Breed Spotlight

Current Milk Star List

October 13, 2020 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

Here is a list of all the current Kinder does that have earned their milk star!

Age at freshening is read as “year-months old”. Any blank spaces is where old data was lost/not documented. DIM = Days in Milk. A Kinder Star recording is read as “Generational Star earned, qualified on M(ilk), F(at), P(rotein) or a combination of all 3.”

Doe Name	Age at Freshening	Freshening	DIM	Milk #	Fat #	Fat %	Protein #	Protein %	Year Earned
Zederkamm Floribunda 11*M (FP)	5-10	5	305	2480	138	5.6	88	3.5	2000
Zederkamm Daffodil 1*M (MFP)	2-11	3	296	2290	125	5.5	94	4.1	1992
Still Meadow Echo 1*M (MFP)	05-11	5	305	1990	130	6.5	84	4.2	2018
Zederkamm Jasmine 1*M (MFP)	01-11	2	305	1960	109	5.6	88	4.5	1991
Zederkamm Poppy 11*M (F)	3-00	3	294	1940	105	5.4	78	4	1993
Zederkamm Vinca’s Vanilla 4*M (MFP)	03-01	3	305	1920	108	5.6	84	4.4	2000
Still Meadow Autumn 1*M (MFP)	04-07	4	290	1879	109	5.8	83	4.4	2017
7 Arrows (Dusty) Fawn 3*M (FP)	03-06	3	282	1870	117	6.3	83	4.4	2005
Zederkamm Liberty 1*M (MFP)	04-07	5	295	1850	122	6.6	90	4.9	1991
Zederkamm Penny’s Lily of the Valley 1*M (MFP)	3-00	2	305	1840	121	6.6	80	4.3	1999
Little Treasures Kinders Vailinteena 5*M (MFP)	03-09	3	317	1780	82	4.61	66	3.71	2018
Zederkamm Mignon 1*M (FP)	3-10	2	295	1760	109	6.2	75	4.3	1992
My Three Kids Trinity 2*M (MFP)	2-09	1	305	1720	99	5.8	75	4.4	2003
Zederkamm Columbine 11*M (F)	2-00	2	297	1680	87	5.2	69	4.1	1993
Homestead Kinder Jewel Flower 1*M (MFP)	3-10	4	305	1651	98	5.9	73	4.4
Just One More Rosebud 1*M (FP)	03-01	2	305	1650	116	7	75	4.5	2002
Rustic Jumpers Phili 1*M FP)	3-11		297	1630	84	5.2	63	4.4
Zederkamm Mignonette 2*M (MFP)	2-11	2	285	1600	91	5.7	73	4.6	1993
Just One More Lucy I’m Home 1*M (MFP)	3-00	2	305	1590	114	7.2	67	4.2	2001
Zederkamm Buttercup 1*M (MFP)	1-10	2	305	1590	109	6.9	74	4.7	1994
River Birch Farms Cinder 1*M (FP)	03-06	3	316	1516	81	5.34	58	3.83	2018
My Three Kids Anouk 1*M (MFP)	01-07	1	305	1510	83	5.5	64	4.2	2005
Zederkamm Jazz’s Fleur 12*M (FP)	1-10	1	305	1470	92	6.3	55	3.7	1999
Zederkamm P&T’s Trillium 3*M (F)	2-00	1	264	1450	91	6.3	70	4.8	2005
