Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee

For the past 3 or 4 years I have been reading the website of the sanctuary and checking out the ele-cam. This is such an enjoyable site. The workers keep diaries for the individual elies and after a while you feel like you know them. I have shared the joys and sorrows with them, bought things from the web store and donated small amounts of money.

This is off topic for the blog but I know that goat lovers would also be animal lovers. I encourage you and your children to check out this website and enjoy getting to know these gentle giants.

http://www.elephants.com/

I've had a soft spot in my heart for Shirley ever since I saw her story on a TV documentary about 10 years ago. She was the lone elephant at a zoo in St. Louis or someplace and she had an aging but devoted keeper who pampered her and talked to her like a dear child. It was sad to see the old friends part. However, Shirley is no doubt happy and thriving in her retirement running around the hills of Tennessee with her friends.

DIY Microscope using Webcam and Toy Microscope

This is so COOL! I haven't done it and I really don't need to, since I had a nice microscope already. So if you are inclined to give this a try, please follow the link and let us know whether it is a success or not. For those of you who don't already know, goat people like to use microscopes for fecals, to identify internal parasites as well as to example semen for sperm count and viability when doing artificial insemination.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-USB-Digital-Microscope-in-60min-and-15/

*B Heaven's Hollow Pistol Pete Collection

The son of SGCH Heaven's Hollow Shotsi *M, 92EEEE and Res. National GCH 2008 and #5 Top Ten milker, is generating a lot of interest because of his impeccable pedigree. Pete is now a working buck. He has been in the pen with most of the does and they are starting to show heavy bellies so no doubt we'll have a lot of babies in a few months.

Pete was collected for AI in November by Biogenics. He was dwarfed by the other bucks, these big old nubian behemoths. The only other young buck there was also an Oberhasli. He was Kirt Schnipke's buck Utterly Crazy Richochet. When it came to "jumping the does" you had to get out of the way for the other bucks, they reminded me of a fancy quarter horse running up and sliding to a stop. But not Petey. He acted like he didn't know what to do.

The collector suggested we take him and the doe outside and try it without the other bucks and people. He got a slow start but after a while he caught on and we collected 27 straws. Kirts buck collected about as well. So it was a successful collection even though the little guy got off to a slow start.

I donated 5 straws to a fund-raising auction on cometothefarm.com for the benefit of OBA. There were two eager bidders and they went for $201! So we'll be shipping it out to Dan who has the Butte Creek herd in Oregon or Northern California. I'm not quite sure which.

I hadn't planned on selling any more but there seems to be enough interest that I'm going to see if I can have him collected a second time after the first of the year. If you are interested in a purchase let me know. I'm not certain I will be selling any more this winter and spring but it is a possibility, and I can start a waiting list.

Every spring is an exciting time. I am so fortunate to have owned and used such fine bucks. My foundation bucks were so precious and choosing and buying them all those years ago was such a matter of beginner's luck. Last year I used the son of GCH Vassajara Vada, 91EEEE, Top Ten, and an Elite doe. These are some of the prettiest kids ever born here.

Using fine bucks, generation after generation, the quality of the herd progresses every year. Pete is bred to about 15 does, many of them daughters and granddaughters of our dear late FDF-Pleasant Fields Solaris, son of GCH Destiny Farm Souvenir 91EEEE, 2X Res. National GCH.

Artificial Lighting Increases Milk Yield in Dairy Ewes

I hope I'm not boring you with scientific or technical articles, in this case an abstract. I have feeds for these things and when I see something interesting, I want to share it. This study was with dairy sheep, but they certainly are similar to dairy goats.

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Artificial Lighting During Winter Increases Milk Yield in Dairy Ewes

