# Possible Herdsire Dam



## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

So I'm looking to get a herdsire from Craig Koopman(Pleasant Grove) and wanted your thoughts on this doe. I asked him for his recommendation after telling him what I was looking for and this was his top recommendation.
Pleasant Grove Frame Moodswing x Pleasant Grove Juan Marcos








This is a picture of Moodswing. She is a milking yearling. I feel like she is looking quite awkward in the picture but will probably mature and look much better. There are some gorgeous does in her pedigree. One thing I'm not fond of is her pasterns, they seem quite long and weak to me--would you be concerned with this. Any thoughts on her pros and cons would be appreciated.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

@Morning Star Farm


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

I think she’s a beautiful goat. Her chine and rump is pretty nice. Taller withers but nothing wrong with that.

I’d like a little more body capacity.

Pretty good brisket, hard to get s good look at her udder.

Her pasterns don’t bother me too much - but that’s mostly because a lot of those issues are just mineral related and fixable.

But I’m not too good at this so definitely trust what Morning Star Farm has to say!!


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

I did notice the selenium tail. Do you think that is why her pasterns appear weak?


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## Morning Star Farm (Sep 26, 2018)

Do you have any photos of her udder from the rear? I like her length and overall dairyness with a very nice brisket and decent body capacity for her age. She is level over the top line with good stature, biggest thing to me would be more levelness in her rump. From that picture I'd say she is a good doe to have a herdsire from, but I would ask for a picture of her rear udder.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

She looks like a really nice doe. You’re right, she’ll look less awkward as she matures. I agree, ask for a rear udder picture. Craig has gorgeous goats and likely knows what he’s talking about in recommending this one to you, but can’t hurt to see a rear udder pic anyway. 
The thing I don’t like about this doe is her head-a bit of a Roman nose going on there.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

Good catch! I didn't even notice the Roman nose before you pointed it out. In will ask Craig for a rear udder pic and post it once I receive it.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

This is a casual rear udder pic during milking of Moodswing.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

@Goat Whisperer


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Looks like a nice udder.


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## Morning Star Farm (Sep 26, 2018)

Very nice udder!! Great medial, attachment, capacity and height. Biggest thing that stands out to me is her teat placement. They should be more centered and not so close to her legs.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Really, really nice udder. I personally don’t worry about teat placement a ton, and teat placement will improve as the doe matures and freshens a few more times. She’s a yearling, and that a really nice udder.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

In your opinion, can you make money off of reg. dairy goats, or at least have them not be a money pit? My parents are skeptical of me putting that much money into buying a buck. Any advice?


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## mariella (Feb 23, 2017)

Put the money into him! A buck is Half your herd! If you put $400 into a buck and he throws 2 good bucklings that you sell for $200 each you just made your money back on your buck and you will get doelings from him as well so you can keep them or sell them and make 2X the money.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

Thank you! I'm trying to convince my mom why I want to put this much into a buck, so I can breed nice kids to sell for more, but she wants people that have done it to say this. I mean I understand why, but it is definitely getting a little frustrating.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Oliveoil said:


> In your opinion, can you make money off of reg. dairy goats, or at least have them not be a money pit? My parents are skeptical of me putting that much money into buying a buck. Any advice?


I don't necessarily make more money because my goats are registered, but high quality animals are high quality. Yes, you may spend more right now, but you can keep a buck for years if you don't keep his daughters, while producing quality stock for yourself or your buyers. It costs just as much to feed a poor quality animal and as high quality one, so you might as well spend a bit more in purchase and have the better animal. 
Registration doesn't mean high quality, but the goats in question in this thread are high quality.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Even though most of my buyers never do anything with registration, they value quality animals and know one when they see one.


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## Calistar (Jan 16, 2017)

Oliveoil said:


> In your opinion, can you make money off of reg. dairy goats, or at least have them not be a money pit?


Make money off of goats, that's a good one! If you figure out how, let me know!

That said, you should absolutely buy the best buck you can. Like Mariella said, a buck is half your herd and that's not the place you want to skimp! Also, if you're planning on selling any kids, registered is the way to go. Unregistered stock can be very nice, but if that's all you've got you're eliminating half of your market.

The dam's udder is very nice, especially for a first freshener. I don't think her pasterns look bad so much as her long dewclaws are making her look awkward.


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## NDinKY (Aug 3, 2019)

I think she’s beautiful and her udder looks great, especially for a first freshener. 

Investing in the highest quality buck you can afford is the way we’re going. We just spent way more than I ever thought we would, but he’s a very nice buck and I plan on using him for at least several years. It costs the same to feed a high quality animal as a low quality one, and your buck is half your herd.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

Do you think her rump could level out more with age? I personally have a doe that comes from lines that have very level rumps and she was very level as a kid, but this year she became fairly steep. I'm personally not worried about it though as I think she will level out as she matures(slow-maturing line). Do you think this could be the case with Moodswing? Her dam and sire's dam have very level rumps when looking at pictures or LA scores.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

I would not call Moodswing’s rump steep in the first place, but yes, she will likely get more level as she ages. That is more often the case than the kid you had that got steep as she ages.


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## Oliveoil (Sep 3, 2019)

Well, Moodswing had a buckling in late January!!! I"m super pumped for the possibilities this opens up for me, hoping he helps me get off on the right foot and really breeding dairy goats. I also decided to sell most of my current dairy animals last fall, so I am working on rebuilding with higher-quality Alpines. I also am purchasing a doe kid with this buckling. She isn't from a specifically reserved doe, and he has very few doe kids available at the moment; so I am waiting a couple of weeks to see what he has available from his next kidding group before going to pick them both up. Thrilled for the future of my herd and next year's kid crop!!


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