Update March 1, 2023

I am having to completely remake my website, so please bear with me if something doesn’t work. I’m doing it as fast as I can between work, kids, and the herd.

Update January 16, 2023
Well, I bit the bullet, and signed up for milk testing and Linear Appraisal both.  We’ll see about timing for LA, hopefully it’s in June or July, so I don’t have to keep all of my does in milk through the entire summer, and can just focus on the ones I want. I also signed up as an ADGA Plus herd, so I’ll get the DNA for my last couple boys that need it on file.

Update October 19, 2022
I really value the information we get from Linear Appraisal, and am hoping to participate in it again next year, but with the changes at ADGA and how up in the air everything is, I’m not counting on it.  So, with that in mind, I decided to go ahead and do milk test once again.  It is a big commitment, but since I am not able to attend many shows, and can’t guarantee linear appraisal, it’s the only way I can help my girls put their best hoof forward at this point.  As I did the last time we did milk test, I will be focusing on a few, and planning to dry up others to keep it to an amount that we are able to handle.  With that in mind, we are breeding several for March kidding, and the rest will be in April/May.

Update July 12, 2022
It’s official!  We got the letter in the mail yesterday from ADGA showing official milk stars earned for 12 of our girls.  5 of those are in all 3 categories, the other 7 in only butterfat and/or protein, but I never planned to try for full stars for everyone.  Truthfully, I cried a few happy tears seeing that the work we put in wasn’t in vain.

Update Dec 2021
We were lucky enough to be one of the herds that was able to have Linear Appraisal completed in 2021.  It was great to get those scores, some were higher than expected, others were a little disappointing.  Some of our older girls who had previously scored high were freshened in February, so by the time appraisal happened in August, after a very hot summer filled with long stretches over 100 degrees, they were not in their prime, so dropped a little.  We also participated in milk test.  We knew from the beginning we would not keep all of the does on test the whole time, it was simply too much on top of everything else we had going on.  So, we had several who milked sufficient butterfat to earn stars there, before we dried them off.  And we have a few who have/soon will meet requirements in all 3 categories.  I’m hopeful that once ADGA gets their software straightened out and everything gets inputted that we will also see some more Superior Genetics awards.  As for the coming year: ADGA has already announced that those who were appraised in 2021 will be bottom of the list for 2022, so that is off the list.  As well, I recently started a new job that will make doing milk test extremely difficult.  So, I think we will keep it limited to just fair, and maybe one or 2 sanctioned shows.

Update Dec 2020
We were scheduled to do Linear Appraisal for the 3rd year in a row, however the craziness that is 2020 put a stop to that.  We are hopeful it will happen in 2021.  Also, for 2021 we are going to make a 2nd attempt at doing milk test.  Everyone I’ve talked to has said that you get much better results if your does freshen earlier in the year, so they aren’t hitting their peak as it gets hot and production naturally goes down.  I am not up to having all of my does freshen in January or February, and milking 20+ in the freezing cold, however.  So, my plan is to freshen 5-6 does in February, and the remainder in April/May.  All, of course, will be on test, however the February does will be the ones I focus on keeping on test, and the others will be dried up after Linear Appraisal and shows are done.  This is the only way I can come up with that is feasible for me with my work/kids/home/goat/life schedule.

Update Nov 2019
In 2018 we participated in Linear Appraisal for the 2nd time, and milk test for the first time.  We learned a lot, and though we didn’t have as many of our girls get milk stars as I had hoped, I know that it was in large part on me, and not them.  Still, we had 3 does receive their Superior Genetics awards in 2018, and once we send in our dry sheets for milk test we will have 2 that earned stars.  In 2019 we attended the ADGA National Show in Redmond, OR, so decided not to participate in milk test this year.  We did do Linear Appraisal again, and are thrilled with having 2 of our home bred girls get VEEE90 scores!