A. D. Morrissey, A. W. N. Cameron and A. J. Tilbrook¹

Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia

¹ Corresponding author: alan.tilbrook@med.monash.edu.au

In Australia, the supply of sheep milk is reduced during the winter. Housing dairy animals under lights during winter is a simple technique to increase milk yield; however, it is difficult to predict the magnitude of this increase in dairy ewes, because there are few corroborating data. We studied 220 East Friesian crossbred ewes (50 primiparous and 170 multiparous ewes, respectively) that lambed in April to May 2007 (late autumn, southern hemisphere) and were weaned from their lambs within 24 h of parturition and milked exclusively by machine. These ewes were ranked according to their milk production, and ewes producing 1,000 mL/d of milk were allocated to 1 of 2 groups. One group of ewes was kept indoors under a long-day photoperiod (16 h of light), whereas the other group was kept indoors under a naturally declining day length. Ewes were maintained under these conditions for 8 wk. Milk yield was measured twice weekly, and ewe weight and condition were measured at weekly intervals. From a subset of ewes (n = 20 per group), milk samples were collected twice weekly at the morning milking to measure milk lipid, protein, and lactose, and blood samples were collected once a week to measure plasma prolactin concentrations. Mean daily milk yield was analyzed as a percentage of preexperimental milk yield because the milk yield of ewes housed under the long photoperiod was lower than that of ewes under a declining day length when the treatments began. Thus, the ewes under a long photoperiod yielded 91.7% of their starting yield by wk 8 of treatment, whereas ewes under a declining day length yielded 76.25% of their initial value (LSD = 5.1), and this divergence in milk yield was apparent by wk 2 of treatment. Mean plasma prolactin levels were greater in ewes housed under the long-day photoperiod (n = 20) compared with control ewes (n = 20) at wk 6 (168 ± 27 vs. 72 ± 19 ng/mL, respectively), wk 7 (125 ± 28 vs. 37 ± 7 ng/mL, respectively), and wk 8 of the experiment (132 ± 35 vs. 31 ± 7 ng/mL, respectively). The composition of the milk was similar between the groups at each time point, and milk from these ewes (n = 20 per group) contained, on average, 6.1 ± 0.05% lipid, 4.8 ± 0.02% protein, and 5.4 ± 0.01% lactose (n = 309 samples). We concluded that ewes increase milk production in response to being housed under a long-day photoperiod during winter.

J. Dairy Sci. 2008. 91:4238-4243. doi:10.3168/jds.2007-0918
© 2008 American Dairy Science Association ®

OBA Picture Calendars available

Jillian announced this on OberhasliTalk today:

tervherd@yahoo.com writes:

Hello Everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that the 2009 OBA Photo calendar is available
for purchase.

Sneak peek images of the calendar are available in the files section
of OberhasliTalk under OBA Fundraising.

_http://tech.http://tech.http://techttp://tech.<Whttp://techttp://tech.http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/OberhasliTalk/files/OBA%20Fundraising/)

make PAYPAL payment to:
_secretary@oberhaslisecr_ (mailto:secretary@oberhasli.net) for the total
amount.

These beautiful professionally printed calendars sport full color
photos of lovely Oberhasli. The photo titles are humorous and
creative. Each calendar is only $17.25 and that includes shipping by
first class mail. We can even send them to friends on your behalf.

If you are following this blog and are bit by the Oberhasli bug or if you know someone who might like this, say a 4H leader, please use the email address above or me at lm12oliver@hotmail.com and we'll make sure you get one or more. They may be available at the NAILLE show in Louisville, KY next month as well.

SGCH Willow Run Hassida *M

This is three time national champion, Willow Run Hassida. Not only is she quite a show girl, she was a top ten milker.

This doe is related to my foundation buck, FDF-Pleasant Fields Solaris. Sol's dam is Hassida's grand dam, specifically GCH Destiny Farm Souvenir, two time Reserve Natl GCH.

Hassida was the national champion once again in 2008 with Heaven's Hollow Shotsi, my new buck's dam, in Reserve. Both of these does classified 92 the highest scores in the Oberhasli breed.

Laboratory Determination of Fat in Milk

The following is straight from my college nutrition lab book. Please leave comments if you have questions and cannot find answer on internet. I'll try to help.

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Milk is a colloidal dispersion and contains water-soluble solutes as well as insoluble material. Fatty compounds are generally insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents like hexane, chloroform, etc. The determination of fat in milk will require extraction of fat in an organic solvent. Direct treatment of such an organic solvent generally produces an emulsion at the junction pf twp solvents (water from milk and organic solvent.)

The problem can be solved in various ways. One of the simple methods is to first precipitate the proteins and then filter them out. Proteins can be precipitated out by trichloroacetic acid, acetic acid (vinegar), and heavy metals or by adding large amount of salt.

REQUIREMENTS: Milk sample to be analyzed, suitable reagent for precipitation of proteins, organic solvent to extract fatty compounds, filter equipment or a centrifuge, evaporating dish or beaker, separatory funnel, balance (scale).

PROCEDURE:

1. Weight a 250 ml size beaker. Place 100 ml of milk sample in it and record the total weight. From these weights find out the weight of milk.