Zederkamm Balsam’s Begonia 3*M (FP)	2-00	2	305	1440	99	6.9	71	4.9	1998
Little Treasures Kinders Isis 5*M (FP)	04-09	4	318	1412	74	5.24	60	4.25	2018
Zederkamm K.C.’s Myrtle 3*M (FP)	2-00	2	305	1410	97	6.9	68	4.8	1996
Pricker Patch Farm Salt & Pepper 1*M (FP)	02-10	2	227	1398	75	5.4	59	4.2	2018
My Three Kids Lil’s Tory 1*M (FP)	2-11	2	305	1380	97	7	67	4.9	2001
Bramble Patch Kinder Mi Destiny 1*M (FP)	2-00	2	250	1360	80	5.9	52	3.8	2003
Zederkamm N&T’s Chai Tea 4*M (FP)	08-08	7	311	1325	74	5.58	58	4.38	2018
Bramble Patch Kinder Spirit 1*M (FP)	02-00	2	305	1290	71	5.5	54	4.2	2005
Rustic Jumpers Heidi 1*M (FP)	4-00		260	1270	84	6.6	56	4.4
Zederkamm Veronica 2*M (FP)	01-02	1	232	1270	63	5	48	3.8	1992
Barne’s Zederkamm Vinca 3*M (FP)	01-07	1	305	1250	80	6.4	54	4.3	1996
Rustic Jumpers Honey 1*M (FP)	3-11		268	1240	79	6.4	55	4.4	1994
Zederkamm M&L’s Lantana 2*M (FP)	01-02	1	262	1240	86	6.9	54	4.4	2000
Zederkamm Balsam 2*M (FP)	01-08	2	263	1220	76	6.2	58	4.8	1995
Zederkamm N&B’s Belladonna 4*M (FP)	01-08	1	305	1190	74	6.2	54	4.5	2004
Zederkamm Silver Birch 1*M (FP)	02-01	2	226	1180	87	7.4	55	4.7	1999
Zederkamm L&F Flax 13*M (F)	01-01	1	265	1140	74	6.5	44	3.9	2002
Zederkamm Delphinium 2*M (FP)	01-04	1	208	1130	67	5.9	47	4.2	1994
Zederkamm Twyddle DD of Beauty Mountain 2*M (FP)	01-01	1	305	1127	76	6.7	52	4.6
Just One More Oprah 2*M (FP)	2-00	1	305	1110	82	7.4	53	4.8	2002
Zederkamm P&O’s Orchid 3*M (F)	02-01	1	280	1050	71	6.8	44	4.3	2004
Still Meadow Cicada 1*M (F)	02-01	1	226	1000	55	5.5	44	4.4	2018
Beauty Mountain Night Ffeather 1*M (F)	1-00	1	305	991	53	5.3			1998
Zederkamm Sweet Alyssum 3*M (FP)	01-08	1	295	990	73	7.4	48	4.8	1996
Zederkamm Mimosa 3*M (F)	1-10	2	250	980	54	5.5	42	4.3
Zederkamm Tansy 1*M (FP)	01-07	2	243	980	61	6.2	46	4.7	1995
Zederkamm Jessamine 1*M (F)	01-06	1	244	970	57	5.9	41	4.2
Zederkamm M&B’s Sweet Blackberry 2*M (F)	01-01	1	237	910	60	6.6	44	4.8	1999
Dairy-Ayers Sunny 1*M (F)	03-09	3	262	880	67	7.6	42	4.8	1998
Beauty Mountain Maanaco #1 Ttahanee 2*M (F)	0-11	1	256	857	57	6.7	41	4.8	1997
Just One More Shamrock 1*M (F)	01-01	1	272	830	56	6.7	38	4.6	2004
Zederkamm Juniper 1*M (F)	01-09	1	292	830	66	7.6	41	4.9	1998
Zederkamm Cinnamon 12*M (F)	01-03	1	220	810	55	6.8	35	4.3	1995

