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All shaved down :)

2K views 30 replies 6 participants last post by  Texaslass 
#1 · (Edited)
I decided that I needed to get conformation pics of my baby all shaved down and get your guys' opinions. She took 3rd in her class in the county fair, I also took 3rd with her in showmanship class, my first time showing, ever, out of a class of 20+ :D Also, this has nothing to do with conformation, but I noticed that today she is in heat WOOHOO!!!! Now to wait until the end of breeding season to see if she makes weight. :D:D:D







She was born March 8th to give you an idea of her age :)
 
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#4 ·
Last time I weighed her she was 50 lbs. But she was just under 5 months, I'm starting to regret weaning her as early as I did, I just hope she'll be big enough towards the end of the season, I REALLY want to see an udder on her and I can't wait to get my hands on fresh, raw goat's milk :)
 
#5 ·
Oh, yeah, I totally understand! I'm so impatient about these things, lol. :) I'm sure you know this, but if you really keep on top of the worms and cocci, she'll grow a LOT faster. Are you feeding her a high protein feed mix? That helps a lot too. Just checking- this is my first year to raise doe kids that actually got big enough to breed, so I'm pretty excited, lol
 
#6 ·
Right now she's getting a cup of sweet feed a day, I'm going to bump it up to about two here soon, it's just she looks sooo fat after eating hay, between her and her brother they get 2 or a little more flakes a day and with the sweet feed on top of that she looks so fat, she's being dry lotted so I was hoping worm loads would be lower, but I'm seriously thinking about ordering some Valbazen to get them just in case since I don't have enough money to do fecals.
 
#7 ·
I think you could safely feed a pound of grain a day, maybe add some calf manna and BOSS too. The calf manna is really high in protein, so that helps growth a lot. I'm currently feeding my girls aaarround a pound and a half (I think) each every day of mixed 16% grain, BOSS, calf manna and alfalfa pellets. They probably don't need THAT much but I really want them to grow. :D It seems to be helping, though I have had some coccidia and worms problems lately.
Have you ever gotten the vet to do a fecal check? That way you would know what kind of worms you're dealing with (if any) and cocci, too, so you will better know how to treat.
And you can check their eyelids to see if they're anemic (means wormload or cocci, usually)- here's a chart you can look at, and/or print out to take with you out to the goat to compare: http://goat-link.com/content/view/110/
Sorry if I'm "preaching to the choir", but I'm still learning all this myself, and I can't help sharing what I've learned. :p
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the chart, I'll have to print it off and go out tomarrow since its dark out here :) I haven't had a vet run fecals since the only time I've taken them to the vet was to get them re-disbudded(they're STILL growing scurs) and I really don't have the money to. See I'm only 13 and I try to pay for everything involved with them, since they are my responsibity, I just don't have the income to run fecals. I was thinking about trying calf manna and some BOSS, but I need to make sure I have hay set for all winter before I go buying stuff I don't necessarily need, plus I probably will need wormer at some point in the near future so I need to watch what I spend. Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it :)
 
#9 ·
You're welcome, glad to help. :)I get it about money, I'm doing the same thing, lol. I'm trying to start a herd of Nigerians with my own money. The fees get a little confusing, though, cause we buy everything we need for all our goats at once (my family has the Alpines and their kids, the Nubian alpine crosses I mentioned earlier), and then I have to figure out how much of that was the cost for my little Nigies. :)

My dad helps me out sometimes, though, as with things like fecals. Not to sound pushy, but I would really advise you to get the fecals done, (maybe even get a loan to do it) otherwise you may be treating with the wrong wormer, or something. If you treat for worms if they don't need it, they will build resistance to the wormer, so it's really good to know if and what kind of worms they have before you treat.
BUT, if you check tomorrow and are eyes are really pale, I would go ahead and worm her, wait a few days, and if there's little or no improvement, I would go ahead and treat for cocci as well (you need a different med. for that) if there was still no improvement after THAT, then it would be time for a fecal to see what you're dealing with.
Normally I would say definitely get the fecals done first, but I know how it is to be in a moneyless situation, so that's what I would do if I couldn't get them done.:)
Oh, and the feed thing- it's okay to keep feeding what you're feeding, but I will say she may not get all that big if you don't add more protein. She'll keep growing till she's two or somewheres, but right now is an important stage, so the better her feed, the faster shell grow, the sooner she can be bred, and the sooner milk (and babies) for you! Not saying she'll be horribly stunted or anything, but she may be a little small. I would at least add the calf manna while she's growing, if you can. :)
Oookay, I think this is my longest post ever, so I'll shut up now! :eek:
Hope this helps! :D

