Monday, August 23, 2010

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.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this information. Now that I am ready to sell some of my animals I can evaluate which ones go and which ones to keep to improve my herd.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank You for all the goat conformation lessons. it will be good to learn something before I get goats. I came here specifically to read/learn & look for Kinders. If I can't get them yet, I can at least read about them .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Some excellent information, Sue. One thing that I would add to your comments about the big, robust animal - be sure that for your does, you don't go so far as to lose their femininity. Harvey Considine always told us that the bucks should look like BUCKS and the does should retain a feminine look, particularly about the head. As soon as they dry off following birth, those male/female first impressions should be unquestionable. I have seen too many Kinder does with homely, masculine-looking heads.

    One thing that I would correct about the rump of a Kinder - there should be a very moderate slope - again according to Harvey. A LEVEL rump can also be a problem, so look for just a slight slope with good length.

    Good job, and nice photos!

    ReplyDelete