new milkers :)

meet Penny and Camilla! I will still have to wait 10 months to find out what I really have as far as milk and udders go but I am optimistic if....... impatient  I picked them up at a show in Little Rock and happen to get there just in time to see the breeder of these girls classes and all the does he was showing were quite respectable and placed well.

Nice legs! Oh, the goats look great too! 

I like the color on the dark one -- don't remember seeing that before!  They look pretty good, but it will be hard to tell what you really have until they freshen.  Any possibility of getting pictures of the mothers, grandmothers, etc.?  We could tell better about the kids that way.

Kathleen

here are some pics of a grandmother to both and the dam of the lighter one. they should be some really nice goats. but I know it is a genetic dice game some times.





here is the great grandmother obviously a bit older in this pic (she is supposedly super milky and she does look it) and one of her offspring that was california state champion. I think I got this all right. I am not a real pedigree buff but I am learning how to navigate.

I see some very nice udders there, Leah, plus overall good conformation!  I think you did well!  One of the does has awfully small teats, but hopefully your doelings will take more after their grandmother, who appears to have nice, hand-sized teats.  I think you should be happy with these two doelings!

Kathleen

"oreo" the one in the second to last pic, does have small teats. her information states that but is says her orifice's are large and she milks out easily in addition to being a very milky doe. she is the dam of the last one that seems to have some good 'handles' so I am hoping that the tiny teats don't appear either of my girls.  I can't put her down too hard. i have been a member of the itty bitty t**** comittee my while life.

Leah Sattler wrote:
"oreo" the one in the second to last pic, does have small teats. her information states that but is says her orifice's are large and she milks out easily in addition to being a very milky doe. she is the dam of the last one that seems to have some good 'handles' so I am hoping that the tiny teats don't appear either of my girls.   I can't put her down too hard. i have been a member of the itty bitty t**** comittee my while life.

LOL!  Big difference, though, between nursing a baby, and hand-milking a goat!  The doe I'm milking now has smallish teats even as a three-year-old; she's a 'thumb and two fingers' milker.  As a yearling first-freshener, I was ready to give her away to the first taker!  But I have carpal tunnel, and a little bit of arthritis, so it's really painful to have to hand-milk a hard milker, especially one with tiny teats.  Hopefully the yearling I'm waiting on now will be okay -- her teats already look nearly as large as Chalcedony's.

Kathleen

I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I tried to milk out a pygmy doe once just to get some colostrum in the freezer...ughh.......that was terrible!!!

its hard to say when they are so little but they seem to have some decent size teats for their size now. bigger than the boers at least. 
I'm itching for milk...and yogurt....and cheese........if I had a bunch of money to blow I would go buy a doe in milk but I figured it was better to get two, so that for one, I will be comfortable with their health status by the time they freshen and also so that I have two does in milk and don't have all my eggs in one basket like I did before. I am thinking it might be fun to show if they are decent enough. I feel that i should probably get a registred buck now though......

a new goat freind in the area and I have decided to go on DHI testing. not probably the first year as that doesnt appear to be typical but the following maybe. it will be fun to actually be testing and breeding quality stock for once and it will make the offspring more valuable. mostly by luck she ended up with the highest ranked togg buckling for heritibility! ADGA has been telling her of her responsibility to the breed and so she wants to take it a little farther than she was expecting to at first. she used to own a dairy and now just has goats mostly for personal use. she is proving to be a great resource for me.

That's great that you have an experienced goat person to mentor you.  I wish I'd had someone like that when I first started out (which is why I try to help new goat owners whenever I can now).  There used to be a DHIA test group in this area, but they quit doing it a few years ago, because everyone knew everyone else, so there was some question of accountability (were the test results verifiable by a disinterested person?).  I wish we had one; I'd see if I could get a good reg. Oberhasli doe or two to go with my buck, as he has good milk genetics.  But without a test group, my cross-bred does are just fine, since I don't show.

Kathleen