2. Add 40% solution of trichloroacetic acid (be careful) solution or acetic acid solution (vinegar from a supermarket) whichever is provided to you. Stir continuously and continue the addition of a reagent until the precipitation is complete. If a pH meter is available check the pH of the milk sample. You may use pH paper. The pH should be 4.0 or less than 4.0. The pH of normal milk sample is generally close to neutral pH (i.e., pH 7.0).

3. If a centrifuge is available, centrifuge the sample carefully in the pre-weighed centrifuge tubes for 25 minutes at 4000 rpm.

Pour the supernatant into a clean beaker. If a centrifuge is not available, filter the ppt (precipitate) using pre-weighed Whatman 52 or fine grade filter paper.

4. Now add approximately 20 ml of hexane or petroleum ether or the solvent recommended by your instructor to the filtrate or the supernatant (liquid separated after centrifugation).

Stir well and pour the contents into a separatory flask. Allow the two liquid layers to separate as clearly as possible. You may add approximately 4 ml of methanol if you see emulsion or scum like cloudy or milky interface.

5. Separate the organic layer. Depending on the density of the solvent used, the organic solvent will be either upper or lower layer. Collect the organic layer in weighed evaporating dish or a small beaker.

6. The water layer should be treated with 20 ml of the fresh organic solvent for the extraction of fat. Then separate clear organic solvent.

7. Repeat the extraction two more times. Collect all the extracted fat solutions in the same container.

8. If air current is available dry over such air jets and weigh the beaker/evaporating dish. Otherwise, dry it over a boiling water bath.

CALCULATIONS:

Weight of beaker:

Weight of milk and beaker:

WEight of milk used: (in other words, net weight)

WEight of dish:

Weight of dish plus dried fat:

Weight of fat: (in other words, net weight)

% fat content = [weight of fat X100]/Weight of milk sample

%fat content = [weight of fat X 100]/Weight of milk used

SAMPLE CALCULATIONS:

Wt. of beaker: 25.5 g
Wt of beaker + milk: 115.0 g
Wt. of milk = 115.0 - 25.5 = 89.5 g
Wt of dish:35.8 g
Wt of dish and dried fat: 39.8 g
Wt of fat= 39.8 g - 35.8 g = 4.0 g
% fat content = [4.0 g X 100]/89.5 g = 400/89.5 = 4.47%. This might be a homogenized milk sample.

***************

"Laboratory Manual for Introductory Course in Nutrition," by Kris Dhawale, Professor of Chemistry, IU East, Richmond, IN. 2003The following is straight from my college nutrition lab book. Please leave comments if you have questions and cannot find answer on internet. I'll try to help.

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DAIRY MANAGEMENT: EVERY SECOND COUNTS

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN WITH COW DAIRIES IN MIND BUT I FOUND IT VERY HELPFUL FOR GOAT DAIRY MANAGEMENT AS WELL.

**********************

Dairy Management: Every Second Counts

The little things we do during milking time have a profound effect on udder health and milk quality. It is important to remember that every quarter of every cow must be prepped for milking the same way by every milker at every milking.

Specifics of milking procedures may vary from farm to farm. For example, one farm may prep cows in sets of 4 cows, while the next farm preps in sets of 6. However, the basics of timing should ideally be the same or similar on every farm.

The first important time frame to remember relates to contact time of the teat dip being used as pre-dip. The contact time of teat dips applied before milking need to be on the teat skin for a minimum of 30 seconds to have adequate killing effect. During this time, the quarters can be stripped, but the dip needs to remain on the teat skin for the full 30 seconds prior to wiping.

In addition to contact time, we must ensure that the “prep-lagtime” has an average length of 90 seconds from start of tactile stimulation. Prep-Lag-Time by definition is the time from the start of either stripping, massaging or wiping the teats with a towel, whichever comes first, to unit attachment. On some farms this is stripping and others it is wiping, depending on the order of your preparation procedures. If we attach the units prior to the 60-second mark, we have not given adequate time for oxytocin to reach a useful concentration in the udder. On the flip side, we need to ensure units are attached within 90 seconds of stimulation to make maximum use of the letdown effect. I encourage you to take a stop-watch to the parlor, check your timing of milking procedures and make necessary adjustments to your routine until you are within these time frames.

