After slipping in the mud going down a slight incline last week and injuring my ankle pretty seriously, I have been slapped into reality that hubby and I cannot take care of this many animals if both of us can't pull our weight.  Poor hubby is doing almost everything as I cannot carry a bucket of feed since my ankle can't take the extra weight.  I CAN milk so that is good. Although hubby has to take some of the does off the stand so they don't drag me across the milk room. 

A rainy stormy day was perfect for updating my website so I can list the does that I am not willing to part with but I have to.  Pictures aren't so great as I had to go through my collection and just pick out the best from the pasture scenes for most. Bred LaMancha first fresheners are the first on the block.  Not a thing wrong with any of these does but I cannot freshen 40 does this year and the LaManchas outnumber the rest of the breeds almost three to one. If you look at my 2016 Breeding Schedule you will see the does for sale as well as prices.  

​If they don't sell, they will just kid here and join the milk string or maybe find a home as a family milker. 

Three wethers went to the sale barn this morning so the herd is down to a total of 80.  Two more will be going to a family member in South Dakota when hubby makes his yearly visit back to his home state so I feel confident I can say 78 now.  I have multiple breeds so I have broken them down by breed and sex.  I am not counting bucks as they are essential so I am going to concentrate on how to lower my doe population. I only have eight Alpines, three Toggs, six Experimentals, 16 Saanens BUT I HAVE 33 LAMANCHAS. I had over 30 does kid last year and it almost killed me.  I cannot do that again. 
There are options though.  I can skip breeding some of the older ones for a year.  This year they weren't part of the problem as that group had bucks and I let them raise them. I can wait until next year to breed the 2015 doelings but I did that last year and have 19 2014 yearlings that have to be bred this year. I had a doe year for two years straight with LaManchas and a doe year with Saanens this year too.
I hope they understand that being hateful isn't going to win them any points to stay here.  I have a couple in mind for a sale barn visit if they keep it up. Wish me luck.

In December 2010 I purchased a buck from Lynn Fleming out of the Lynnhaven herd in Pine Bush, NY. Why? Lynn was making a trip to Texas and was delivering goats along the way and since she was going to be within 50 miles of my house I decided to buy a buck. I purchased him strictly on pedigree and I must have made the right choice as I have had some wonderful offspring from him.

Last year his milking daughters earned him his + and this year he earned his SG status. He has two permanent champion daughters, GCH Whiteoak-Bend Cowgirl and CH Whiteoak-Bend TX Dotcom. Another daughter has two championship legs but freshened with mastitis this year so she may never earn that third leg, Whiteoak-Bend Chocolate Chip.  Chip's daughter placed sixth in her class at the 2014 National Show and is a mirror image of Chip.  I have high hopes for her in the show ring as a milker. I have six daughters that have earned their dry legs as juniors. Two of them freshened in 2014 and both won their class several times as a yearling milker.  They can only be better as two year old second fresheners.

I will be taking reservations for doelings sired by Tornado since I feel confident in his get. http://www.whiteoakbenddairygoats.com/2015-breeding-schedule.html

I probably spent more time getting Patty ready for appraisal than I did for the animals that I knew could score higher.  Patty is my high producer but not my "pretty" girl by any stretch of the imagination.  I clipped her and since she had been foundered before I got her, I used my new electric hoof knife and ground down her front hooves a little every few days until they were "almost" normal. Nothing I could do would disguise her twisted udder which she was coded for and rightly so.  Her udder texture is what I call coarse so I was not surprised she received an A in udder texture.  Patty's highpoints were E's in rear legs, back and rump and a V in head so Patty does have some good features. PAtty's final score was 78 and we were both happy with that.  

It has been 23 years since I finished a doe carrying my herd name.  Cowgirl earned her permanent status at the Heart of Oklahoma show in May 2014. She is a Lynnhaven KT A TX Tornado daughter and recently appraised 2 -05 88(+EVE). Cowgirl is on milk test and milked 12.6 pounds on her May test.

Pat Thornton and I traveled all the way to Sulphur, OK to the Arbuckle Classic Dairy Goat Show for one reason.  Pat wanted a chance for her doe to earn her third leg and thus her permanent championship. Mission accomplished   as Carnation earned her third leg in Ring# 1 and so was not shown in Ring #2.  Pat then had a surprise win with her 5 year old third freshener,  Texas-T Connoisseur's Zinnia for her first official leg.