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
Linebreeding Case Study: Still Meadow Kinders
1) What are your particular breeding goals for your herd, beyond a healthy herd that reflects the Kinder Breed Standard?
For me, in addition to a correct animal that displays appropriate breed type, function is truly key. At the end of the day, I want my Kinders both to produce enough milk to be a competitive dairy animal for their size and to efficiently convert feed into a quickly developing and muscular carcass.
2) What do you see as the general pros and cons of linebreeding?
Linebreeding intensifies and solidifies traits. Its primary goal is to influence consistency. Unfortunately, this does not mean only positive traits, but negative ones as well. While breeding should always be done with careful thought and clear goals, linebreeding even more so. Ultimately it is a tool that should be wielded carefully, as it has the potential to improve or weaken the resulting offspring.
Please offer an example of a linebreeding you have chosen to do.
Still Meadow Diego. This 3.5 year-old buck is the result of a close linebreeding (sire bred to his own dam). [See pedigree.]
4) What was your reasoning behind this particular match?
After having Diego’s dam for many years and being familiar with her strengths and weaknesses, as well seeing a lot of positive qualities in her son Rusty’s offspring, I decided to experiment with breeding them together to solidify their numerous similar and ideal qualities. In general I prefer to be as familiar as possible with a goat and its lines before experimenting with heavy linebreeding.
Rusty 
Daisy
5) How did the offspring turn out? Did you get what you wanted?
Arguably, Diego turned out very well. I’d like to see more levelness hip to pin and straighter front legs (he turns out), and he lost a bit of size compared to his immediate family, but otherwise I’m extremely pleased with him. As a sire he’s been very interesting. He nearly universally adds width throughout (including rump width), heaviness of bone, and muscling to his kids. But he doesn’t seem to affect much else. He has a pretty decent topline but didn’t seem to pass that on to any of his kids. Whatever the dam was like, the kids took after her. I noticed that tendency to a much lesser extreme in his sire (influencing levelness in toplines and rumps). Tightening those genetics definitely led to a more pronounced bend toward (not) affecting levelness. To be fair, Diego has not seemed to make any kid worse from my observation; he just lends no improvement whatsoever in that area.
6) What traits will lead you to decide to cull an animal, and how does line breeding affect your willingness to cull?
Any fault or extreme weakness in any area of conformation and type could be a reason to cull. I’m quicker to cull for poor udders and substandard milk production, as well as lacking muscularity and general meatiness. But it depends on each individual and whether that goat has enough positive qualities to be worth keeping in the Kinder gene pool.
7) How do you personally balance linebreeding with outcrossing and at what point do you decide to outcross?
I regularly outcross for various reasons (including maintaining genetic diversity). I tend to outcross when I’m trying to bring in traits I need to improve on, and I linebreed when I’m trying to cement in the qualities I like and want more consistency in.
8) If you are also buying or breeding first gens, what are your strategies for introducing terrific new genetics that don’t derail the traits you have linebred to achieve?
I chose to focus on a few select traits when picking Nubians and Pygmies for my first generation lines. I went with heavy-boned, well-muscled animals (particularly in the Nubians) that displayed a lot of capacity and matured early. I paired that with nice udders and heavy production while avoiding extreme faults such as overly steep rumps, overly weak chines, etc. My first gen kids so far have been displaying the best of these traits, with few and mild weaknesses throughout. I intend to use them to influence better udders and higher milk production in my existing lines, while complementing my general style (heavy, efficient meat traits).
By Elizabeth Sweet and Ashley Kennedy
Care After Kidding
Hopefully your does all kid easily and without any intervention. If they need help, follow-up care will depend on circumstances and the recommendations of your veterinarian. For now, let’s assume that everything went great, and you only needed to help a little or not at all.
During labor and directly after kids are born, I give my does warm water with a little molasses in it, followed by fresh hay and grain. When I am sure that there are no more kids waiting to be born, I encourage my doe to get up and eat. This helps to keep her rumen functioning, avoids her having legs fall asleep from being in an awkward position for too long, and allows kids access to the udder. I make sure all kids are nursing and able to find the teat on their own. If they aren’t, I help them until they get the hang of it.
About an hour later, after I’m sure all the kids have nursed well, I milk the doe out almost completely to make sure she’s not uncomfortable and to encourage more milk production and shrinking of her uterus. If you don’t milk your doe out, she can end up with mastitis or a blown teat if her kids all decide to nurse from the same side.