One suggested protocol would include prepping cows in blocks of 4 or 5. Begin with the first cow by removing lose debris with a towel, then stripping each quarter and examine the milk for signs of mastitis. This would be repeated for the remaining cows in that block. Start back at the first cow of the block (do not weave back through the cows in reverse order) and apply the predip ensuring at least half of the teat is covered. Once the entire block has been predipped, begin wiping the first cow of the block with a single-use towel.

At this point, you should be able to also attach the unit before wiping the second cow of the block. However, check your timing and make sure a full 60 seconds have elapsed from the time that cow was stripped. If you are shy of the 60-second mark, continue wiping the remaining cows in the block and then return to attach the units, starting at the first cow.

Once you have a routine established, you will need to monitor the routine monthly to ensure the time frames are being met. Proper milking procedures will help to lower somatic cell count, increase pounds in the tank and decrease milk out time.


By Christina Petersson-Wolfe (Extension Dairy Scientist, Milk Quality & Milking Management)
Dairy Pipeline newsletter - Virginia Cooperative Extension


Published 10/10/2008

Source: Virginia Cooperative Extension Dairy Pipeline

Head Shot of Cherokee, the heaviest unofficial milker in Ohio

This is Cherokee, aka Grandma, taken probably the year before we lost her. I have other pictures of her body but they are not digital and I never seem to organize myself enough to get them somewhere to scan them.

She was a beautiful doe, with a champion body and an "old fashioned" udder. My hands couldn't take the milking. I had to have someone relieve me, milk her more and then I would finish her off.

So, if you want to see her pedigree, look up Natl. Trail WSWN Cherokee on ADGA genetics.

Best Oberhasli

For a while I couldn't quite make the seasonal adjustment from summer to autumn. It was so hot so long. This week we have finally got our 50 degree good sleeping weather nights and a few dry leaves are starting to hit the lawn. Pumpkins, gourds, mums decorate the yard.

And the bucks smell to high heaven.

Our new buck Pete is doing his buck job. He's in with the girls and I seeing him chasing one, then another. He's a busy guy. I haven't seen him actually breed any of them but I don't have to. I know he's doing his job.

On OberhasliTalk@yahoogroups.com recent we had a discussion about memorable Oberhasli goats we have known. I told the story of my first modern Oberhasli. I wanted to copy and paste it here but can't seem to find it. Airhead me must have deleted it. So I'll just tell it again.

In 2001 a really beautiful Oberhasli looking doe fell into my lap. She was half wild. Wouldn't come to me but would milk or lead nicely if I cornered her. At the time we had the goat pen (3 goats) under an apple tree on the east side of the house. We moved it because in the winter the wood stove smoke blows that way. Knowing that smoke isn't good for people I figured it couldn't be good for goats either.

Anyway, we called her "Grandma" and she freshened in the spring with twin bucks, a habit of Grandma her whole life, bucks, bucks, bucks, bucks, doe, bucks. Yes, one daughter in all those years we had her. The goats lived in a shed which was basically a large dog house. I drug my old milk stand out of my dad's barn and put it in the corner and started milking her.

She ate as much as she wanted basically. I milked outside. I milked by hand. If it was raining I didn't milk at all. Here's the neat part. The old girl started filling up the gallon ice cream pail that I was milking into. Then she filled one and part of another. Then at her peak she almost filled up two gallon ice cream pails, two times a day. Yes, that's almost four gallons of milk a day.

And I thought, man, these Oberhasli can really milk!!! That would be about 30# more or less milk and definitely in contention for breed leader, had we been on test. Well, she was a once in a life milker and that was her one glory year. She was a good milker, a persistent milker, but never milked her brains out like that again.

We tracked down her tattoo and the people were kind enough to give me her papers and transfer. Yes, she really was an American Oberhasli with a pedigree going back to some really great Seneca Valley lines and others as well. She was linebred on Seneca Valley Hedrick 20+ times that I counted. Her grandsire on maternal side was Barabbas, a well known buck in this area.

We lost her at 10 years old and even though she was always a free spirit, miss her terribly. Hubby especially liked to treat her. Her took her out apples, starlight mints, crackers, and other treats. In that way she was thoroughly spoiled. I should have called her "Beginners Luck."

Breeding Dairy Goats

Many people probably don't realize that dairy goats are seasonal breeders. They start coming into heat towards the end of August and on through the fall up through about January. Going into breeding season, the bucks are starting to go into rut, which means they get stinky and disgusting.