Click the link below to download a PDF copy.

Current Milk Star List – Updated October 2020

Kinder Goats in a Commercial Dairy?

April 27, 2014 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

– By Henry Nordloh

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.

From the beginning, the cheese plant kept asking if we could increase our winter milk production to even out the supply. They offered price incentives in the form of higher pricing for milk produced October through March. We had only moderate success. We tried breeding earlier, we tried breeding later, we tried milking some for extended lactations, we tried everything we could think of, but nothing was highly successful. The major dairy goat breeds are very photoperiod sensitive. Shorter days bring on estrus, triggering the breeding response. Therefore most goats will breed between the summer solstice and the winter solstice. Hot summer days are not conducive to good pregnancy rates, so the breeding season is further shortened. Some have had some success with manipulation of lighting, but I was not set up well enough to bet my income on that. However, there is another way.

Goats developed in Equatorial Africa are not photoperiod sensitive. They will breed any month of the year. When crossed with other goats, they seem to pass on that trait. African Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf are the Equatorial African goats readily available in the U.S. The Kinder breed was developed in America by crossing registered Anglo-Nubian does with registered African Pygmy bucks. The offspring were then bred to each other, maintaining the 50% Nubian, 50% Pygmy parentage. Strict culling and no outcrossing “fixes” the desired traits. The result is a dairy goat that is approximately ¾ the size of the average dairy goat, but retains a lot of the “meat” characteristics of the Pygmy side of the equation. At first glance, it would seem to be a huge disadvantage to have ¾ size goats in a commercial dairy. I like to experiment as much as the next guy, but who wants to milk 25% more goats to get the same amount of milk? How can it be cost effective to add 25% to your milking time every day? The bonus for winter milk was only about7%. That alone would not make up the shortfall.

Conventional wisdom told me that it was a bad idea to put ¾ size goats into a commercial goat dairy. However, the masses are usually wrong. If all the dairymen do things the same way, it’s probably wrong. If you copy what everyone else is doing, you will get the same results they get. All of the dairies I knew were sold on Saanens and Alpines with a few Nubians thrown in for butterfat. We had goats of every dairy breed and every cross thereof.

We bought our first Kinders in 2003, just after we remodeled the dairy barn the second time. We were probably milking between 150 and 180 at the time. There were not a lot of Kinders available then, so I bought a few from Pat Showalter and a few from Sue Huston. I could see that it was going to take me a while to get where I needed to be, so I decided to add some “Minis” to the mix. “Minis” are any breed of dairy goat crossed with Nigerian Dwarf. I bought a couple of Nigerian Dwarf bucks and used them on some of my Saanen and Toggenburg doelings, to produce Mini-Saanens and Mini-Toggs. Minis perform very similarly to Kinders, at least they did for us. They, too, will kid out of season.

In the fall of 2004, I was able to freshen 8 or 9 Kinders and approximately 16 Mini-Saanens and Mini-Toggs. By March of 2005, we were milking 280 goats, about 10% of which were Kinders and Minis.

Never one to maintain the status quo, we changed something pretty major every year. During the same time frame that we were adding Kinders and Minis to the herd, we started experimenting with ways to cut our feed costs. I started by buying a bunch of whole corn from the man that produced our hay. We were feeding 300 tons of hay a year at that point, mostly third and fourth cutting alfalfa. We were feeding a dairy grain mix in the barn. I thought I could cheapen that up by adding some whole corn to it. I didn’t see many results. But then, I got a tape by Jerry Brunetti from Acres USA about the benefits of adding sprouted grains to the ration. Whole corn was what we had, so whole corn is what we used. We would fill 5 gallon buckets about 2/3 full of whole corn, rinse as much of the dirt out as we could, then fill the bucket on up with water and let soak overnight. We were using 3 buckets per day, but we were feeding 280 goats. We would dump those 3 buckets into a 30 gallon trash can with holes drilled in the bottom to let the water out. We would rinse the sprouts twice a day at milking time. We would feed them on the third day, half at the morning milking, half at the evening milking. We would pour them on top of the other grain. You can sprout longer, but three days seemed to work the best for us. The corn would tend to go sour if we tried to go longer than three days. That can be alleviated by rinsing more often, but we were all working other jobs so were only able to rinse at milking time.

All dry seeds contain enzyme inhibitors. If you feed dry grains, the animal has to make enzymes to digest the grain before digestion actually begins. That uses energy. When you feed sprouts, the enzymes for digestion are already there. If I had to pick the one thing that changed my dairy operation the most, this was it. The results we saw from feeding sprouts were nothing short of incredible. Goats can be very picky eaters, sorting through the grain ration to eat what they like. We put the grain mix in the trough first, putting the sprouted corn on top. At first, they would push the sprouted corn aside and eat only the grain, but as they got used to it, they ate it with relish.