The first few times I milk a first freshener, I just tie her to the wall and milk straight onto the ground or a towel. That way she can jump around without tipping over a bucket and freaking herself out. I just let her jump around and kick all she wants. I stay calm and quiet and don’t take my hands off her teats until she settles down.
I continue to milk out once or twice a day until the babies start eating more; then I milk out once a day.
If I am worried about a doe’s ability to produce enough milk for her kids, I will sometimes milk her out only once, shortly after freshening, and then monitor closely and milk only if needed. In these cases, I still put her on the milk stand every 12 or 24 hours and squirt a little milk out to make sure it’s not bloody or stringy. I also check to make sure neither side is staying more full or getting hard and that teats aren’t getting raw. It’s also a good way to make sure that new moms are getting enough grain.
I deworm does on day 2 or 3, disbud and vaccinate babies at 10–14 days, and start pulling babies at night and milking the dam in the morning at 2–3 weeks. I try to gradually keep babies separated from dams for longer and longer after pulling them at night so that they are completely weaned by 10 weeks and ready to go to new homes. I treat kids with Baycox® (Toltrazuril) because coccidia is such a problem around here. I check random fecals for other parasites, but only treat as needed.
By Sue Beck
If everything went well, and I don’t need to treat with antibiotics or address the need for further vet assistance, I too give warm molasses water and make sure they have access to whatever food they like. The does clean their babies completely. Babies stick around until the delivery process is good and done.
I milk the doe out completely when the kids are clean. I get my does used to being milked sooner than later. Nursing kids and being milked are completely different, so getting used to one process will not get them used to the other. And even if the kids are taking all of a doe’s milk, I would still suggest getting a doe on the stanchion and playing with her udder. First fresheners can have quite the learning curve when it comes to being milked. You’re better off starting sooner rather than later.
As soon as a doe kids, you don’t have to get her on the stand, start touching her udder while you assist the kids in nursing. Then afterwards continue to handle her, either milking once per day to relieve excess pressure, or just taking a few squirts to get her used to it. You may need to tie her or get her on the stanchion if she really fights it.
I bring the babies in the house, but it’s important they be out of sight and hearing of momma, otherwise it’s mean. Most of my does have never raised their own babies. I would imagine trying to start pulling kids from a doe that has raised her own every year would be quite upsetting. Because the majority of my herd are bottle babies I raised myself, the does actually don’t seem to care that much when the kids leave. They’re more worried about my leaving them. They would bond with their kids just fine, but they almost immediately transfer that bond to me. The few dam-raised does I have in my herd had a little more adjustment. But they, too, end up bonding with me more.
Back in the house, I get the kids to latch onto the nipple (some are easier to train than others) and try to get at least a couple ounces of colostrum into each one. I then go back to check on my doe, and I keep watch every couple hours to make sure she’s doing OK and passes her placenta normally.
After that things are pretty easy. I milk a minimum of twice daily, but often more frequently right after kidding to encourage milk production. I don’t always deworm after kidding, but I do as necessary. Kids are put onto a bottle-feeding schedule, introduced to hay pretty quickly, and eventually to grain when they’re several weeks old. I disbud at or after two weeks old, and deworm shortly before weaning, since many as leaving for new homes at that point.
By Ashley Kennedy
The Pawing Doe
I have one doe that is a wonderful mother except for one small behavior….right after she gets the kids cleaned off she starts pawing a hole as if she’s suddenly experienced a desperate need to visit China. Typically the kids are still tottering around on unsteady feet, wanting to nurse, unsure how legs work to lay down, etc. She’s knocked them over at times, pawed sawdust onto them and once they’ve finally settled down to sleep she’s at times half buried them in bedding. My response has been checking on the kids every 20 minutes or sleeping in the stall the first night. This time I thought I’d be strategic and give her a lot less bedding and clean up any wet bedding in case it was an instinctual urge to “get rid of the birth evidence” to avoid attracting predators. That might have helped some but it wasn’t enough so I resorted to my next idea which was using the bottom half of a large transport crate with the opening against a wall, bedding it down, and using it as a playpen for the babies. I went back and got them out to nurse a couple of times and by the next day she was done with the idea of being a tourist in China and I was able to safely remove the crate. Peace reigned once again!