Although our bucks are sweet as they can be, there are times when you can smell them before you get to the driveway. A couple years ago we wouldn't have company or let anyone come over it was so bad. We sold a litter of pups and I drove them down to the truckstop and met people there in order for them not to come over.

Many people will hand breed their does. That means they have to recognize a doe in heat and then take them to the buck. This has never been a successful technique for me. When I have tried to do this I have missed a couple. So I pen breed. I put the buck in with the does I want him to breed and let them do their thing.

Choosing which bucks to use on what does is just your best hunch. In the past I have had older proven bucks and I pretty much knew what to expect out of their milking daughters. This year and last I have used young bucks with no milking daughters, just relying on their impeccable breeding and the quality of their dams.

Making hay.

Sometimes easy things get so hard!

Hay was in such short supply that this spring I bought a bailer. It's an old baler, but seemed to be well cared for. Bob went over it and greased it where it needed it, etc. But on one side the knotter isn't quite right and he can't seem to get it knotting like it should. So our first cutting of hay has wierd shaped bales or are just bale shaped with no strings at all. We just fed it up.

OK, so he found the son of a friend of ours who works on balers and asked him to come to the house and see if he could fix it. He came out but wasn't really much help. He only works on New Holland and ours is an IH. So now the dad is going to come out and see if he can remember anything about these old things. I forgot to mention that the baler was probably manufactured in the 1950s.

So, Bob went out to mow hay the other day and broke the mower. Mowers are very temperamental. Turns out a wooden slat, called the Pitman arm, was the wrong size and broke. The tractor supply wanted over $100 for essentially a broom handle. Bob got a wooden slat and has drilled holes in it. There was some play in the chain and he thinks he has that fixed.

He was raised on a farm and is used to constantly fixing and tinkering to get things done. It is very frustrating to me, not being mechanically inclined.

Anyway, I would recommend this for other goat people who are having trouble getting enough hay locked in the winter. Buy yourself a baler and make it yourself. That way you won't have to sell goats or horses that you would rather keep.

Several people have called us this year to bale hay on their property as an alternative to them mowing it. Obviously this is because of the high cost of lawn mowing gasoline. We have just taken these jobs when they are close. However, I really think there may be some business opportunities for someone who wants to take this on. In the past we have had to go halves with landlords or bought the hay from them. This way you are getting the hay for just what it costs you to make it. Actually you probably could charge them since you are doing them a service.

Speaking of that Bob says we still have at least $1 a bale in it just due to the gas it costs to run the machinery.

Finally got a good rain last night and this morning. Bad for making hay but great for the garden and pasture!

Oberhasli Breeders of America

For people who raise Oberhasli dairy goats or just people interested in Oberhasli, there is a breed association call for short OBA. OBA was founded from the very people who worked so hard to get the breed out of the alpine herdbooks and established as a separate breed.

The website is Oberhasli.org. One of the Board of Directors is currently in the process of updating the website. On the website you can pay you annual dues by Paypal, which is the way that I do it.

I have the privilege of being on the Board of Directors for the past two years and I'm again running for office. Please vote for me if you are already a member.

If you're not a member, go pay your dues and sign up. There are many special programs that recognize outstanding Oberhasli for both show and milk. We have a very informative newsletter that is sent out several times a year.

Right now a fundraising auction is being planned for OBA. It is on the website cometothefarm.com. Please consider donating or if you see something you like be a bidder or better yet a buyer.

We need feedback about the OBA, so please feel free to leave a comment. What do you like, don't like, would like to see done better?

Tonka Tails Court Jester, the Bizmark of the 2000s

This is *B Tonka Tails Court Jester. He is arguably the most influential buck of this decade. And he figures prominantly in the pedigrees of elite animals in the breed and in my own herd as well.

The founding buck of my herd: *B FDF-Pleasant Fields Solaris was the last son of two time national reserve champion in the '90s, GCH Destiny Farm Souvenir *M 91EEEE. The sire of Solaris was a grandson of Tonka Tails Court Jester.

My new buck, *B Heaven's Hollow Pistol Pete is grandson of Court Jester as well. His sire White Haven Sousa 92EEE is a Court Jester son.

On their website Dauberts a few years ago mentioned that they still had Court Jester but he appeared to be sterile. That must not have been the case because he sired more kids in the last few years, including a spotlight animal. When someone on OberhasliTalk asked about a picture of Court Jester, Dauberts made a rare post and said that he is still alive and looking great. That was about this time last year. I sure hope he is still alive and kicking. Jester was collected and there is still some semen around that people are using from time to time on their best does.

