# My Milkers...



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

I've shared pictures of my doelings and yearlings in previous posts... Here are some of my milking does (Listed oldest to youngest). I have 4 more does, but don't have updated pictures of them yet.

Arthur - almost 7 years old









Misty, 5 year old 4th freshening:































Windy 4 year old 3rd freshening:































Raisin 3 year old 2nd freshening:































Zephyr 1st freshening 2 year old (I know her legs shouldn't be so far apart in the rear shot, but that's just how she wanted to stand!):






































As always, any comments would be welcome!!!


----------



## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I really like Arthur and Zephyr too. :thumbup:


----------



## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

I like Arthur best but they're all very nice!


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I really like the fact that they all have "nice handles"....and Zephyr really shows promise...I think I like Windy best though...she has a good medial with nice "balance", Raisen has nice large teats but the one looks "outward pointing" may be the angle of the pic though. 

Is it common when breeding mini nubians to always get the does with larger teats? Of course that's one of the reasons to breed them for, but I was just wondering if they all came with the bigger teats and lop ears, or if some had nigi teats and ears?


----------



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thanks everyone!

Oh, they can come with Nigerian teats and ears alright! It is the breeding to get them with the nice long teats and ears. Arthur has more of the ND sized teats. They aren't too bad, but the other girls are a lot easier to milk even though Arthur gives more (she gives nearly a gallon a day!!!). Windy is Zephyr's dam and Misty is Raisin's dam. I love the teats on Windy and Zephyr. Misty and Raisin are both easy to milk, but their teats are a little more bulbous than Windy and Zephyr. Oh, and Raisin's teat doesn't turn out like the picture makes it look. It might a little, but not that much.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I always like to get an unbiased opinion on them - I'm always critiquing them and sometimes I wonder what I miss!


----------



## FarmGirl18 (Oct 5, 2007)

They are all really pretty Eliya!! I think Zephyr would have to be my favorite.


----------



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thanks Bethany!


----------



## Dover Farms (Oct 16, 2007)

I really like Zephyr and Arthur. I like how Arthur is holding up. To me...Zephyr looks the most like a Nubian and she shows a lot of promise.


----------



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

I can't really pick a favorite myself. 
Here are some pictures of their kids:
Arthur's kids from this year (twins - buck and doe):































Misty's kids (triplet bucks):





















































Windy's kids (triplets - 2 does and one buck):















See more pictures of the above doeling on http://thegoatspot.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4172&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=0































Raisin's kids (triplets - one doe, 2 bucks):














































Zephyr (single buckling):


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

They all have had some gorgeous kids!! I would be so undecided on selling any of them....I tend to get attached. :hug:


----------



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thanks. 


liz said:


> I would be so undecided on selling any of them....I tend to get attached. :hug:


Me too. It's always tough. I had 28 kids born this spring but I managed to only keep 3 kids. One from Windy, and the other two were from does not pictured here (Molly and Rosebud).


----------



## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

Indecisive????? :ROFL: I had 33 kids born and kept 11.  Did I mention I'm indecisive too? Haha Truly I wanted a couple from each of my bucks.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Ashley, thats a herd in itself!! I can't imagine having the number of kids the 2 of you have had...my goodness my highest was 9! And I have only kept 3 kids in 7 years! Guess I'm a bit more "reserved" in the retaining area :ROFL:


----------



## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

Hehe yes that's a lot of babies. I am downsizing my main herd some now as it is and will have several juniors this year that won't mature enough to kid out in the spring so our kidding schedule in the spring should be smaller. Can't say the numbers will be any less considering you never know what they're going to have.  Sorry for hijacking your thread! I have been to your site and like the animals you've chosen to retain. I wish I could be more picky on mine in order to not keep so many.


----------



## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I retained 4 kids this year. I might sell one of them though. I am going to retaine TONS next year as I want to see what my bucks are doing for my herd.

Those are such cute little babies!!!


----------



## capriola-nd (Jul 6, 2008)

We didn't really retain kids when we raised pygmies, we kept one doe and a wether in two years of breeding. 
But with the Nigerians, we plan on keeping more. So far, we've kept two babies (although I have people begging me for the little chammy doe!) she's still staying.  We will probably retain a couple more this year. I want to see what our buck's are doing for our herd as well.


----------



## capriola-nd (Jul 6, 2008)

I forgot to say who I "voted" for. I like Arthur the best, although Zephyr is second best.  Beautiful does and gorgeous kids you have, LOVE the crazy colors!


----------



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thanks again everyone. I've been really happy with them.

SGM, don't worry, I didn't feel like you hi-jacked the thread.  It sure is hard to determine who to keep. I just didn't have enough doe kids born this year (I even had to return one deposit on a doeling), so I just kept the absolute best. I knew I wanted a kid from Molly X Jasper and she had triplet does so I got to pick the best of her kids and kept Sapphire. Then I'd always wanted a buckskin MiniNubian doe and when Trillium was born, she had all the best conformation traits of both her parents, plus she was a gorgeous light buckskin! With Summer, she had the breed character I wanted as well as being one of the only daughters from her sire (we lost him after he bred Summer's dam, Windy), so of course I had to keep Summer.

Next year it is going to be even harder, I'm going to want to keep all of them!!! :GAAH:


----------



## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

I like Zephyr the best, the has the most promise of the whole group. Arthur looks nice also  Your kids are beautiful!

Out of 30some kids born in the dairy herd this year(most were bucks) we only retained 4 does, but then we bought another 3 does sooooooooooo................

Next year is going to be really hard for me to decide who to keep and who to sell. If I kept a doe out of every goat that I really wanted to, I'd end up with around 10 doe kids


----------



## artsy_farmgirl (Mar 1, 2008)

All of your goats are lovely, but I voted for Windy. She has a particularly nice udder for a mini nubian I think, and Zephyr looks fabulous for a first freshener so it was a tossup between the two of them. I really like Arthur also, she's in great shape for her age, but I went with the one that looked like the one who would be the nicest to milk... Thanks for sharing, great pictures!


----------



## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

I have that clause on my site too just in case I end up wanting to keep a kid too.

I've had several kids people have wanted. One of the biggest ones is Revelation, the only buckling we kept this year. I just head them off before they get to thinking there's a possibility and say he's not leaving. Haha 

I'm curious of seeing how the teats and milking differs from Nigerians to Lamanchas and then Mini-Manchas. I have some Nigerians who are super easy to milk. I haven't milked a standard thus far though, so it'll be interesting.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Well, Ashley....there will definately be something more to hold onto :wink:


----------



## goatiegurl*Oh (Nov 11, 2007)

I really like your goats!  I like Zephyr the best of the does,and my faveorite kids are the first two,and then Zephyrs buck and the clipped one. :wink:


----------



## farmgirls (Jul 28, 2008)

I really like both Arthur and Zephyr. I have to go with Arthur though because of her age. She is 7 years old and holding up very well. I love all your does and their kids!
~Bethany~


----------



## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thanks everyone. It has been very interesting to read all the opinions and thoughts. It's always nice to hear what other people think of the goats.


----------