By Kathrin Bateman
Before You Buy: Pre-purchase Considerations
Purchasing goats is the exciting culmination of time and communication. Most buyers are familiar with typical pre-purchase considerations such as genetics, conformation, disease status and general health, and of course, location and price. Here are few additional things to consider before purchasing.
Climate
Changing locales and eventual introduction into a new herd is stressful and a drastic change in climate can increase stress. Goat breeds originated, with a some exceptions, in arid deserts or mountains. While goats can thrive in various climates, adjustment can take time. Genetic adaptation takes generations.
Excessive moisture, especially humidity, is not the ideal goat environment. Humid heat especially can cause heat stress in an animal unused to those conditions. Goats moving from dry, cool areas to humid, warm areas might initially benefit from additional cooling methods such as implementation of barn fans or buckets of cold water to lie against.
A goat sometimes has sparse or non-existent cashmere undercoat, making it particularly susceptible to the cold – this goat might be fine in the southern states but need extra attention if moved to an area with serious winters. Goats with inadequate cashmere coats might need extra calories, a safe heat source, or a blanket or coat.
The difference between a buyer’s climate and the seller’s climate probably won’t be such a serious consideration as to dissuade the buyer, but might tell the buyer to be extra-vigilant about the goat’s health until it grows accustomed to its new home.
General Management Practices
Goats are successfully raised across a wide spectrum of management styles; management varies greatly from producer to producer, from micro-managed operations to “survival of the fittest.” Most farms are somewhere in between the two extremes. It is wise to evaluate the general management practices of a producer compared to your own before purchasing, especially considering diet.
Generally speaking, it is easier for a goat to transition from a less-intensively managed operation than a very management-intense operation. For example, goats accustomed to free-choice alfalfa and large grain rations might lose condition when brought into a farm that primarily utilizes forage.
Conversely, goats unaccustomed to rich legumes or grain rations will need to be introduced to their new diet gradually. A sudden increase in these supplementations can lead to many health problems – slow changes are the key.
A goat used to walking a few steps to a buffet might lose condition when introduced to a farm where it is expected to traverse large areas or rough terrain. Goats in good body condition used to ranging might become over-conditioned when moved to a farm that utilizes dry-lotting and 24-7 availability of high-quality hay like alfalfa.
Most changes in condition because of a change in diet won’t be long-lasting, but the buyer should understand the goat’s current management to better care for the animal at its new farm.
Parasite Management
The most important consideration often over-looked is parasite management. When you buy the goat, you buy the worms, so the adage goes. If the new animal has internal parasites, especially Barber Pole worms, and is not dewormed prior to introduction into your herd, that animal will be shedding eggs in your pasture. Those eggs will hatch into larvae for your herd to pick up. Those larvae will mature and mate with worms already in your animals, passing on their genetic material.
It is possible to prevent initial egg shedding by deworming the animal with an effective product or products that show a 100% reduction rate in the fecal egg counts. However, if you do not test the effectiveness of the treatment, or have no effective treatment, there is a very good chance a few worms will survive.
The impact of these surviving worms may or may not be serious, depending on a few things. If there is not a good kill rate, of course, the number of surviving worms will increase, as will their impact on your herd.
Ask the breeder what dewormer he or she uses.
By understanding anthelmentics classes, you can hypothesize if the goat is harboring parasites that will either be resistant or susceptible to the class of dewormer effective on your farm.
For example, in terms of strongyle treatment, the imidazothiazole Levamisol (one brand name is Prohibit®), is considered the most-effective class and the benzimidozoles or “white dewormers” the least effective. If the farm you are purchasing from already uses levamisol while you typically and effectively use the albendazole (which is a benzimidozole) Valbazen®, it is almost certain that the parasites in your new animal will be resistant to Valbazen®.
If you typically and effectively use ivermectin 1% and the seller typically uses moxidectin, it is possible that these parasites will not be effectively killed with ivermectin, even though both moxidectin and ivermectin are in the macrocyclic lactone class. Moxidectin is more potent.
For a great overview of classes, read “Choosing the Right Drug for Worm Control” by Lisa Williamson DVM, MS, DACVIM. The full text is available at the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control website.
There are a few studies indicating that, for a short time, it is possible that bringing in susceptible parasites (i.e. the seller successfully deworms with a white dewormer while you use ivermectin) will dilute resistant parasite populations. Of course, this depends on several factors, and has only been successfully implemented in more intensively-managed grazing operations. The effects of this dilution were generally short-lived – a study where resistance was measured over 3 years later showed anthelmentic failure again – but the subject is still being researched. For more information, check out “Replacement of Resistant Worms with Susceptible Worms – Can We Do It, and Is It Sustainable?” by Melissa George, BS, MS at WormBoss.com.