The transformation in the goats was something to see. I thought we had happy contented goats before, but it was like the whole farm just relaxed once we started feeding sprouts. All of us noticed it. You could literally feel it when you walked onto the property. We had been giving sodium bicarbonate and kelp free choice in the holding pen. Once they started eating the sprouts, they quit eating the sodium bicarbonate altogether, and cut their kelp intake by about half. We were able to cut our purchased grain usage by 50% with no loss in milk production. Our forage usage dropped by 20%. All of this because the sprouts were providing the enzymes they needed.

The transformation in the goats alone would have been enough for me to continue growing sprouts. The savings in feed costs, by itself, would have been enough reason to sprout. But the good news even gets better. The change in the milk was as dramatic as the change in the goats. I don’t know how to adequately describe it. It looked better, it smelled better, and it tasted better, not that it was bad before. If you’ve never lifted the lid on a tank of milk that has several hundred gallons of milk in it, you probably won’t know what I’m talking about. It is like trying to describe the difference between a Hershey bar and Dove chocolate. Some won’t know the difference, but one is less harsh. The milk looked creamier and smelled sweeter. Part of the difference in the milk was due to the growing influence of the Kinders and Minis, but at that point the sprouts were the star of the show.

Up until that point, I didn’t understand the influence of MUN (Milk Urea Nitrogen) levels in milk, or how to control them. When I had my milk tested for SCC, Protein, and BF, they would always give me the MUN levels, but it was useless information to me. As I saw the milk changing and the MUN levels dropping, I made the connection. MUN levels need to be in a range, but too high levels show that a lot of the protein you are feeding is being wasted. High MUN levels probably affect the shelf life and taste of milk more than anything else.

I could see the changes happening in our milk, but you’re never sure if others see what you are seeing. But when the cheese maker at the cheese plant started coming immediately to get a glass of our milk to drink as we were making our delivery, you knew something was up. “How do you tell your boss,” he would ask, “that his milk tastes like crap?” “Not crap,” I would say, “more like urine. There is too much urea in the milk from too much grain.”

But, enough of that. The question on the table is; “How will Kinders and Minis do in a commercial dairy operation? Can they compete? Will they be bullied because of their smaller size, and will they produce enough milk to make them financially viable? The Kinders and Minis in our operation were given no special treatment. They ran with 200 lb. Saanens with no problems. If they wanted to be first in the barn, they were first in the barn. You could see them wiggling their way through all those big goats to be first in line. Our door to the parlor opened upward. As soon as you opened it a crack, they would push their way under it, leaving the larger goats outside, wondering what happened. They were a joy to work with. However, the bottom line is the bottom line. How would the numbers stack up?

We were paid for our milk on a formula based on the protein and butterfat content of the milk. All of our milk was going into cheese, and cheese yield is directly correlated to butterfat and protein content. Casein has an impact too, but was not considered in the price. As higher butterfat and protein content translates to higher dollars, it behooves you to shoot for that, unless you just like to haul water. Butterfat and protein are usually lowest in May and June. In May of 2005 our herd average was 3.77% BF, 3.11% Pro with a tank average of 5.4 lbs. of milk per day per goat. Keep in mind that tank average is different than what you might expect from a one day milk test. Tank average is the actual amount of milk shipped for the month divided by the number of days and number of goats milked. It does not take into consideration milk used for personal consumption or milk used to feed kids. It only takes into account the milk actually sold. Butterfat and Protein were derived from a sample drawn directly from the milk tank. The price we received, based on the formula, was $29.53/cwt or 29.53 cents per pound. In order to see how the Kinders and Minis compared, I measured their milk and sent in a sample to be tested for BF & Protein. As I had no way to keep their milk separate from the rest of the herd, I did a one day milk test on all of them using a milk meter. The sample was a composite sample drawn from the receiver before it went to the milk tank. Some people “fudge” their one day milk tests by not milking for several hours beforethe test, but we milked at the same times every day so the tests were accurate, though skewed from a tank average. No attempt was made to differentiate between Kinders and Minis as their milk components and size are very similar. Our May Kinder and Mini average was 5 lbs. milk per day per goat with 4.98% BF and 3.92% Protein. The price we would have received for their milk would have been $37.85/cwt versus the $29.53/cwt we received for the herd average. June herd average was 5.4 lbs. milk at 3.45% BF and 3.14% Protein. Kinder and Mini average was 5 lbs. milk at 4.12% BF and 4.25% Protein. Kinder and Mini milk would have brought $37.48/cwt versus $28.82/cwt for the herd average. Our feed costs at the time were running $13/cwt of milk sold. That included all of the feed used during the year divided by the milk sold for the year. Therefore, all of the feed used during the dry period, and all of the feed used for replacements, and all of the bedding was included in the cost per cwt. When you deduct feed costs from the equation, Kinders and Minis come out the winners by a large margin, about 30%. Daily income over feed costs for herd average in May comes out at $0.89 versus $1.24 for Kinders and Minis. The numbers for June are similar, with $0.85 for the herd and $1.22 for the Kinders and Minis.

