The 2021 ADGA Elite Doe List has been released and these girls from our herd once again are on it for the second year in a row: Tempo HT Jasper and Sweet Deseret’s SFM Heckofa. Does designated Elite are in the top 5% of their breed nationally, an incredible accomplishment !!
September marks our farm’s 5th anniversary and keeping with tradition, we always capture the highs and lows experienced in our yearly anniversary posting. While 2020 was an extremely strange year, 2021 showed remarkable recovery. Shows were no longer cancelled due to COVID and a limited number of LA Appraisals were conducted across the country, sadly we were not fortunate to have a scheduled appraisal, missing our second year in a row. Appraisals provide critical data we use in our breeding program and herd growth, maybe next year.
Our herd continues to mature from a few bottle babies that jump-started us back in 2016 to a herd size of ~35 today. This past year was our largest breeding program to-date, producing 53 kids and the second year in a row we didn’t have a “buck dominant” year – 22 doe kids, 31 buck kids born. We were able to retain 11 doe kids for our herd expansion and are really excited at their development, to-date. Another exciting addition is our new herd sire we acquired from Cindy Silva at Rockin-CB, Rockin-CB KMM Naga. Naga’s pedigree is staggering starting with his dam, SGCH Rockin-CB RZ Haiku, the 2021 National Grand Champion and his sire, *B Kastdemur’s Modern Man from the 2019 National Reserve Grand Champion, SGCH Kastdemur’s Vintage. We cannot wait to leverage Naga in our breeding program.
In 2021 we focused heavily showing our juniors vs. milkers to help gauge their development and we were not disappointed with the results. We participated in 6 sanctioned shows including the Syringa (Boise), Cache Valley (Logan, UT), BDGA (Hamilton, MT), Montana State Fair (Great Falls), Union County Fair (LaGrande, OR) and the Twin Falls Fair (Filer, ID). Our results included 30 class wins, 9 Grand Champions, 9 Reserve Grand Champions, and 3 Best in Show.
Sadly the accomplishments did not come without setbacks. In June we lost 2 of our best senior does, Lucky*Star’s TD Kadara and Huricane-PM Golden Sai, both to a rapid and consuming case of mastitis. Kadara’s year started off with a bang when she milked 15# on her first milk test. Similar to Kadara, Sai, a first freshener had an outstanding junior show season and we anticipated strong show results as a senior, sadly that was not to be. We are fortunate that both does provided us with a doe kid we’ve retained to carry on the genetics. Kadara blessed us with DeLuna Mirabel who managed to secure her championship dry leg at the Syringa show and Sai blessed us with DeLuna Naimah who had a Grand Championship placing at the Twin Falls Fair. We are hopeful these girls will carry on their dam’s legacies.
Next month kicks off our annual breeding program with 23 does slated for breeding, 8 of those being first fresheners. It will be another crazy March and April as kids begin to arrive and inhale milk from lambar buckets as quickly as they’re filled. Fortunately we get a few down months in the winter to rest and re-charge before the crazy season starts up again.
We are fortunate and thankful in so many ways for all the friends and mentors we’ve made along the way. Without their support, we’d never have made it this far. Onward to year #6.
Now available for review: http://box5217.temp.domains/~delunaac/sales/lamancha-breeding-list/
Entire herd tested clean again this year !!! Attached are test results from the Idaho State Lab along with the Inhibition % for each tested animal.
Today we confirmed our last doe via ultrasound as being bred. We are now less than 2 months away from the start of kidding season with 19 does bred of which 9 are first fresheners (FF). Our complete breeding list can be found here: http://box5217.temp.domains/~delunaac/sales/lamancha-breeding-list/
The December 2020 ADGA Elite Doe list has just been released and so excited to see Jasper, Heckofa and Kadara on the list again. Even more thrilled to see Kadara moving up from the 95th percentile on the last report to 98th percentile this time around. !!!! Now the fun begins attempting to dry them up for winter and breeding season.
September marks our 4th anniversary. To say this has been a strange year would be an understatement. COVID impacted us in so many ways including the cancellation of almost all shows as well as the annual ADGA Linear Appraisal program. Despite setbacks, all in all it was a great year for us. I always use this annual milestone as a look back and reflect on the accomplishments at our farm.
Our young herd have matured from a few bottle babies that jump-started us back in 2016 to a herd size of 40 today. This past year was our largest breeding program to-date, producing 51 kids and surprisingly a not so “buck kid” year as we’ve experienced in years past – 23 doe kids, 28 buck kids born. We finally reached a point where we’re able to retain kids for our future herd and we couldn’t be more excited.
This year we were fortunate to participate in a restricted show schedule that included 3 shows: BDGA in Hamilton, MT, Cache Valley in Logan, UT and Hell’s Canyon in Lewiston, ID. Our juniors were the primary focus for our program this year and they did not disappoint. At the Hamilton show, Hurricane-PM Golden Sai went RCH in the Dry Yearling Class. At the Logan show, Sai stepped it up taking GCH in the Dry Yearling Class and earning her dry leg. At the Lewiston show, Rockin-CB VVJ Lizzie went RCH in the Dry Yearling Class among some of the strongest competition in the PNW. It’s always exciting to obtain such strong results from our yearlings, knowing they are the future of of herd. Our breeding program for this coming year includes 6 yearlings and we’re super excited to see how they develop as milkers.
On the senior side, we continue to be amazed at our younger, senior does. In August we were notified by ADGA that 3 of our senior does achieved Elite status (awarded to the top 5% in every breed). Kadara and Jasper earned Elite status as 2 year olds, and Heckofa earned it as a 3 year old. We now have 4 does in our herd that have reached this significant milestone. Heckofa didn’t stop there, she also was awarded her Superior Genetics (SG) designation which is a pinnace of accomplishment for milking does. We now have 5 does in our herd that have achieved the lifetime SG designation.
Next month (October) kicks off our annual breeding program with 20 does slated for breeding, 6 of those as First Fresheners (FF). It will be another busy, crazy March and April as does begin to kid and kids inhale milk from lambar buckets as quickly as they’re filled. Fortunately we get a few down months in the winter to rest and re-charge before the crazy season starts up again.
We are fortunate and thankful in so many ways for all the great friends and mentors we’ve made along the way. Without their support, we’d never have made it this far. We’ve learned that the goat industry is a very tight knit group, always willing to help, especially in times of need such as what many breeders are currently going through with the west coast fires. We pray for the well being of all and hope 2021 brings us better times. Onward to year #5 !!!
Our breeding list for next year is now final and available for review: http://box5217.temp.domains/~delunaac/sales/lamancha-breeding-list/
Today we received exciting news from ADGA that three of our seniors does have achieved Elite Status:
Lucky*Star’s TD Kadara
Tempo HT Jasper
Sweet Deseret’s SFM Heckofa
So exciting to see Kadara and Jasper making this list as 2 year old first fresheners. Heckofa’s achievement did not stop with the Elite Status recognition. She also was awarded the Superior Genetics (SG) designation. An incredible attainment for an incredible doe.
Just finished our annual TB, Brucellosis and CAE testing and are excited to announce our herd maintains its clean track record. We continue to practice strict bio-security at the farm and shows to maintain our meticulous focus on disease prevention.