Ask for deworming records and methods.
- How often has the herd been dewormed?
- How often has the individual goat you are considering purchasing required treatment?
Some farms accept a higher number of treatments year; others are quite strict and cull animals that need repeated treatments, especially in comparison to herdmates. A few do not tolerate an animal that needs dewormed, period.
To slow anthelmentic resistance, a general rule of thumb is animals should not need dewormed more than three times a year.
If the breeder chemically deworms on a schedule, seriously consider passing on that animal. This outdated practice is proven to very strongly select for resistant parasites and is one of the causes of complete anthelmentics failure in some farms – this means the parasites are resistant to every class of dewormer – and useless classes in others.
Remember that the best method for deworming is not to deworm on a schedule but by need. Does the seller deworm the entire herd or select only the animals that need treatment based on fecals, FAMACHA, and condition and thereby slow resistance and increase refugia?
For more information on dewormers and deworming practices, please refer to the blog posts “The Barber Pole Worm” and “Are You Deworming Your Goats Correctly?”
Ask about resistance and resilience of the sire and dam.
Studies have proven both resistance and resilience to parasite infections is moderately heritable. Breeding animals that require more-than-average treatments can negatively impact the herd’s genetics. Culling those less-hardy animals and breeding stock that requires fewer dewormings than the herd average can positively influence subsequent generations. It takes time, but it is a worthwhile effort to breed for animals that are more naturally tolerant or resistant to parasite burdens.
Will the new animal’s genes, in relation to parasite resistance or resilience, positively or negatively affect your herd?
Consider these few additional things before purchasing to better acclimate your new goat, improve or maintain the parasite resistant or resilient genes in your herd, or avoid purchasing an influx of tough-to-treat parasites.
By Kendra Shatswell
Linebreeding Case Study: Bramble Patch Kinders
1) What are your particular breeding goals for your herd, beyond a healthy herd that reflects the Kinder Breed Standard?
My purpose for breeding the Kinder goat was to breed a goat of good conformation and good udders and udder attachments that would also produce a good meat carcass.
2) What do you see as the general pros and cons of linebreeding?
I do not see any negatives. Linebreeding and inbreeding are the same with all animals, BUT there is one big difference with breeding Kinders. Here you are outcrossing two different breeds. When breeding a Pygmy and Nubian, you are breeding 50/50, and that will never change no matter the number of breedings, so how are you going to find any consistency here? It is simply the matter of trying to fool mother nature, of finding the good traits and determining where these good traits come from, then repeating the genetics of that goat over and over again in your lines. Looking for those good Nubian lines will probably be much easier than looking for good lines of the Pygmy. My first breeding for Kinders was strictly a shot in the dark, so to speak, because I did not know the genetics of that first Pygmy, but later I did much research and knew that I needed to go with a Pygmy that came from good milking lines and a breeder that was interested in good udders or a breeder that was interested in show wins. I did both! Alice Hall’s Pygmy lines were the ones that I searched for in my second Pygmy buck. I tried to use as many of the Gasconade Nubian lines that I could find because they are the more meaty of the Nubians. Harvey suggested this in his first evaluation here. Evaluations, this practice is the key to good breeding.
3) Please offer an example of a linebreeding you have chosen to do.
I will show E Lee for my example.
4) What was your reasoning behind this particular match?
Wanting to keep the Ruppel genetics strong in my lines. She evaluated as excellent! She had a good udder and milked well and her body conformation was very good. Her teat size made her easy to milk, which is very important in a Kinder. Concord also evaluated as excellent.
BPK Concord 
BPK Ebony
5) How did the offspring turn out? Did you get what you wanted?
Yes! I can see her all down the lines. Concord is her sire and her grandsire, and he comes from milking lines, and these lines have continued in my herd.
6) What traits will lead you to decide to cull an animal, and how does linebreeding affect your willingness to cull?
You must cull no matter the breeding – linebreeding, inbreeding or crossbreeding. No one is going to breed perfect animals, so those less perfect need to be culled, and this is where evaluations really are important. All breeders are barn blind, thinking all their animals are just wonderful. This is where an experienced person that has been schooled along these lines is needed to help evaluate what is good and what is bad in each animal. There are lots of long-time breeders that can help guide us, but it takes that trained individual to really see those positives and negatives in our herd. Most judges are good evaluators, but most judges that we see today do not understand the dual-purpose animal. There are many breeders out there that only want to breed the animal that suits them and not the animal that fits our scorecard and breed standard, and there are many judges that do not understand our dual-purpose goat, either.