I realize that my results are a little skewed because I used tank average for the herd and one day milk test for the Kinders and Minis, so I pulled production, BF and Protein numbers for all the major dairy breeds directly from ADGA to see how they would compare. Using their numbers against my pricing and feed costs, I came up with the following: Income over feed costs were $1.04/day for Alpine, $1.32/day for Nubian, $1.06/day for Saanen, $0.91/day for Toggenburg, and $1.02/day for LaMancha. Actual tank averages for these breeds would be lower. Why are tank averages lower? The most obvious reason is that the milk fed to kids is not added in. However, there are other reasons that may not be so obvious. People will “cull” on paper some of the goats they really haven’t culled. What do I mean by that? When people milk test their goats, often the marginal ones won’t be tested, because they don’t want to spend the money or they want to appear more successful than they really are. This skews the numbers for the whole breed. If they were selling the milk, it would be going into the tank, so even the marginal goats would be counted in the tank average. We’ve all kept goats that should have been culled, either because we needed the milk or we were so busy we didn’t notice the ones that needed to go.

Just a note on culling. Always be aware of what you are looking for. If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Sometimes we are afraid to cull because we are unsure of our ability to choose the right thing. If you need direction, read everything you can get your hands on by Gearld Fry, Jan Bonsma, Jim Lents, and James Drayson. Yes, they are talking about cattle, but most of what they say can be applied to goats. The things they say about dual purpose cows relate especially well to Kinders and Minis. These men are God’s gift to us. Take advantage of their wisdom.

Also, do what’s right. Yes, you must always sell off the bottom, but you need to sell some off the top, too. It’s the right thing to do. I always sold goats that were about 2 months into their 5^th lactation. That’s when they are at their peak. They will bring more money at that point than at any other time of their life. Don’t miss that window of opportunity. You already have gotten 5 sets of kids and the milk from 4 lactations from these goats, so let someone else benefit from their subsequent lactations. They will pay you well, and the fact that you sell some good goats will pay off in the kids and culls you sell later on. You will improve all of the goats in the area eventually by putting great goats out there. I’ve seen it happen. You will see goats popping up all over that show your genetics. That’s good for the industry, not just good for you.

We ended up selling out in the fall of 2005, before we were able to change the whole herd to Kinders and Minis. If I were milking today, I would be milking exclusively Kinders and Minis. I would leave the big goats to the masses. The masses are always wrong. If I were to design another parlor, I would put in a double 14 for 1 milker, double 12 at a minimum. I would make the headgates shorter and tighten up the spacing to fit Kinders and Minis better. If I were to design for two milkers, I would put in a double 28, double 24 at the minimum. We were milking in a double 20, too many for 1 milker, not quite enough for 2. Milking is all about efficiency. It wasn’t terrible, but we could have handled more. I know a dairy that was milking 100 goats in a single 8 parlor. That would have driven me nuts. We had nothing behind the goats in the parlor. Most people have some kind of fencing behind the goats to keep them from jumping off. It’s unnecessary, and only gets in your way, wasting time. They can be trained not to jump off. If they insist on jumping off, they get a ride to the sale barn. I understand why people give their goats things to play on, but if they learn to jump when they are little, they will jump off the milking platform when they are older. We raised our kids in pens made from 30” tall hog panels. It was handy, because we could step over them. People would ask why the kids didn’t jump out. It was simple. They didn’t know they could. When they went into the pen, they were too little to jump out, and by the time they came out, they didn’t realize they had grown enough to do it.

