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Wow! What a fall this has been!! I feel like I’ve been all over the place, yet I feel less stressed than I have in years. Things on the farm are going well, and I am starting into the last part of breeding season.

The wether does have been in with the buck since the end of August, and it looks like the majority are bred. Now I won’t know for sure until we pull blood for the BioPryn test, which will happen this week. I will be testing all of the percentage wether does, and those who are not bred will be given additional time with the buck. Everything will be pulled from the bucks on December 1, since I don’t want any babies born later than about May 1.

The fullblood does have been in with the bucks a month now, and should be bred as well. However, I won’t pull blood on them for pregnancy testing until the first to middle of December, as the does must be at least 30 days along to show bred on the blood test. I prefer to use the blood test instead of an ultrasound because of the cost, and because I haven’t had one be wrong yet. I’ve had ultrasounds be wrong. It’s easy for me to do on the farm, and I don’t have to haul the does anywhere and risk stressing them.

The Nubian and Alpine dairy bucks were turned in on October 13**, and will remain with the does until December 1 as well, except for the Nigerians, which will have until around Christmas, since I just turned in the Nigerian bucks with the does on Nov. 1. I prefer for my Nigerian babies to be born later, because it’s warmer and their chance of survival is higher. My only LaMancha doe will be bred off farm, and I used a CIDR and PG600 protocol for the first time ever to sync her heat cycle. I knew I would have to be out of town, and this allowed me to bring her into heat when it worked for me. Reproductive technology is so cool!

I will pull blood on the dairy goats and the fullblood Boers around Christmas and will check for pregnancy at that time. I will also send blood samples in for disease testing at that time, so I only have to pull blood once.

I am fairly confident that I have four of the seven alpacas bred, and will use the “spit test” this week to see if they took. Alpacas are induced ovulators, and if they are bred, they will spit at the male and will not allow him to breed. Fingers crossed! I will continued to work with the remaining three females to get them bred this fall.

On the pig front I have some exciting, but at the same time, sad news. I have made the decision to disperse my entire herd, except for my old gal, who will remain on the farm until her time to pass. Financially, the sows I have are not holding up their end of the bargain on the breeding contract, and their continued persistence on destroying everything has become very frustrating. So I will be completely selling out.

However, I am not getting of pigs. After some deliberation I have decided to purchase a couple of bred hogs this fall, and will farrow them on the farm. I expect to have two litters of pigs, so I will have no problem filling the orders that have already been committed. Once the sow is weaned, I will sell her, as well as all of the babies from the litter, unless I am keeping one back to feed. I will not be retaining any gilts.

Financially this strategy makes more sense, as I don’t like farrowing summer litters with the heat and flies, and summer litters are harder to sell. I won’t have to worry about sows overheating or turning over waterers in the summer, or rooting up entire fences when it rains. It will allow me to stay in the hog industry and be financially sound, which is important to the longevity of my business.

I am still taking reservations on Boer and dairy goats on a first come, first serve basis. I will take reservations on hogs up to 14, because I know I can guarantee that many. This next year will be an exciting year for Champion Livestock market animals!

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When it comes to breeding goats, my dairy herd is where I’ve really worked to gain more knowledge. Most of my background and training in college was in market animals, so my decision to get into dairy goats was a leap of faith head first into an industry I knew little about.

I’m no longer as naive, and I’ve developed a much keener eye in knowing what to look for. However, there is a program that the American Dairy Goat Association offers that I knew I needed to participate in to really know how to improve my herd, and that is the Linear Appraisal (LA) program.

LA allows producers to have all of their animals evaluated by an expect and given a score, based on their quality. Each part of the animal is evaluated separately, then in categories, and then as a total package. It offers incredibly value insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your herd. It’s an investment, both in time and financially, but it was worth every penny.

The LA program really opened up my eyes to what I have. Many wise breeders have told me, breed for what you like, and that’s advice I try to follow. However, I really didn’t understand what I liked until this program.

I have a few does who are great show does, and place well. I have others that I love for their soundness and milking ability, but they never seem to place well in shows. Now I understand why, and I’m ok with what these goats offer. I have an alpine doe that I adore, but the judges never do. The inspector helped me see the good in her, and told me that any dairy in the country would love to have her in their herd, and that he expected she would have better longevity than some show animals. That definitely makes you feel good.

The whole process took more than an hour, but I know that it will help me better my herd, and be more competitive.

The LA scores are as follows:

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For some people, market goat wethers are a joke. They don’t understand what it takes to breed and raise a competitive wether, and the years it takes to build a program. For the last few years, I have a had a few wethers here and there, but they never seemed to make a mark. This year, that all changed.

The first set of wethers I had were a set of triples out of a solid red 50% Boer doe, who has some fiber goat in her as well. She had her first of kids last year, a set of doe kids, and I loved them. This year she gave me three wethers in the middle of cold snap (-35 outside and -10 in the barn) and also presented me with the challenge of pulling them. All three wethers made it, and only suffered a little frostbite on the tips of their ears.

I knew from when they were a few days old that they would be special. They were wide, big boned and muscled. I sold all three to different families so they wouldn’t have to compete against each other. Two of the three wethers were first in their class, and the third was second. Not bad for a set of triplets born in February.

The other market wethers were consistently second or third, and with good market judges (not dairy judges) I think they would have won their classes. If they had been born earlier in the year, those two lightweight champions could have taken it all.

However, even though the elusive Grand Champion Market Wether title is important, I think the most important contest for the industry is the carcass contest, followed by the rate of gain contest, and that is were my goats really excelled this year.

One of the wethers shown at the Elbert County Fair didn’t just win the carcass contest, he crushed it. That is phenomenal.

In the rate of gain contest, the little paint wether that won his class was also the best gainer. This is important to me because it translates to feed efficiency, which is important for the commercial meat goat industry.

The wether that was shown at the Adams County Fair also won his class.

This fall I traveled to Texas, where I purchased a direct son of the late Strategic Power. Strategic Strike caught my eye, because he had that wether look to him, but had the genetics to back a fullblood program as well. Since I do both, that is important to me.

I can’t wait to see what he does for my program. I also have a young EGGS buck I purchased from their dispersal sale in Louisiana in March, and he is coming along nicely, although it’s taken him a little longer to catch up. I think he will really pop over the winter, but only time will tell.

I am so excited for where my Boer goat breeding program is going, and for the future of herd in the wether industry, as well as with percentages and fullbloods.