# Our Mini Babies 2017



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

So happy with the kid crop this year-- going to keep some, sell some others-- the typical routine. Going to be tough letting any of them go! All are doelings (thank goodness!), and their dams udders are very nice too!

This is "Dawn*Star AK Delight"--'Dee-Dee'

















Her Mother's Udder 6 hours after kidding (1 1/2gallons from her left half, 1/2 gallon--from her right half! This doe did 2 gallons a day (between 2 milkings) in 2015--super productive family of goats...








Dawn*Star AK Radiance--''Rosy"









Her mothers Fore-- she regularly produces 1 full gallon a day
















"Dawn*Star CWH TupeloKiss"--Kiss is a very nice looking blue eyed buckskin with one white spot.
















Her dam is a FF, producing 1/2 gallon a day and feeding all these kids 2x daily!


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Very cute!


----------



## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

They are all gorgeous!


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Nice  That is awesome you got all doelings!


----------



## Summersun (Apr 24, 2014)

Gorgeous! Where are you located and what generation are they? I am in NM and would love another mini Lamancha. I have an F1 due soon (just started her udder). I hope she produces alot like your doe's


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

We are in Show Low Az. In the signature, there is a link (in blue) to our web page. We have lots of different animals to choose from on our Dairy Goat sales list.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If you are on the app, the signature is not seen.


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

Web link:
www.dawnstarranch.weebly.com


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

We are reducing the herd so that I only have to milk 4 goats 2x a day-- rather than 13... its amazing what a difference that makes!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Cute.


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

The white doeling(dee-dee)'s sister from a different breeding just freshened. So excited and happy for her new owners! She is a FF and producing a little over 1/2 gallon a day !


----------



## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Wow! I can't wait for my Nubians to start milking!


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

Two of the girls begging for love'n-- so cute!


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

LOVE our mini manchas! We are getting a little over 3 gallons a day from three little does ! And lots of cream to spare for cheese.....gotta stop drinking the milk and make some......


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

Got Milk!?


----------



## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Those sweet faces!


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Super cute!!!


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

They grow so fast......


----------



## capracreek (Apr 5, 2016)

DawnStar - do the regular LaManchas produce more cream or is it like the Nigerians (whiich is what I have)? I only have Nigerians for milking. I was excited to make butter since a pound now cost almost twice as much as a gallon of gas!!! It was a lot of work for very little results. Since I was only milking one goat I just could not justify buying a cream separator so I let it chill for a few days til I had some cream to scrape off. Any ideas??


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

Well...here's the scoop....
Every goat is different--and some family lines produce more cream than others.. I have worked with La Manchas, Mini La Manchas, and Nigerian Dwarfs for the better part of 7 years. I still have two full sized La Manchas-- we drown in milk thanks to these two, especially when the minis get going too! La Manchas on average can produce about 3% butterfat--Nigerians 4-7%

BUT with minis it depends on what bloodlines were used, if they are high butterfat(cream)or not. Minis therefore can produce anywhere from 3-7%. Our goats average between 4-6% because I was very selective on what animals I used to build my herd with (looking up production records for DHI on ADGA genetics helped a lot!).

We have on average 2-8 does in milk at a time, so for us a cream separator would be a God send! I honestly don't have the patience to skim (tried it a few times), so we just make cheese-- I make a soft cream cheese spread mostly for toast/sandwiches, then a ricotta for baking-- trying to get a root cellar put in so I can do hard cheeses next


----------



## capracreek (Apr 5, 2016)

Thank you! I should add that I have not milked my Nigerians yet. The goat we do milk is unregistered and I get about 1 1/2 C a day milking her once a day. I do not get much more if any when I tried milking her twice a day. This is my 2nd year to milk her.


----------



## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

Papers doesn't guarantee milk-- but if you have a papered goat that is not productive, at least you would know which crossed bloodlines YOU DONT want in your herd 

Age, nutrition, and a whole bunch of other factors (beside genetics) plays a role in milk production too... our Nigerians were very productive right out the gate, but I did a lot of research on the different farms around me, and into the bloodlines they were using. I didn't bring home my first Nigerians for about two years (I had to familiarize myself with the farms in the pedigrees, look at their animals, learn what to look for in a dairy goat, etc)..

I found a few people with animals that had the genetics I wanted, and asked if they wanted to sell those animals (lucky for me they did  )-- I kinda started out backwards though lol. I bought a buck (no-body wanted him because they were unfamiliar with his bloodlines), then I had to find does to compliment what he had in his background. The kids we produced blew the other farms away-- all of our FF doelings peaked at 6# (2qts) a day, and the grand daughters of our buck sold into other states appraised at 89-90VVVVE as 'young stock', and/or took RGCH and GCH titles at shows where classes were 40+ goats to boot. 

Our babies Rosie and Delight are from that buck-- it was really hard to sell our Nigerians this last year, but so many people raise them out here (registered or not), even if mine were good milkers it was hard to sell them for what they were worth. So just sticking to my minis for now on (plus the minis produce a lot more milk  ). 

My first goat a La Mancha..(she's still here).. had a very 'poor' first freshening udder. My fist was larger than her udder, and I was so disappointed I didn't milk her--I just let her doeling nurse..hoping she would wean her.. well, after a year I had to wean her! Then I bred her that fall, with the intention to sell her in milk. She freshened as a second freshener at 16# (2 gallons) a day! She slowed down to a gallon a day at about 200 days in milk--then we milked her for about 18 months. Since then she is our best doe, so I don't judge a goat based on their FF-- I WAIT until their third or fourth before I decide if they are worth keeping in the herd. 

This year though, going to have to sell her (the milker) if I want to continue moving forward with my minis-- she is registered NOA, which means her daughters have to be registered NOA as well, and I cant use any of her sons for breeding.. so, to move ahead--cant keep her for breeding, and I really don't need 'just a milker'. My herd needs to be self-sustaining i.e. they pay for themselves/ I need to be able to sell their offspring to buy all the hay I need for the rest of the year...so more tough choices on the way......


----------