 
#10 ·
Yeah it did help :) I really hate to ask my parents for financial help since I'm the one who wanted goats, they're my project, and I'm kind of having an independent streak, so I buy all the food, almost all the supplies, and take care of them all by myself, and whatever I can't buy myself I work off or pay back :) You really didn't have to shut up ;) Once I buy the about 30 bales of hay I'll go see about calf manna, I checked online and it's $30 for a 50 lb bag, sooo We'll see, If she does get big enough to breed, the stud I'm looking at would be quite a bit of money, not to mention gas money, but hey I should shut up :eek: So I get you're relatively new to the conformation thing, but I think you should give it a shot :D:p
 
#11 ·
Ooohhh, the conformation, haha, I totally forgot about that, lol. Sorry for messing up your thread.
Well, let's see... I'll try to stick t the basics-

PROS
Neck is nice and long
Rump is pretty flat
Has depth
Feminine head
Shoulders blend nicely into barrel
Strong pasterns
Level top line
Strong chine

CONS
Rump is short
Lacks length of body
Neck could be better blended into shoulders
Might toe out, but I can't tell for sure
Lacks brisket
Could stand to "walk uphill" more (shoulders highest then withers)

All in all I think she's pretty nice, and some of the cons she might grow out of, like depth of body. It's hard to tell how she'll mature. She definitely has better conformation than my does, lol. Don't tell them that, though, lol. They are good producers.:)
It'll be interesting to see her udder when she in milk.
I've got to go to bed now, g'night!
 
#14 ·
Over all not a bad doe. What strikes me first is that her rear legs are postie (straighter) which in turn is making her rear end taller then her front. Which in turn wrecking her top line. Instead of being up hill towards the front, she is looking up hill towards the back. BUT, kids of this age typically go through growth spurts that leaves them looking just like this. Id re evaluate in 6 months to see if she has grown into her butt :)
 
#15 · (Edited)
*sniffle* Oh Sarah, you're learning so much :ROFL: You're getting much better at this :) :thumbup:

Cons:
Rump is a bit steep
Needs more brisket
Shoulders are a bit sharp
Neck needs to blend just a tad more into the withers
Neck needs to blend more into the brisket
She lacks power and width in the front end assembly
Neck needs a tad more length too
Looks to have some toe out
Hips are a tad higher than withers when not set up, she needs a more uphill stature, could be due to her still growing though
Needs just a bit more body length
And I would like to see the chest floor blend into the girth with more, so there could be a nice blended look well into the barrel

Pros:
Has a decent amount of depth throughout
Nice amount of capacity
Strong pasturns, especially in the rear
Thurls look nice
Correct bite
Looks to have a nice spring of rib
Nice long bone pattern
Strong topline
Strength in the chine
Nice angulation in the rear legs when set, her growth is whats most likely causing the rear end hight issue
Nice straight front legs
Femininity
Dairy character
Does have a decent length rump, but I would prefer it to be longer

I'd like to see some rear and front pics so I can judge her width, escutcheon, hips, pins, leg set, etc.

Over all nice doe, I'd like to see her udder when she freshens.
 
#17 ·
Royal risk was an awesome buck, I LOVE his daughters, I'm trying to find somebody that sells straws from his so I can use him AI. All my alpines except for Clarice and Gracie have royal risk on their pedigree :)

Ok, so shes,
Has nice width in the front and rear
Does not appear to toe out
Does have a nice spring of rib
Shoulders are nice and flat to the body
Nice width of the pins

She does need a bit more arch in the escutcheon, but it's not bad
Her hips are a bit narrow
 
#18 ·
*sniffle* Oh Sarah, you're learning so much :ROFL: You're getting much better at this :) :thumbup:
:ROFL: hahaha, lol! Yay!! I wasn't sure if I got anything right. :D

I wanted to say the shoulders were sharp, but I didn't want to put too many cons. :p
I didn't think her rump was steep, but I just can't get used to how flat they're supposed to be. My does have such steep rumps, and I always used to think that was a good thing, lol, so it's taking me a while to make my brain remember that it's NOT. :)
 
#19 ·
Haha, I know, I feel bad when the cons start be be more than the pros, even though some are just little thing things I'm being picky about, it makes it look worse.

Steep rumps are not anatomically correct, remember that! Lol

But just to bring up Royal Risk again, this is one of his daughters. Loved that doe!
 

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#23 ·
Is that you in the pic? I've always wondered... Not how I picture you at all. :)
She IS a really pretty doe, not to mention amazingly well comformed!
Haha, no that's my friend. Hmm.....how do you picture me? :ROFL:
 
#24 ·
Thank You! I was expecting it to be $500-600 a straw to tell you the truth. I mean he's only been dead for about 20 years! I'm used to $100 per straw, it's well worth it to get a kid from those bucks though!
A tad off topic but we have a nubian doe whos grandfather has been dead for 35 years. He was born in 71 and died at like 6 or something real close to that age.
 
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