Just as an example or two, here are some winning animals at 2008 nationals and how they are related to Court Jester. Ober-Boerd Jayda was the eye popping gorgeous yearling daughter of Tonka Tails Tipperary Prince, a Court Jester son. A CJ 3year old daughter was 14 place, SG Tonka Tails's Jester's Vanity. First place 4 year old was SGCH Tonka Tails Violet of Toulouse (a former National junior champion) is a grand daughter out of SGCH Tonka Tails Jester's Mischief who is a high scoring excellent doe but I'm not sure of the score right now. There are more; these are just a couple.

These are my observations and opinions. If you want to agree or disagree or if you know of an euqlly influential buck compared to Court Jester, please post a comment I would love to read it.

Cabbage Leaves!

This is the time of year my goats are the most happy. The neighbor is starting to cut cabbage every morning and then every afternoon, my goat/pigs get a nice pile of cabbage leaves and a few cull heads of cabbage. My neighbors are a family farm, Osswalts (Ohz-walts) and they grow acres of cabbages, more every year. It is a very prosperous farm. Cabbage leaves are my goats' favorite goody and they eat a lot of them, let me tell you.

We park the farm truck at the end of their conveyor belt. The waste cabbage and leaves goes out the barn and into the truck bed. We bring it home late afternoon, dump it and I feed it to the goats two or three times a day. And we take the truck back over and park it for the next day's leaves.

This works out well for both of us. My goats get the added food, obvious benefits for me. Mr. Osswalt doesn't have to dump the leaves in the field and let them rot. OMG they smell like... well, you can imagine. And when they rot they get slimy. Yuck. Much better to put the leaves through goats.

I fork leaves into an old fashioned metal bushel basket and empty it over the fence or into feeders. That way I can keep track of how much I'm feeding. I have several of those hard plastic dark green kids' wagons which are filled up and parked outside the cattle panels. I carry the bushels of leaves and dump over the fence, fill up wagons and even a tote or two. The idea is to get them spread out enough that even the smaller ones can get what they want.

(Jill, Petey loves leaves and he makes sure he gets his fill. By the way, he has had a little bit of a runny nose. You were concerned with the AC at the National Show and I guess it got to him a little, but he is eating good and no temp.)

They still have hay free choice and get feed once a day instead of twice a day, but they will be fat and happy the rest of the year.

New Friends at the 2008 National Show in Louisville

First of all, I want to apologize that I didn't have a camera with me to take pictures this year. It's a long story. Hubby put the camera somewhere and couldn't find it. I borrowed a camera and it didn't seem to be working. So, I missed some great photo opportunities at the national show.

Today I want to tell you about some of the conversations I had with Oberhasli breeders and maybe gossip a little.

I met one of those sweet little ladies from Tennessee named Arden Ward and her husband Eddie. I really enjoyed chatting with Arden after the show. She only had a few Oberhasli there but they were nice ones. She has a young OberBoerd doe. I was so excited to find out that doe was the grand-daughter of my sweet old doe, FDF-Pleasant Fields Bridgette. I promised her pictures so I'll try to publish those.

Bridgette was such a great doe but it looked like she was put together by a committee. She had a long, level, smooth "national grand champion" body, a lovely udder, milked like crazy. Her udder attachments just weren't the best. It's hard to describe. It wasn't pendulous. It had a large area of attachment. She just needed a tummy tuck, er, udder tuck. Her daughter Garnet, a show stopping doe, classified excellent, a credit to old Bridgette and FDF. Ober-Boerd still has her full sister Tornado in the herd and I think Tornado has the "here for life" deal with the Schnipkes.

Turns out Arden and Eddie, especially Arden, were coveting my new buck before I got there. [See earlier posts.] We're going to see if we can work something out in the future so they can use him or maybe get a son, something. Being one of Arden's goats would be the "Life of Riley" for any goat. She admits she spoils them to pieces. I used to spoil mine, too. That is before I had about 30. So mine don't get much individual attention any more.

I asked Arden about how she got interested in Oberhasli and goats in general. It's a familiar story. She saw some, fell in love and then wouldn't shut up until her husband let her have one. Then one led to two, then three.... But he seemed to be enjoying himself at the show. I couldn't get Bob to come along. He preferred to be home puttering in the garden and making hay. But if he had come along, I think he and Eddie would have hit it off. They both are avid gardeners, married to crazy goat ladies.