What started, for us, as a way to get more winter milk, ultimately led us to goats that were easier to handle and more profitable. Good things often come in small packages.

A huge thank you to Henry Nordloh for writing this wonderfully informative article! The information provided is invaluable!

Thurl to Thurl? Why does that matter?

August 14, 2013 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

By Laura Kennett

Understanding all aspects of good rump structure is an important part of being a responsible goat breeder. Breeding and selling goats isn’t something to be taken lightly. Each breeder bears the responsibilty of producing quality offspring that preserve or improve the quality of the breed and match the breed standard.

One aspect of rump structure that is not often talked about and is poorly understood is levelness from thurl to thurl. This trait is important in both bucks and does, as pelvic structure is a trait that is typically passed down from generation to generation. Because I couldn’t have said it better myself, I have taken several excerpt from a well written article by Maxine Kinne on the structure and capacity of the goat pelvis.

The rump is much more than a handy place for the tail – it is integral to standing, walking, breeding and kidding. Simple everyday functions require good pelvic conformation. Reproduction also depends on the pelvis – breeding, carrying the pregnancy, delivery and feeding kids. Good pelvic structure helps the goat toward a comfortable, productive life, and selecting for it should be a high priority.

Small or poorly shaped pelvis often result in arthritic wear on the thurl joints and repetitive strain to the rear legs and feet. The thurls (hips) are ball-and-socket joints joining the hind legs to the pelvis. The shape and slope of the pelvis determine hind leg angulation and the width between the rear legs. Pelvic abnormalities create rear leg abnormalities, such as one or both stifles deviated outward or post-leggedness. Too short a pelvis very seriously handicaps the ability to give birth normally.

Pelvic Dimensions

(taken from article by Shelene Costello)

Length and width are the dimensions we see when we look at the rump. There is length from hips to pins, width from thurl to thurl, and width between the pin bones. Levelness of the rump is also taken into account, meaning a flatter rump from side to side. This does not mean horizontal to the ground – it means that the rump is more flat. Each part of the rump is important unto itself and as it correlates with the whole. Length and width should be more nearly level, not flat or rounded or steep in slope.

Rump showing excellent levelness and width from thurl to thurl

A good combination of pelvic length and the levelness from thurl to thurl correlate positively with kidding ease. Widely spaced thurls result in widely spaced rear legs. This width gives stability to the rear legs and width to the pelvic inlet (birth canal) on the inside. Thurls should be high enough to impart levelness of the rump from side-to-side. Increasing rump steepness from spine to thurl compresses pelvic width and interferes with kidding ease by compressing birth canal width. Total length of the pelvis should be medium long, a measurement which is proportionate to the goat’s size. Pelvic length equates with kidding ease better than pelvic width, although both dimensions are important to have together.

This doe had good width from thurl to thurl, but

is less level than the doe pictured above.

Goats with questionable pelvic structure should not be used for breeding. If she cannot deliver or be manually delivered vaginally the first time she gives birth, don’t breed her again, and castrate her buck kids. Making pelvic capacity an important criteria in your selection program is the most important decision you can make with regard to the future productivity of your herd. A short pelvis is often more steep and rounded from thurl to thurl than it should be.

Excessive slope from spine down to thurls

also creates less width in the pelvic area

The benefits to breeding for goats with correct pelvis structure are numerous. Longevity, better attached and better quality udders, ease of kidding, and lower vet bills are just the obvious benefits. Make sure you evaluate all aspects of rump structure in your goats, and be willing to cull those who don’t measure up. You’re doing yourself, and many other people who might buy goats that have their heritage from your farm, a huge favor.