7) How do you personally balance linebreeding with outcrossing and at what point do you decide to outcross?
After I got started, I outcrossed only with animals that I knew what their good traits were.
8) If you are also buying or breeding first gens, what are your strategies for introducing terrific new genetics that don’t derail the traits you have linebred to achieve?
I have very seldom ever outcrossed. When I did, it was usually from my breeding, where I knew both the Pygmy side and Nubian side. I always look for some of my genetics in an animal that I am going to buy. Those genetics may be back four generations, but I almost always make sure some are there. This is what makes having our database showing each of our Kinder goats genetics so very important. We can see all their bloodlines for generations back. May I end by saying that these are only my thoughts and how I bred Kinders. I am not schooled in genetics; however, I think genetics would be most fascinating to learn. Harvey Considine’s evaluations and linebreeding were my main tools for breeding the Kinder goat.
By Sue Huston
Fair Biosecurity
Showing can be a really fun part of life with goats, and there are so many advantages, too! We get to meet and exchange ideas with other breeders. We get to see goats and compare. We get to draw attention to our goats and perhaps create a list of buyers who want our bloodlines. Shows can be a place to meet up and deliver to a new owner the goats they have bought. Showing can be a family activity and create connections with other families. For us Kinder breeders, showing is extra important because it helps to publicize a breed that many people haven’t yet seen.
With so many pluses it’s easy to see why showing is a good idea, but it’s also important to consider how to keep your herd free from the main diseases that goats can contract. Experienced breeders have developed a range of strategies to minimize the risk of bringing home a disease from a show.
1. Ask several questions of the show’s organizers before you decide to show at a particular show.
- Will there be a vet onsite who walks around and inspects the barn?
- Are goats required to have a health certificate or be inspected before entering the barn?
- Will the organizers turn away goats that appear to be ill?
2. If you are happy with the answers you get, and you are ready to sign on, ask for two more stalls than the number you need for your animals. The strategy is to have buffer stalls between your goats and the next farm’s goats. The two buffer stalls can be super helpful — use one of them for tack and one of them for feed. Having these buffer stalls will prevent your goats touching noses with goats in the next stall and hopefully prevent sneeze or cough blown pathogens from landing in your goat stalls. You can also bring small tarps to clip between pens to keep the goats in the next stall from sneezing on your feed or tack. Hay feeders can be attached to the back wall of each pen so that the goats tend to congregate away from fairgoers who may be strolling down the row of pens, patting goats in each pen. (You want to avoid as much as possibly the chance that someone will pat a sick goat and then pat your goats, exposing your group to illness.)
3. Once you arrive at the fair and before unloading your goats, walk through the barn looking for open sores, crusty eyes, bad coughs, emaciated goats, and diarrhea. Look also at barn cleanliness. If you see anything that creates concern, be prepared and willing to turn around and go home. Have a plan A and a plan B in place so that you’ve got an alternative in mind if you decide it’s best to not unload your goats for the show after all.
4. Before you unload your goats and take them to their pens, liberally spray the pens with a disinfectant that will kill paratuberculosis organisms that cause Johne’s Disease. Apply deep bedding, get your pens ready, and only then unload your goats.
5. If you want to minimize the chance of your goats picking up something while they are in the show ring, wipe their feet off before putting them back into their pen. Check your own boots for fecal matter as well and wash them before stepping back into your pens.
6. Now that you are settled in, you can enjoy the show. Show those goats! Meet people! Learn new skills! Get incredibly useful evaluations that you can use to improve your herd!
7. When the show is over and you bring your goats home, watch for sickness and then test a month later for CAE, CL, and Johne’s Disease. (This is easy. Just schedule your annual testing for a month or so after the show you are attending.) Some folks will quarantine show goats upon their return, but that measure may not be practical for many farms.
Though these steps may seem like a bit of fuss, by following them we can enjoy the show, network and learn, give our Kinders the recognition they deserve, and simultaneously drastically minimize the likelihood that we will bring something home from the show other than those prize ribbons, great memories, and new, fun face-to-face connections. On with the show!
By Kathrin Bateman
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.