I told her I was going to write this blog. I'm also outing her as a lurker in OberhasliTalk@yahoogroups.com. Hi, Arden! Arden's website: www.eponafarmtn.com and email is epona1@comcast.net. Her herdname is Trinity Rose. Isn't that pretty?

More on Shotsi and Pistol Pete!

These are photos of SGCH Heaven's Hollow Shotsi 5*M, 2008 National Reserve Grand Champion, potential 2007 Top Ten List Milker. Pistol Pete, one of her 2008 triplets is our new Jr. herdsire. I'll add more pictures as he grows.

Compared to our bucks, including the one we shipped in from Arizona, Pete is huge. On the other hand Shotsi is not a huge doe so whatever Pete's ultimate size, he probably won't sire huge animals.

For people who really are not "into" goats or Oberhasli, Shotsi classified 92(EEEE) earlier this year. This score is based on the scorecard which has 100 points. The four letters are for: general appearance, dairy character, body capacity and mammary, in that order.

GCH Willow Run Hassida, three time national show champion and current national show champion, classified 92 last year, the first Oberhasli in history to do so. This year there were two more: Shotsi, of course, and Sir Echo Brickers in Arizona. This is a very elite designation and the fact that two 92 does were champion and reserve validates both the linear appraisal system and the quality of the national show judging.

In addition, the sire of Pete is *B White Haven Sousa, 92(EEE) a Spotlight Sale buck in 2003. The sire of Sousa is the legendary *B Tonka Tails Court Jester (91), arguably the best and most influential buck of the current decade. The dam of Sousa is a doe I've never seen: White Haven Kalliope, but she was winner of "produce of dam" at a previous national show. She also gave birth to White-Haven Precentor a popular buck and sire of one of my own does: Squaw*Mountain Raspberry. I have to look to be sure but some of Kalliope's does may have also been champions in the now dispersed White-Haven herd. It seems to me, off the top of my head that the 2007 National Champion was a Kalliope daughter. I'll look that up and edit this. Stay tuned.

Well, having a gorgeous buck with this pedigree, we feel like we can't lose. However, a "pretty boy" buck is not what we're after. The good or bad (hopefully good) will be on the ground next spring. Good news is that the buck is mature enough to cover does in September for sure. He's got a "let me at her" attitude.

Tomorrow, I'm going to start blogging about herds and people I met at the national show. I attended, without goats, Tuesday for the milking show. As a Board Member of Oberhasli Breeders of America, and since the OBA sponsored the Grand and Reserve, I was planning on handing out awards. I got so involved with the show that I completely forgot.

These are just my opinions. So if I make a mistake or you don't agree with something I've said, leave a comment. It's a bright future for Ohio Oberhasli.

New Junior Herdsire: *B Heaven's Hollow Pistol Pete

He's out in the yard now, trying to figure a way to get into the doe pen. He is a perfect Oberhasli buck kid. A bit precocious for 4 months. The name is *B Heaven's Hollow Pistol Pete and he is the son of the new national champion Oberhsli, SGCH Heaven's Hollow Shotsi 5*M.

I had ordered Petey a couple weeks ago and went down to pick him up at the National ADGA Show and see the Oberhasli show Tuesday. Louisville is a 3 hour drive, compared to most a hop, skip and jump, but for me and my old junk vehicles it's a major trip. Instead of driving the big truck (aka gas hoggin' SOB), S10 (lights are kind of acting crazy but at least he got the muffler fixed), Ranger (the floor board might drop out any time), I drove the '90 something Oldsmobile station wagon with a large crate in the back.

While I was in the middle of trying to find my way OUT of the fairgrounds Monday night, it started making the most terrible noise. Heart stopped. Oh, no, it's a flat tire! No, it's still rolling. It's the engine. Wasn't overheating, wasn't smoking, wasn't quitting, no lights. Then, thinking back to my Maverick days, it's the donut gasket.

Well, it actually turned out the old girl threw up a spark plug. In my 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme days (Man! That was a beautiful car, silver with maroon vinyl roof.) I had that happen, too, but the Cutless sounded like it had firecrackers under the hood. Anyway, I made it home. It was noisy as heck. I worried the whole way, but it was only 3 hours. Louisville to Indy about 100 miles and about that many from Indy home.

