Here is a picture of one that you must cull. Pay attention to all parts of your goats because this animal should never be bred nor should it be sold for breeding.
Conformation
Thoughts
We are coming to the close of Evaluate Your Own Goat, there are a few things that I need to mention in regard to breeding the best possible Kinder goat.
You want to breed for that big robust animal with a huge front end and lots of extension of brisket. You want the fleshing over the shoulders. You want those big necks that blend into those shoulders.
You want that animal to have a smooth and level top line that begins at the neck and goes all the way to the tail.
You want a rump that is not sloping. You want an udder that is high and tight. You want capacity in that udder, not an udder the size of a grapefruit. You want an udder that fills that escutcheon area. This what they mean when they mention the capacity of udder. You must have that capacity of udder to get a good volume of milk per day.
Care needs to be taken not to breed an animal that is too tall. We do not want to breed just another dairy animal we are breeding a dual purpose animal. Maximun height at the withers is 26 inches for does and 28 for bucks. If you don’t where the withers are on your goat then click on Older Post and find the illustration showing the parts of a Kinder goat. Take a yardstick and measure at the withers.
Don’t just buy a buck, be very critical when buying or using a herd sire. Look at his dams udder, ask how much she milks. If possible ask to milk her to see the ease of milking. Look at the overall conformation of the dam. Once again watch that rump! That buck is more than 50% of your herd so pay very close attention to him.
Width, teat placement and top line in doelings
Here are some important things to look for in your doelings. Width in the escutcheon (width between the rear legs). This shows the room for an udder.Teat placement, size and shape. Look for teats that are hanging plum and of nice size.
Look for a smooth and level top line. Watch that rump that it is not sloping. Look for levelness in the chine (this is the area right behind the shoulder blades).
Look at the rear legs that they do not turn inward.
Udder Height and Fore Udder
You will notice in the illustration of the fore udder that there are pockets shown in the fore. Some times after a does second kidding some of this pocket fills in. Notice the photo that follows of a good rear and fore udder in a Kinder doe.
Rear and Fore Udder
This is a nice rear udder attachment. Notice on the fore udder how it blends itself into the belly area. This was a 1 in fore udder.
Teat Size and Shape
Teat size is very important in the ease of milking but orfice size is more important. A smaller teat with a nice size orfice can be milked with ease. A larger teat might look like a doe is easily milked when in fact this might not be true because of a smaller orfice size.