Sue Huston

A Tribute to Sue Huston

August 13, 2021 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

June 18, 1936 – Oct 19, 2019

October 2020 marks one year since the Kinder Goat Breeders Association lost one of our most influential and beloved members. Sue Huston of Bramble Patch Kinders began her journey with Kinder goats shortly after the breed was developed and quickly became a driving force in the breed’s growth and success. From the day she fell in love with Kinders to today, she touched the lives of many breeders and will be greatly missed.

Sue married the love of her life, Tommy Huston, in October of 1954. She was just 18 years old and had known him for less than a year, but they both knew it was meant to be. Sue and Tommy were right together. They raised a family of two sons (Mark and Mikel), a daughter (Tammy), and too many animals to count. They were still very much in love when Tommy passed 63 years later. In the last few years, Sue spoke fondly of seeing him again in heaven. Of all that Sue accomplished, she was most proud of her family and her goats. She loved spending time with her children and grandchildren and loved telling stories about them to whoever would listen. She loved talking goats!

Sue wanted goats since she was a child, but with the demands of work and family, she wasn’t able to make that dream come true until 1992. By then, her children were grown, and she had more time on her hands, so she started thinking about getting the goats she wanted so badly. That year, the Hustons went to a goat show where they saw an article in Small Farm Today about Kinder goats. They decided then and there that Kinders were the breed for them. Their journey began with a great deal of trial and error, but the Hustons eventually settled on a few strong Nubian lines and a single Pygmy buck to form the foundation of their herd. Bramble Patch Kinders was named for their farm business selling blackberries and raspberries to local customers, for which their little dual purpose goats served a third purpose clearing old bushes and creating mulch for the berry bushes. It was a match made in heaven.

Craig & Lisa Lamm, Sue, and Pat Showalter 2014

One of the accomplishments Sue was most proud of was her contribution to bringing the Kinder goat to the Missouri State Fair. The other breed associations thought little of Kinder goats and argued that the barns were full, but the Hustons fought tirelessly and eventually they were allowed to exhibit. They brought the Kinder goat to a much bigger audience. The first year that the Hustons showed at the county fair, Harvey Considine judged the show. He agreed to help them improve their own herd while working with the Association nationally to create a goat that could hold its own in the goat world.

Through the years, Sue was a constant supporter of the Kinder goat and the Association. She volunteered on the KGBA board for years and was always quick to lend a hand or give advice to new breeders. She was constantly trying to help other Kinder owners in any way that she could – often allowing other breeders to use her bucks free of charge and giving goats to many children that wanted to show at the fair and start their own herds. Luckily, BPK genetics can be found in most of today’s herds, so the outstanding genetics that Sue worked so hard to achieve will continue to influence the Kinder goat for years to come.

Sue’s kindness and generosity have impacted so many – she will be dearly missed and remembered lovingly by all that had the good luck to know her. We love you, Sue!

Linebreeding Case Study: Bramble Patch Kinders

February 5, 2021 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

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.

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

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

Choosing a Buck

September 6, 2012 by Kinder Goat Breeders Association

by Sue Huston

There are those that say a buck is 50% of the herd, but there are others that believe that the buck gives more than 50%. Either way that buck should be chosen with great care.

To begin, look at his dam to see what her general conformation is and especially look at her udder. Does she have a good udder attachment? Is her rear udder held high keeping the udder out of harms way? Does her fore udder blend smoothly from the udder to the belly? Does she milk well and does she milk easily.

When choosing a buck look at his general conformation that he is level across the top and that he does not have a sloping rump. The Kinder goat is a dual purpose goat so the buck needs to carry fleshing in this front end, neck and shoulder area. Take a good look at the rear of the animal. His hind legs need to be spaced far apart with good angulation to those hind legs. That scrotal attachment needs to be high and tight, the scrotal should be even and not loop sided.

The feet and legs of the buck should be strong making sure that he is not weak in his pasterns. The toes should be close together so as not to toe out. If buying a mature buck make sure he is not over the breed standard which is 28 inches. You do not want a buck with very long legs like those of the dairy animals but you want an animal that has shorter legs that will give you the dual purpose Kinder.

Remember that there are very few male Kinder that should be used as a herd sire. Take time and look closely at the buck that you are going to buy to improve your herd. Buy the best that you can afford and buy from a reputable breeder.

(Watch for upcoming articles that discuss and illustrate each of the conformational qualities discussed in this article!)