My allergy medication is continuing to prove stronger than the goats. I ended the day with the tiniest touch of a headache, no runny nose, no sinus issues, and no rash. Ta-Da!
I sold four goats today: Ida, Clara, Bianca, and Bernard. I took a deposit for Dash. Ok, so you could say I sold five goats. If someone decides to buy Houston and Lerris tomorrow, then I'll be thrilled!
Junior Kid Buck (born March 1 or later) - Dash placed 5th out of 7 goats
Senior Kid Buck - Apollo placed 3rd and Houston placed 13th out of 13 goats.
Junior/Senior Kid Doe - Dot placed 11th and Orchid placed 12th out of 13 goats. (This was a combined class because there were only two jr. does.)
Red Card Kid Buck - Bernard placed 2nd out of 2. whee.
Red Card Kid Doe - Bianca placed 3rd and Hopper placed 5th out of 5 goats.
(Ida and Clara were sold and removed before the show, so they did not compete.)
The one real positive in all of this was that the judge had a lot of complementary things to say about Apollo, including how much he wanted to see Apollo next year, because he expected the kid to grow up into a "fine looking" yearling. The rest of my goats were not what he wanted to see in a fleece because they were so flyaway. The judge really stuck to a preference for specifically well-formed mohair ringlets on the goats, and ranked according to both large goats (yeah, the judge is from Texas) and consistent ringlets. This obvious preference and my low ranking in the score didn't go unnoticed by just about everyone. That bias became amusing when the judge's little stepson (maybe 6 years old?) declared to me at dinner that he liked the "cute little fuzzy goats" and asked me why I didn't get first place ribbons right in front of the judge. It was quite darling of the child, and hysterical timing. I tried to explain to him that everyone has a preference for different types of goats, and so long as the judge was consistent, that I shouldn't complain, because everyone has his/her own opinion about everything. I then asked the child about his food preferences and drew direct parallels there. It seemed to work, and the judge and his new wife definitely appreciated how I treated their son. The son was cute enough in that incredibly direct and blunt way that children can be. ::shrug:: Besides, I thought it was a good opportunity to let the child know that the judge wasn't a "bad guy" even to people who "lost" in the competition.
Other notes:
Try diaper rash cream on foot scald.
Fresh water really affects goat condition, especially when forage is poor in the late summer.
Cydectin is causing seizures in lambs. Watch the dosage.
Every bit of mohair has some kind of value. The issue is time trade off.
Check e-bay for walk-on scales. They are really falling in price.
Baseball season is worm-load season.
If you don't keep records, you'll be doing double the work and probably overdose your goats.
ETA: PHOTOS!
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Apollo at EAGMA 2009 Apollo took third place in a *large* senior buck kid class. I'm quite proud of him. |
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Bernard at EAGMA 2009 Bernard took second place in a small group of red card buck kids. |
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Bianca at EAGMA 2009 Bianca was enjoying the scritchers while we listened to the judge, Justin Stieler. |
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Dot and Orchid at EAGMA 2009 Dot and Orchid competed in the combined doe kid class. Dot took 11th, if I remember correctly... |
