Leafhopper Farm’s stud services are listed in this year’s American Dairy Goat Association Member’s Directory. A special thanks to Hawthorn Farm for selling me Brockstaro, a great pure bread Nigerian Dwarf buck! Brock is “*D” listed, meaning he is purebred Nigerian Dwarf stock. He’ll be continuing to breed my two Boer does as we work to bring better milking and smaller frame to our farm goats.
In learning more about breeding goats, it has come to my attention that any goats born of my Nigerian Dwarf buck and AmericanBoer does cannot be registered by the ADGA, as they do not recognize Boer breed stock in their milkers. This does challenge my plan to register my goats, and here’s something important to note- in the dairy world, the dame and sire both have to be milking breeds. In the meat world, only the bucks really matter to register. So, because I have a male Nigerian Dwarf and a female American Boer, neither registry will accept the kids I’m breeding. So?
Well, if I cared more about papers, it would mean my goats can’t be registered, so they can’t show, compete, or hold any fancy titles in a herd book. They are not worth much money if I sell, and as “mutts” the genes are not predictable. Luckily, I’m not in this for the prizes and registry, I’m interested in taking my Boer doe’s great milk production, and putting that with the small frame of a milking breed to see what comes out. Gamble, our only kid doe this year, is the first experimental product of these genetics, and I hope she remains small like her dad, with the bag of a great milker like her dame, and the genetics of her dairy goat sire to boot. The ADGA has an “experimental” title in their registry, but absolutely no Boer genetics can come in, the goat has to be of milking stock.
To me, this seems very short sighted, as a good milk bag on a goat from a breed not often introduced, would bring in some fresh genetic material. People argue that bringing in outside genes can harm lines long term. I would make the same argument for inbreeding. The outcome will tell as we take on the experiment here at Leafhopper Farm. I plan to acquire a Nigerian Dwarf doe to open the door of registry in future. However, I’m very excited about my mix of goat genes, and the potential of creating my own unique herd of Leafhopper Farm goats born and bred on site, with great temperament, manageable size, and reasonable milk production for farm use.
If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go milk my doe for a bit of liquid fresh pasture sun!
EEC Forest Stewardship 