Evaluating and Selecting Your Dairy Goat Keeper Kids

[@melissajean6043]

Really excellent content. Thank you! I wish I could send you video of my kids pairs and have you evaluate. 😂

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

If only it was that easy! There are many things you can only evaluate by putting your hands on the kids. I also like to watch them over time as they run around and play. If you put your observer’s hat on you can notice the small things “e.g. she’s wider between the hocks, his legs sit more squarely under his shoulders, etc.” Best of luck picking your keepers!

[@homestatzfarmher8919]

This was great! Thanks for the fabulous tutorial! So hard to evaluate the kids, but your pointers help tremendously!

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

It's definitely not an easy task, but hopefully this points you in the right direction.

[@crowdenfarms3344]

I loved this! I'm very new to this and just started my herd. I have one doe that needs more width but amazing angulation, one that's posty but has that width. Hopefully I can combine and make amazing kids!

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

I'm so glad it was helpful! Yes, that's the whole game of breeding. Trying to bring forth your best qualities and improve with each generation. The work never ends!

[@conniekreider6014]

Thank you!

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

You're very welcome! I hope it was helpful.

[@kimberlyneudorf2276]

This is such a helpful video! Do you also base choosing to keep kid does or bucks based on their mother's udder? We just had twins and the mom's udder teat placement is probably more of a 5. Unless something changes over the next week. She's a first time freshener. The kids (doe and buck) did a good job of finally finding those teats! And they are gaining 6 oz a day so far (today is the 4th day). Does teat placement pass through from mother to doe or from the buck from his mother? Also, any books you recommend on how to grow a good dairy herd? We at least started with a registered purebred herd from an award winning breeder - so we have that base at least. I've got 2 bucks and 4 does and I'm trying to figure out who to breed with who. Of course trying to decide if we keep this doe and who would we breed her with? We know nothing about this and I want to do it right and I really have to figure out how to price the kids as well because it is true - we can't keep them all. There are so many options! Thanks.

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

Good and big questions! Teat placement is influenced by both sides of the pedigree, so if you have too wide of teat placement on your doe, it's important to breed her to a buck whose dam has excellent teat placement, in hopes of improving the offspring (not a guarantee you'll get it in all of the kids, you may get it in some of the kids). Some people will keep the kid and move on the doe, others will sell the doe and keep none of her progeny. If you have the space, it might be nice to grow out the kids and see if they are an improvement over the dam. I don't know of a good book to recommend (maybe I should write one 😄), but if you're raising registered stock, I highly recommend participating in (or even just observing) a Linear Appraisal session or AGS Classification to improve your knowledge on dairy goat conformation. But simply put, you want to use a buck who will improve the weak areas in your does.

[@kimberlyneudorf2276]

@@twinpeartutorials8840 Ok, thanks! And yes, you should write a book!

[@goldfireplays3283]

How do you choose a kid? if each kid are different and better in some trait and aspect then one another.

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

It depends on your goals! Each of us are looking for different qualities. I would focus on the traits that are most closely attached to your herd goals. I'm looking for a goat I know has correct structure that will stand out in the show ring and gain high linear appraisal scores. So I'm not going to keep a kid that toes out, has tight ribbing, or a very steep rump. For me, I'm going to keep a kid that most closely fits "breed standard." What I'm looking for might also change year to year!

[@TexasGoatlover]

If toeing out was the only flaw on a buck and he passed that to his kids..would you move him on?

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

That is a great question! I've had bucks who toe out and never pass it onto kids, and bucks that throw toed-out kids nearly 100% of the time. Because one buck represents 50% of your herd, if he's throwing consistently toed-out kids you will soon have an entire herd of toed-out does. Once it's in your herd, it will be hard to get back out. If this flaw is already present throughout your herd, maybe it's not a big deal, but for me I don't want to add a problem that wasn't there before. That's just my personal opinion! I have very high expectations for my bucks.

[@TexasGoatlover]

Thank you for the reply!

[@siobhanlint3176]

Which kid did you choose?

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

Initially I was keeping the doeling with extensive white, but ended up selling her as a pair with her sister so they could stay together. They're doing great in their new herd!

[@rockingcranch13]

What age is the beat to evaluate kids? 🐐

[@twinpeartutorials8840]

Sorry for the delayed reply! I typically evaluate as they're coming out (looking at things like muzzle and length, comparing to siblings), at 3 days old (when they have their "land legs"), 3 weeks old and often make a last kid cull at/around breeding age, 7-9 months old (if big enough). We sell a lot of our kids, so I have to make decisions quickly. I often choose my keepers within the first week of life and contact those on my reservation list with what's available thereafter. Kids will go through very awkward stages between 3-6 months old (plus or minus) and I've made very bad cull decisions during this period. Nice kids often go to ugly ducks in this period and then back to swans at breeding age.

[@rockingcranch13]

@@twinpeartutorials8840 thank you, that is very helpful

[@hannahmiller3090]

Super helpful information- thanks for the video!