These are some of the Purebred Nubians which form part of the genetic base for my Mininubian lines. I've bred, raised, and milked Nubians for 10+ years and believe these animals are some of the best I have had in that time. They are descendents of some very impressive animals and should contribute greatly to the milking ability of my Mininubians.
I was very fortunate to obtain Malachi (ADGA# N001439930) from Gayle and Jim Tanner at Bonnie Blue Farm (Formerly Dry-Creek-Hollow) which is the only Grade A goat dairy in our State of Tennessee at present. Malachi comes from a long line of both proven milkers and show winners as evidenced by his ancestor's stars and award titles. In addition to the Dry-Creek-Hollow (Bonnie Blue Farm) and Copper-Hill lines his paperwork also lists Kaczara-Farm, Musk*Rose, Misty-Knoll, Kastdemur's, Lassenwood, and many other very well known and proven Nubian lines. Malachi's litter-mate sister, Bonnie Blue Farm Boy Xappeal, still lives and works at the dairy where she and Malachi were born (as does Malachi's Sire and Dam). I actually like Xappeal's color and ear length better than Malachi's, but alas, she didn't have the other necessary parts that a buck needs to fulfill his duties. In my opinion she is one of the "prettiest" Nubians does I have seen. I will be very disappointed if her Linear Appraisal scores don't increase as she matures a bit more.
Malachi is crossed onto Allison and Kendra for Spring '09 kids. Allison's sire is Malachi's cousin on Malachi's dam's side. I felt that intensifying this line would not only benefit the offspring of this particular cross but would also contribute to the Nigerian Dwarf/Nubian and/or Mininubian crosses I would subsequently make on them later. I have one Malachi daughter from last year, First Light Nicole's Rachel, who is bred to my Nigerian Dwarf buck for Spring '09 generation 1 Mininubian kids.
Kendra (ADGA# N001329068) is a very nice looking doe that I bought from a fellow who had allowed her single kid to nurse one teat and had not milked out the other side which caused the un-nursed side to become enlarged. Even after a year she still has one teat bigger than the other but still milks very well despite the cosmetic difference. Her background is very impressive containing many excellent ancestors, including her great-grandsire, Faith Farm Genesis. Kendra kidded this year with triplets out of Malachi. I have kept one female (Abigail) and hope she turns out to be as good or better than her dam.
I purchased Allison (ADGA# N001449737) and a sister from a set of triplets when they were a couple of days old because their background was out of super milking stock (and maybe because of a little pity). They were dehydrated, sick, and almost dead. After nursing them back to health with colostrum from the freezer, antibiotics, Probiotics, etc., etc., I decided to graft them onto one of my best natured milkers, Leah, whose single buckling was old enough to be weaned. After a bit of trickery and convincing she took them as her own and would nurse and protect them as if she had kidded them. Allison's sister (Angelica), in one of those rare, freak accidents got her head hung in a creep feeder and died. Afterwards, Leah searched and cried for Angelica several days. Obviously, the creep feeders have since been modified to prevent that in the future.
I kept Rachel (ADGA# N001467707) from the 2008 kids in order to watch how Malachi's daughters would develop. Her dam, Nicole, was one of the better unregistered milkers that I have had. In the six years that I owned Nicole I bred her to several different Nubian bucks and even a registered South African Boer and a Boer/Kiko cross. Every time she kidded with kids that had better conformation than herself. Her kids from Malachi (Rachel and a buckling) were especially nice so I kept Rachel to watch her longer. Rachel is crossed with my Nigerian Buck for Spring '09 50/50 generation 1 Mininubian kids. The offspring of this cross may be crossed back onto the offspring of the Malachi/Rebekah and Malachi/Allison offspring for 2010 75/25 generation 1 kids.
Here is a shot of Nicole in one of those meditative moments two weeks before she kidded twins in 2007. Nicole lived at my farm for 5 years and considered herself the herd queen. She was a very good milker but one of her teats was a bit crooked which meant you had to be sure it pointed into the bucket or the stream would hit the wall or your lap. Although she milked good once she was going, getting her in the mood to be milked was sometimes a bit of a challenge.
I sold her to a man who carried her to his house and called back saying he couldn't milk her and she was "just wild". To make a long story short I found that he knew nothing about goat care, much less milking, and by the time I could go get her and bring her home a couple of days had gone by since she had been milked properly. She was always a heavy milker so she was fit to burst by then. I worked with her several days to get her back in the routine she had been accustomed to but she was never the same after that experience. After that, she wanted to move her feet or even get a bit kicky at times until I discovered Munk's hobbles. They're zip-on, zip-off, nylon hobbles that really changed Nicole's mind about being milked.
Nicole later went to a friend's farm who needed her genetics (and milk) but not before leaving me a very nice daughter.
This is my favorite goat picture out of the hundreds that I have taken over the years. Leah is on the left and the kid standing with her looking like her own is Allison. Allison and her sister, Angelica, came to me as weak, sick little girls less than a week old. I nursed them back to health for a week or so and then grafted them onto Leah as soon as I could wean her single buckling. After only a bit of convincing Leah accepted the new kids and raised them as if they were her very own. Shortly before this shot was taken Angelica was lost to a freak accident which is why she is not in this shot.
Leah was with me for a couple of years and was always one of my best dispostioned milkers. She not only milked well but seemed to be eager to do so. Both times she was bred to Malachi she kidded with at least one male that was black with small white spots, one of which I have now (Jeremiah) and will probably use in my breeding program.