Milk Testing

March 10, 2013 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

Thank you, Sue Huston, for this wonderful article on milk testing:

How much milk is that Kinder doe giving? Just because she feed three kids are her udder looks full are maybe you are milking three does and the gallon bucket is about full with this specific doe probably giving half of this. Is this your answer to the quantity of milk this doe is milking? If so then you really don’t have any idea to the milking ability of this doe.

You don’t think that the amount of milk being given by a certain doe is important? Well it may not seem important as long as you are getting enough milk for the family are the kids seem to be growing well. If you are selling Kinder stock then the real milking ability in you herd is very important and you need facts to prove each and every does milking capability. You might have someone looking for does to milk in a diary situation. You would be more likely to make a sale if you had the figures on all your does giving not only the quantity of milk but also the amount of butterfat and protein. Kinder does in general have higher butterfat content than many of the other breeds which make them great candidates for cheese plants.

There are several options available to those interested in milk testing. There is individual official testing, group testing and one-day testing. Each will give you official test results. If you cannot afford any of these then just keeping personnel records would certainly be better than not testing. The KGBA can furnish forms for your personnel use. There will be links with discussion on the official tests available in the following paragraphs. I thought you might be interested in reading this web page:

How to Get Started on DHI Milk Test with ADGA.

http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/showthread.php?t=136415&referrerid The Kinder Association use the same rules for DHIR testing as ADGA so for a Kinder doe to earn her star she must meet the same requirements as that of an ADGA doe. Please view each of the videos in the link above whether you plan to do DHIR testing or not. Langston does such a wonderful job and offers so much for breeders.

You can decide on official testing, group testing or one-day testing to prove the milking ability of your herd. I think official milk testing has been explained fully in the link above. If there are 3 or more breeders in your area that all wish to become testers then they can test each other’s herds monthly OR you can each do the Owner/Sampler Test Option and run Verification Tests on each other’s herds. There are breeders, having a friend living near by to become an official tester, that friend can then come to test their herd. Testing can be done at shows too making it possible for several breeders to participate in a one-day testing.

I hear so much about record keeping programs. Milk testing is a great program for record keeping for your herd. Not only are you proving the milking ability of that doe but that buck and all those daughters and sons in the line.

One-Day Test is considered a separate event, which requires a separate sanction and registration fee. Contact KGBA regarding these fees. Points in One-Day Testing are earned by the quantity of milk produced, length of time since kidding and butterfat content. A Kinder doe must earn 18 points or more to earn a star in One-Day Testing. Below is the system used to calculate these points.

Milk Point System

One point per pound of milk produced, calculated to within one decimal point.

One-tenth (0.1) point for every complete 10-day period that the doe has been in milk since her last kidding, with a maximum of three and six tenths (3.6) points or 360 days.

One point for every five one-hundredths (0.05) pounds of butterfat yielded.

Milk weighs about 8.4 lbs. per gallon. Below are the figures from a 2000 One-Day Test. Notice that only one doe receives enough points (18 or more) to make her star. The other does scores are good and ones that I am proud of. These are official scores and prove that these Kinder does are good milking does even if they did not make their stars. Ebony milked about 1-½ gallons in One-Day Testing with a total of 22.7 points thus making her star

Milking testing is the only way to prove that your Kinder does are truly good milking Kinder.

Sue Huston

Meat yields on the dual purpose Kinder Goat

February 21, 2013 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

The Kinder is a dual purpose goat used for both milk and meat. The meat aspect has been neglected by many breeders. Our beloved Kinders have become more dairy in type sacrificing meat production for milk production. While for many milk is all they want, a breeder needs to keep in mind the fact that usually about half the kids are bucks. Not all bucks should be kept as bucks. On average only 1 out of 10 is truly buck quality. What do you do with the rest of those darling little fellows. True, you can wether them and sell them as pets or brush clearers but that market saturates fast.

In our area there are a couple of meat goat buyers. They pay by the pound and their price depends on the type of goat. Dairy kids bring less per pound that meat kids. I have worked on my marketing with the meat goat buyer I use and he knows that my kids pack meat. I am now getting the same price per pound for my Kinder boys as he pays for the Boer kids.

