plants. Two more are started with corn. And one is started with sunflowers. Just finished spraying for pests with a mixture from a master gardener. It dropped two cabbage worms, one moth, and two grasshoppers while I was spraying!! Hopefully the battle with the cabbage worms has been won!! This was a mixture of tobacco juice, mouthwash, soap, and garlic juice. Sounded pretty weird, but if it works like I think it did tonight, this is great!

I think I got the last of the supplies that I needed for soap making this weekend. Hopefully I will get a chance to try a batch of soap before the end of the month so I can let you know how that goes.

I took Russtee and the girls out to the landlord's pasture for a stroll today. Russtee was off lead even though the fence was down, but the yard gate was closed so he couldn't get too far. The girls were ducks in a row on a piece of rope - goats on a rope - I have tied them out from time to time, but watch them closely because they always get themselves in a knot. Of course, today was no exception. Since we have so many dogs around, I didn't leave them out alone today, but walked them around instead - or better stated - they walked me around. They enjoyed themselves and were contentedly chewing their cud when I went in to fix dinner.

However, when I went out after dinner - I.C. Spots had disappeared from their pen. Closer inspection found her trapped behind the shed in their pen!! She has never attempted this before, very strange. We got her out and walked her around a bit. Apparently she had gotten back there pretty soon after I went in, because she was quite wobbly when we first got her out. But she is fine now. Still have no idea what inticed her to squeeze back there, the space between the shed and the fence couldn't be more than five inches!!! And it backs to another shed, so nothing to see back there?? Anyway, put some obstacles in the way. Hopefully no one else will attempt that again.

Well, it's nearly midnight and we gotta get up for school tomorrow. Two more days of school, then the girl is out for the summer, looking forward to VBS and summer camp.

Ya'll take care.

God Bless,

DaLinda

I MADE CHEESE!!!

I finally got around to making some mozzerella cheese yesterday. It is already gone, so it must have been a success! I used Ricki's 30 minute mozzerella recipe on cheesemaking.com. It took a little longer for the curd to set than the five minutes in the recipe, but otherwise did okay. My curds never look like the cut cubes that I always see in the videos. Mine are always more stringy. Not sure why that happens. Just got to keep practicing, I guess.

I also started the custard for some goat milk ice cream. I used the vanilla ice cream III recipe from Storey Publishing's Raising Dairy Goats. I am going to add strawberries and freeze it later today.

But now I have four quarts of whey. I will probably try to make some ricotta cheese from it. I am not sure about trying any of the drinks recipes I have come across. If all else fails, I will feed it to the chickens. I know that they love any goat milk that I give them. It goes faster than their chicken feed!

Just finished planting my raised beds this week. Today I pulled up the sweet peas and planted some garlic bulbs that had gotten overlooked. Having a problem with cabbage worms though. They apparently liked my peas too. Hope they enjoy the garlic!! I know the chickens enjoyed all that I could handpick of the little buggers!

I need to do some research on apple cider vinegar as used for pest control and watering the goats. I have read that people use it, but I have never come across how much and what ratio it is used in. Also want to get the herbs for that vinegar recipe posted previously.

Well gotta run and try to catch up on things. Seems like I always have a four day long to do list!!

God Bless,

DaLinda

Happy Mother's Day to all.

Last week my husband took a surprise week of vacation, so I am a week behind on everything. Having him around like that always disrupts my schedules. We went siteseeing, shopping, and visited a Christian summer camp that our daughter will be going to this summer. He went golfing and then he and Cassandra practiced a few swings in the pasture. Now Cassandra has been out every day in the pasture knocking golf balls around. She nearly hit me in the head with one!

The garden is growing like crazy. The roosters are starting to crow, which means we will be having fried chicken for sunday dinner very soon. And, of course, the kids are growing like weeds. Desarae and Derrick are eating well. Derrick is staying with the "big boys" now. Saphire is huge! Carlisle is just slightly smaller than her.

I caught Carlisle making bucky eyes and slobbing all over himself over my pygmy doe, Polgara. She was not impressed! I nearly died laughing, he looked so comical. He really thought he was hot stuff.

I made butter yesterday. 16 oz of cream gave me about 8 oz of butter. I just whipped the cream with my mixer until the butter separated. Then I poured off the buttermilk and washed the butter in cold water. I didn't salt this batch, but sometimes I do add salt. Then stored it in the refrigerator in small jam jars.

I also made some french vanilla coffee creamer for my husband. He said it tasted better than what he had been buying before. I took one cup of goat milk, added 1/3 cup of agave syrup, 2 Tbsps goat milk cream, and 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract. Combined it all in a pint jar and shook it up. You have to shake well before using, but he said it tasted great. I don't drink coffee, so I have to take his word for it. Cassandra likes to add creamer to her milk, so she tried it and said it tasted good too.

I am hoping to try a cheese recipe in the next few days. I want to try cottage cheese and/ or mozzerella. My last attempt was not that great, so I am kinda nervous. Hate to waste all that milk for another failure. But at least I have a steady supply.

I am collecting my soap making supplies. I want to make just a basic soap with olive oil and lard/ or vegetable shortening. I have been researching recipes and I still need a few more supplies, especially a mold or molds. Ken wants me to make liquid soap too. So I will have to find a recipe or two for that as well.

Well guess that's about it for now.

God Bless,

DaLinda

Who would our stars be without a supporting cast:

The loving mothers:

I.C. Spots




Annabelle










Janelle

The proud fathers:

Galileo

Belgarath

And the extras:

Polgara

Randale

That's the rest of my goat herd. They keep me very busy.

I have them set up in linked dog kennels. We found these to be easier to move and rearrange to fit whatever landscape situation we find ourselves in. Plus we don't have all the tposts to remove and reposition everytime.

Well gotta run and finish some chores. Hope you enjoy the rest of the crew.

God bless,

DaLinda