Welcome to our blog. Check back often for official news and announcements from the KGBA and articles on various topics of Kinder goat care, raising, breeding, showing and more!
Blog
Join the KGBA Board!
Do you love Kinders and have time and passion to invest in our association? If so, we want you!!!
The KGBA nominating committee is currently accepting volunteers and recommendations for the annual September election. Any person holding an individual membership effective as of March 1stis eligible to be a candidate or recommend another for a position.
Thinking about running? Please consider your decision carefully – becoming a board member is a wonderful way to help our Association grow and improve and we want all the help we can get, but it takes time and commitment to make things happen! Directors serve without compensation. The elected term is 1-3 years, with directors spending an average of 5-10 hours a month managing the affairs of the association.
Board members attend monthly board meetings via conference call, take part in various committees and work to promote the Kinder goat in accordance to our bylaws. Specific descriptions of each position can be found at www.kindergoatbreeders.com/bylaws.html
If you would like to volunteer or nominate someone else for a position, please contact a member of the nominating committee via email prior to August 8th. Please consider submitting a half-page bio (to included with ballots) when you express your interest in becoming a candidate. The 2014 Nominating Committee is comprised of the following people:
Sue Beck – sue@jabeck.com
Carla Durham – carlacoxdurham@gmail.com
Janet Rekow – JanRekow@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
Kinder Goats in a Commercial Dairy?
For several years, we ran the largest commercial goat dairy in the state of Colorado. We started small, but grew very quickly. In the late ‘90’s we were milking a few cows and started looking at adding goats. We found a goat dairy in Niwot that was interested in buying our milk, so we began buying some goats. We remodeled our barn so that we could milk 12 goats and three cows at a time, into different tanks of course. I believe we started shipping goat milk in early 2002. By 2003, we sold the cows and remodeled the barn again, putting in a double 20 goat parlor. By 2005, we had well over 450 goats, with 280 in the milking string.
GROWING PAINS
Over the last few years, membership in the Kinder Goat Breeders Association has grown at an outstanding rate. We now have members in almost every state in the US, and once again have breeders in Canada!
2014 Fee Changes
Hello Everyone!
Beginning January 1st, 2014, there will be three changes to the KGBA fee schedule. The changes are as follows:
1. We will be charging a $5 late fee on all membership renewals submitted after March first. Membership fees are due on the first of the year for all ongoing memberships. We hope that the new deadline for dues will enable us to keep our mailing lists, breeders listing and membership lists as consistent as possible. New members joining after the first of November will have their membership dues applied toward the following year, but all other members need to pay their dues early in the year in order to receive all member benefits as well as avoiding late fees.
2. There will be a $10 fee for all goats registered after they are a year old. This fee was already in place for goats registered after the age of 2, but we are still receiving a large number of late registrations, and our registrar is spending a great deal of time wading through paperwork in order to register multiple generations of goats at once. We encourage everyone to register their goats BEFORE breeding them in order to avoid confusion, problems and more work for our registrar. Thank you!
3. When transferring goats to a new owner, the discounted member fee will be used if EITHER party is a KGBA member. Previously, both parties were required to be members in order to receive the member fee.
Please feel free to contact any of the board members if you have questions or comments regarding fees, membership, or anything else related to your Kinder Goats. Our contact information is located on the KGBA website at www.kindergoatbreeders.com
KGBA Election Results
We are happy to announce that we had excellent voter participation in our recent election, resulting in a record number of returned ballots. Thank you all for your participation… your vote does count, and your voice (or lack thereof) makes this association what it is!
Voting results for KGBA board positions are as follows:
President – Sue Beck
Vice President – Lisa Lamm
Secretary – Jean Jajan
Treasurer – Lisa Naumann
Member at Large – Carla Durham
Member at Large – Lisa LaRose
Member at Large – Janet Rekow
Congratulations to all board members on their election, and a warm welcome to our new board member, Janet Rekow! We look forward to working with her in the years to come.
The ballot sent out this fall also included two proposed changes to our by-laws. All voting members were in favor of Proposition I, and and overwhelming majority were in favor of Proposition II. Therefor, as of January 1st, 2014, the by-laws will be amended accordingly to read:
Article XI – Fiscal Year – “The fiscal year and the operational year of the Association shall begin on January 1 and end on December 31 or the same year.”
Article IX 0 Nominations and Elections – Section 1: Time and Elections – “The regular elections of Directors of the Association shall be held in the month of September of each calendar year and all Directors then elected shall serve the term for which they are respectively elected or until their successors are elected and qualified. Director nominees much be in good standing by March 1 of the election year. Board Members-at-Large shall serve for a term of three years, except when chosen by the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy by death or resignation, in which case they shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term.”
Thank you all again for your support and participation as we look forward to a great new year with the KGBA!
So You Want to Have a Sanctioned Kinder Show…
By Leah Rennick
First, you will need a judge. A KGBA approved judge, which is a licensed ADGA judge or a licensed pygmy goat judge (licensed meat goat judges are not acceptable) who has received copies of the Kinder goat score card, breed standard and the KGBA show rules and regulations at least 30 days before the show. The person organizing the Kinder show is responsible for sending these papers to the judge. Judges generally charge several hundreds of dollars for a fee plus travel and expenses. You will also need a location to hold a show with adequate room for animal stalls and parking for exhibitors and visitors. There is usually a hefty fee for this rental if only to cover liability insurance for the event. These two items have kept me working with other organizations to add a Kinder show with an existing show rather than trying to create a stand-alone Kinder show. I have been told the cost of renting a facility for the show and the fee for the judge is normally taken from the cost of entry fee per animal, stall rental for animals, etc. so the more people involved sharing the expense the easier it is to afford.
After the request for show sanctioning and the sanction fee have been sent to the KGBA president, follow up to make certain that everything was received and is in order for the show to be approved providing there are enough animals at the show, then let the president know where the rosette’s for the show need to be sent (to the person organizing the show). As with any show, notify everyone and invite them to participate in the show, advertise, advertise, advertise. Send out show registrations to people and as they are returned keep a roster of the classes and who is registered for each class. You will need to pay the sponsoring group their fee for adding the Kinder show. At the show you will need a ring steward to help keep the classes running smoothly, make certain all entries are ready to enter the gate when the class is announced. You will need a secretary to record the placing of each class and make sure the judge signs off on each class. After the show these papers will need to be mailed to the KGBA show director to complete the sanctioning requirements. It is also nice if you can find someone to take photographs to send in to the KGBA for the web site, newsletter, etc.
Finally, have fun!!! Holding a show is a lot of work, but it is also great fun to meet other Kinder owners in your area and to see their wonderful goats. Good luck at the shows!
Disclaimer: The opinions, views, and thoughts expressed by newsletter and blog contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the Kinder® Goat Breeders Association. Goat husbandry advice found in the newsletter and blog is not meant to substitute a valid veterinary relationship. Please request permission to share or reprint newsletter and blog posts.