If you are planning on slaughtering any kids this year please keep records and let me know what the live weight, carcass weight and actual meat weight wrapped is.

The chart below will show some of the yields that come from well bred Kinder kids.

Kinder goat carcass yields
	Live wt. lbs	hanging wt lbs	boneless meat lbs
Doe SH	120	59	33
Doe SH	140	71	41
Doe SH	134	62	32
Wether SH	61.5	30	18
Doe SH	135	67	39
Doe SH	138	68	39
GJ Wether	82	41	23
GJ Buck 17 mos	170	90	45
GJ Doe 18 mos	99	47	30
GJ doe 9 mos	95	43	26
GJ Crytorchid 6 mos	92	51	35
GJ Buck 7 mos	89	49	32
GJ Wether 7 mos	80	44	30
GJ Buck 7 mos	70	39	23

For more information on Kinders as meat goats look in the blog archives in 2012 October Kinders as Meat goats.

Jean Jajan

Conformation – Part 2 – Legs

January 2, 2013 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

Breed standards sometimes mention aesthetic aspects of our goats, such as color, ear size, etc., but the main purpose of these standards is to identify the qualities that make our goats more sturdy, healthy, productive and long-lived, and make them requirements for our ideal. Every fault in your goat’s legs increases their chance of lameness, discomfort, and loss in productivity, so careful attention to faults in this area when buying and breeding goats is important.

When looking at the leg as a whole, the Kinder goat breed standard calls for legs that are “moderately heavy boned but not coarse. Strong, sturdy, straight, wide apart, providing ample height for udder clearance. Pasterns medium length. Strong and springy with proper slope. Rear legs when viewed from behind set wide apart and straight; when viewed from the side, well angulated from thurl to hock. Hock cleanly molded, straight from hock to pastern.”

When looking for the ideal, it is sometimes easier to see and avoid obvious faults than to find perfection, so I’ll proceed by listing and describing the most common legs faults:

Weak Pasterns
The pastern is the length of leg from the hoof to the first knuckle, or basically up to their dewclaws. Ideally, this part of their leg should be short and almost vertical. The longer and more sloped the pastern is, the more risk there is of it breaking down as a goat ages, or as the weight of pregnancy and milk take their toll.

Here are a young doeling and adult doe with good pasterns:

I would consider this doe one whose pasterns I need to watch – being only 2 1/2 years old, I would like to see her pasterns a bit more straight. I would only breed her to bucks with very strong pasterns:

The following two photos are of poor front and rear pasterns. These pasterns are long and weak, allowing the leg to fall much lower and further behind the hoof than ideal:

Sickle and/or Cow Hocked:
Not only do turned in knees cause weakness in the rear end of the goat, but in milking does, they often rub on the doe’s udder, causing damage and sores as well as discomfort.

Rear legs too much in front of or behind the vertical:
When viewed from the side standing naturally, you should be able to draw a straight line perpendicular to the ground from the pin bone down through the hock to the ankle. Take care that the goat is not post-legged though.

Post-legged:
Viewed from the side, the rear legs of a post-legged will look almost straight, with no bend at the knee or dip above the hock. Without adequate angle to their hocks, these goats loose the shock absorption that correct angles allow. It can also cause the hips to be higher than the goat’s front end, putting all of her weight on her front end.
This buck is a bit post-legged – even standing with his rear legs very far under him, you can see the lack of angle in his knee:

Wing shoulders:
Loose attachment between the ribcage and the humerus. In a goat with good attachments, the elbow is held tightly to their side, while one with loose attachments will have space between their body and elbow. Wing shoulders will decrease the strength in the front end of the goat, causing fatigue and discomfort. The way this doe is standing exaggerates how much her elbow protrudes, but makes for a good example of winged shoulders:

These problems can vary a great deal in severity, from almost unnoticeable to so extreme that they affect the movement of the goat. When choosing goats and breeding pairs, taking your goats’ leg strengths and weakness into account will allow you to breed for stronger, sturdier kids and goats that “stand” the test of time!