I got home right after dark, stiff and ready to unwind. Get the cover off the hot tub! I hadn't counted on such a big, strong buck so I didn't really have anyplace easy to put him. So we moved the crate into the yard, fed and watered him and left him until morning.

I went out first thing to check him. Here's what I thought would happen: I would let him out in the yard, he would follow me to the barn or at least wonder around the yard a while. I would feed him and put a collar on him. I mean, this is what I've come to expect in 30+ years of having goats.

Turns out Pete isn't tame. He's not skiddish around people, just doesn't really like to be close. Kind of hurts my feelings. No doubt he was left on his dam, Shotsi. That also explains why he's so well grown. He can't really hurt anything in the yard. We fenced in our flower beds last year. You other goat owners will know what I mean. He can come up on the porch but couldn't do much there either unless he decided to nibble on the screen door or something.

After trying to catch him for a while, I gave up but still worried about him getting under the non-goat proof horse fencing down into the woods, or worst yet if he wondered out of the woods and got on the road. What really, really worried me is him getting into Bob's garden. OMG that would be capital punishment! Sends shivers through me.

I still have a few cull buck kids left from this spring and he totally bullied them. I thought they would hang out together. Nothing doing. He was only interested in does on the other side of the fence. What the heck, I needed to make sure if he got down in the woods or weeds he would come back up with them. So I got out one larger doe and two smaller ones, and walked the four of them down into the field, with brush and weeds and a lot of goat goodies.

In regards to the garden, I lowered the height of the electric wire around the garden just in case. Turns out he didn't even glance at that. Thank God he didn't know how tasty cabbages and fresh sweet corn is. Whew!

Then I'm thinking, I'll tether the old goat and that way they'll hang around here. Well, they did for a while. Then the three walked away leaving a very upset Raspberry and disappeared for an hour, a long hour. I had visions of a feral herd in the woods. But all's well, they walked back up to get a drink of water. No creek water for these goats.

We're still debating where to put him. Might have to put the old buck pen back in service, a little distance from the house, since he already has got a little stink to him. Despite the car, and the cost of gas, I had a wonderful time and I just love my new buck. I thank Jill Thomas so much. She not only sold me this buck but she even drove him down, free. She doesn't know it but she has a friend for life!!

Oberhasli type

I was looking around for a picture of a typical Oberhasli for those who aren't familiar with them. The picture I chose is a doe named Sir Echo Snitzi. She is a two time top ten doe. The Top Ten list is the top producers in the breed for the year. Snitzi had quads this year and has currently tested most than 17# a day, which is roughly two gallons. At this rate she is probably heading for another top ten record.

I never thought I would be able to afford a buck from a top ten doe like Snitzi but since she had three bucks and a doe, I was able to snatch up one of them. His name is Fritz and he is a sweet but masculine half grown buck. We're expecting some great things out of him.

Welcome to my Blog about our Dairy Goats!

We have a herd of Oberhasli, which is one of six dairy breeds registered by American Dairy Goat Association, ADGA. Why Oberhasli? Years ago we had nubians and bought an American Oberhasli buck to start in that rather small breed. Flash forward 20 years. I have a "modern" herd of Oberhasli that has been assembled and bred using the finest bloodlines in the country. Oberhasli are gentle, pretty and vigorous goats.

They trace their lines back to Switzerland. Dr. Pence made an importation of a buck and four pregnant does and that was the basis of Oberhasli in this country. Every Oberhasli goes back to those animals. For several decades Oberhasli were called "Swiss Alpines." They were part of the Alpine herdbook. Oberhasli enthusiasts worked diligently and got the Oberhasli out of the Alpine herdbook and into their own herdbook in the early 1980s.

Little by little, step by step the breed has advanced a tremendous amount. I attended the 2006 national show in Indianapolis and classes were huge. However, what was really neat to see if that udders, especially fore udders, were beautiful at least halfway down the lineup.

Last year two time national champion Willow Run Hassida classified 92EEEE. This year we know of at least two more does that classified 92. Those are: Sir Echo Brickers in Arizona and Heaven's Hollow Shotsi in Colorado. We, by we, I mean the Oberhasli community on OberhasliTalk@yahoo.com, are still waiting to hear about more high scoring does. Shotsi is going to be at the nationals next week in Louisville, Ky. I will try to get some pretty pictures.

If you are interested in dairy goats, stay tuned. I would like to start discussing various blood lines and my opinion on these. I would like to discuss my bucks and various animals in my own herd.