Would you keep him? honest opinions please - pics
 

OK - I would love to hear anyone's opinions on this little goat please - I know he is a bit too young to assess really, but he is 3 1/2 weeks old so I only have a couple of days left to band him. He was always meant to be going to freezer camp, but I keep looking at him and I think he may have the makings of a nice goat.

He is pure dairy (but mixed breeds) I can give all the details of his breeding if needed. There are a couple of downsides to keeping him, but for now I am just interested in hearing what people think kof him.

This is him on 8th May

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2137/...3771cd487d.jpg

and this is him this morning - we did try to take a photo of him from behind but couldn't get a shot of him standing straight

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/...a8de4bb4c3.jpg

Fire away - no need to be polite on this one ;-)

hoggie

Well if you keep goats for milk...and his mother milks well and so does his fathers mother then it doesnt matter what he looks like he will pass on the milk. Apart from that he is very cute. :)

Thanks Shazza - You've just hit on one of my problems - this is his mum's first year of kidding so I don't REALLY know how well she is going to milk. At the moment she is feeding her triplets (so I guess she must have a fair amount of milk) but soon I will be seperating them to milk her once a day and then will have a better idea of what she has. But obviously I can't wait until then to decide about him0

hoggie

no need to band him now. take some time.
i do not band my freezer bucks at all. very tasty even if a couple of month old ;)

Yes...as long as they arent doin thier stinky thing they do taste the same as wethers.
And all too often you know what will happen down the track....you will curse the day you banded him early as he was the does only son...or something like that. :)

How are his mother's and grandmother's udders? I personally have a thing for yellow goats and he is a nice, square, stocky little fellow. I would wait to geld him, it's the kind of thing you can always do later, but can't put'em back!

Susanne, Shazza - really? I thought they were supposed to taste bad if they weren't banded? How old do they need to be eaten by before they get "bad" tasting?

Thanks

hoggie

Otter - his mum's looks pretty good (although I am not particularly versed in judging them) his grandmothers' I don't know as they are both on another island.

hoggie

We find...as long as they havent served a doe they taste just like wethers do. We havent eaten a buck thats served...although we have eaten our bulls after they've fathered children and they have been the best tasting. :)

Ah - OK - sounds like I can put the bands back in teh cupboard for now. It gives me a bit more time to see how he shapes up then? I was a bit worried about the whole "can't sew 'em back on" thing

Thanks

hoggie

So you must post another pic of him in a months time so we can see him grow...ok!

While you can't band when he has grown larger... he could still be cut. Bad taste comes when they are in rut or have been run before butchering. I would keep him. Too bad you can't send him to me.

Shazza - thanks I will post pics of him again later :)

mama - I'm not sure he would get a visa ;)

hoggie

Oh wow does he have golden gurnesy in him? I see his dam behind him she looks like she's got the long golden locks. cool.. : )

The "golden locked beauty" in the background isn't his mum - although she is a Golden Guernsey and is the mum of the other kid in that picture.

He is 3/8 Golden Guernsey though :)

hoggie

I have banded at three months, no problems.

Keep
 

Nice strong legs, nice set to his shoulders. Width of body looks good. Topline is doable. Probably looks nicer if not all scrunched up. If dam is nursing triplets and doing well at it. Good. If used for breeding purely home milkers, I say keep him. He looks nice.

LOL zone - he was scrunched up - he did NOT want to stand still :D I have to say that having this one around is like living inside a pinball machine - you never know which wall he is going to bounce off next ;)

hoggie

I have a 5 week old wether like that. Very active. I think he spends more time in the air then on the ground.

I think he's handsome.. But I know nothing about judging goats.. :D

I band mt boys at around 8-10 weeks so yu have time to see what he will grow into. I thinks he is cute as ever but HEY, I thinks all goats are.
I know how hard it is to get them to stand, but I agree from the picture you can not tell what he looks like other then a sandwich :nana:

can you post pics of the rest of the family? siblings? etc. he is a bit hunched or bent in both pics so its hard to tell, to me he is to short in the loin area, i like a longer goat, more room to put on meat or cary kids and make milk, is he narrow or wide bilt from the front and back?

do you have a breeding buck already?

what is your goal, a meat or milk herd?

This is his mum, Nutmeg, in November

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...11-07_1035.jpg

And this is last spring

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...04-07_1518.jpg


Will just see if I still have any of his sisters on the computer

hoggie

this is another of Nutmeg last spring

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...04-07_1517.jpg

This is his dad - my famous "Ugly Duckling" Wilfred taken a couple of weeks ago (approx 11 months old)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/...b6658b7c28.jpg

hoggie

the dad has a short back as well, the doe isnt real long but not bad, but if she is produceing well i wouldnt worry bout it, but if you could get a buck with more dairy that would be good too

Yep - mum is producing enough. I have noticed that one of the girl triplets seems to be falling behind a bit and I think it is "smallest piglet" syndrome and she has just been getting less milk than her siblings. So last night I milked some off and gave her that in a bucket and it disappeared like magic LOL. So I will keep doing that for her - it's not that the milk isn't there, she just seems to lose the battle for a teat, and every time she starts to feed her siblings charge over and join in.

Mum is also milking off her back a lot, am having to battle to keep weight on her a bit, but I suppose that is maybe reasonable for a first-timer having triplets.

I will try and get photos of all three of them later - if they EVER stand still ;)

thanks again for all the help

hoggie

Nice doe!!!
I have a doe that had triplets this year also. The buckling started out larger and the smaller doelings always had to take turns getting milk...so the littlest one got behind on growing since she didn't get enough. I should have done it sooner, but at 7 weeks I took the buckling out and put him in with some other does and their buck kids...he took a bottle for a couple weeks and now he just snitches off them. Make sure your doelings get enough, they're worth more! ;-)

I just love Nutmeg. She is beautiful and has really grown up nice. What kind is dad?

Dad is 3/4 Golden Guernsey and 1/4 British Alpine

hoggie