Monday, September 19, 2016

RESULTS: Final Shows of the season!

Linear Appraisal:

We really enjoyed Linear Appraisal. This was our first year doing it, and it was very educational. Basically, the goats were measured and appraised on a number scale using various categories of the goats body and traits the goat carries. It has helped us determine which buck to use and which doe, to bring out the traits we most want in our herd. Our does and bucks did very well at LA this year, especially considering their age! Their overall scores are as follows:

                                                    General Appearance- Dairy Strength- Body- Mammary- Final score
4*M Bramblestone PAL Pearl Tea         V                             E                  V            E                88
Bramblestone PAL Ruby                        V                             V                  E            V                87
Sans Genes Princess Buttercup              +                             V                  +             +                83
Rakkasan Ranch Apache                        V                             V                  E         N/A               88
Bramblestone Tahoma Quinn                V                             V                  V         N/A                86


Western Idaho Fair:

This was an exciting show for our senior does! Our Ruby won her first championship leg as a 4 year old. She got Grand Champion Senior Doe, then went into the Championship Challenge and won Best Of Breed! Pearl won Reserve Grand Champion, Best Udder of Breed, and was the star milker of the One day milking competition with a total of 12 points and 4 pounds of milk! 


Twin Falls Fair:

Rakkasan Ranch celebrated Pearl receiving her 3rd Championship leg! This qualifies her as a Permanent Champion and will give her a Champion designation to her name. Pearl also received Best of Breed in the Championship Challenge, and won Best Udder of Breed, and Best Udder of Show! This is not an easy award to get, because Nigerian Dwarfs have to compete against all other large breed goats to win the Best Udder of Show.  All the goats did well and were proud of the Rakkasan Ranch goat girls. 





Colorado Dairy Goat Association Fall Festival:

The Fall Festival was a great show! Pearl received her 4th Championship leg, which is given to the Reserve Grand Champion, because once a goat gets three they are considered a Permanent Champion.  The good news is Ruby got Reserve Grand Champion! So now Ruby has her 2nd Championship leg!  Black Pearl, Pearls Daughter, received Grand Champion Junior Doe, earning her first championship leg!The judge commented that Black Pearl looked just like a miniature version of an adult doe, with a long neck and angular body. 

Ruby and Pearl in the Championship line up.

Black Pearl winning Grand Champion Junior Doe

Utah State Fair:

The Utah State Fair was our final show for the year. We had a hard time understanding what the judge expected from the goats. We came to the conclusion he was most concerned with the goat's pasterns. He judged a lot on how they looked when they walked and how light they were on their feet. It is respectable for a judge to favor certain parts of a goat, but we thought it was interesting he gave most of his scoring to this category. We agreed we will not travel to a show where he will be judging again. :) He had his opinions, and we have ours. We believe that a show should be judged similarly to linear appraisal scoring. We did get another Grand Champion Junior Doe for Black Pearl, but since she already has her restricted leg, it went to the Reserve Grand Champion Junior Doe. We met some great breeders, made new friends, and had a good time at the Fair! 

Autumn on the Ranch:

We are excited to be settled at home and start the breeding season. Before we begin, we give our girls BoSe and Copper Bolus to ensure their bodies are healthy and have all the vitamins needed to carry their kids successfully. We are still in the planning phase of our new barn and hope to get the framing up before Halloween. It will have 10 stalls, with 4 different pastures for the does, a milking parlor, and hay storage above. The bucks have their own barn, which is so nice and keeps their seasonal smells to a minimum. We also have 3 heifer cows going to the butcher so our freezer will be full of delicious grass-fed beef. Our turkeys are also almost ready for butcher, along with 10 more roosters. Im confident we will have enough meat to provide for us for quite some time. We will start freezing milk soon, to supplement us during the 2 month break we give our milking girls before they have babies.  Now is the time we take inventory, update our medicine cabinet, buy our haystacks and feed, and prepare our schedules for early spring kids!