Building Your herd on purpose

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At some point every breeder stops and asks "Is this my kind of goat?" and " What is my style?" and the whopper of them all: "Should I cull this goat?" 

Weeelll.......

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These questions (and their answers) matter more than show wins, LA scores or milk records. They involve separating your EGO from your DAILY JOY. 

 Ego comes from outside approval and winning ribbons.  Daily Joy comes from goats that are satisfying for your eye to behold each day, easy to manage, and that make you proud years down the road. Learning to see the difference is key to Joy.  Learning to use the difference is key to management.  Daily Joy is what keeps a herd going for years, while the Ego causes burnout and frustration.  
 Lets call goats that give us Daily Joy our "style" from now on, and lets look at ONE WAY to get and maintain your style in your herd. 
(Disclosure piece: There are as many ways to improve a herd as there are personal styles as there are stars in the sky. This is one way. Not the only or even the best way.)

​How to create a herd you love:

        (1)Find your style, (2)study it to find your non-negotiables and preferences, (3)create a tier of working levels that can be approached separately, (4)categorize bucks by tier, (5)create your culling standards, (6) apply your kid filter , and you have a breeding program! 

​Now you have a herd that brings you Joy and makes you proud.  with clear defined steps to get there.    


Step 1: find your style

Ask yourself some basic questions and answer them without reserve (even if the answer includes sentiment! acknowledge the sentiment as a factor in your Joy and Style):
1: If the price of hay tripled tomorrow, who would I keep and who would I sell?
2: Which of my goats do I instinctively defend if they are criticized?
3: Who do I take the most pictures of? 
4: Which goats would I have paid double for?   -o-r  Which goats would I have paid half what I did for given the chance to buy them again? ( or not buy them at all!)

An easy way to view your goats is to classify them as Option A the "hardy workhorse" or Option B the "elegant showman." 
Keep in mind your own specific goals will most likely be somewhere between the two.  But I digress.  Lets picture the goats:

Option A: Sturdy boned, hardy and will raise kids and give the family milk for 12 years without falling down on her pasterns or her mammary attachments.  Has a high, tight, "athletic" mammary that works well but isn't flashy.  Easy keeper, and converts feed to milk well but isn't such a heavy producer that it could ever cause metabolism or health issues. Balanced describes this doe.  She's your foundation. 

Option B: Elegant, refined, extreme.  Floaty movements, refined head, flat bone.  May or may not raise her own kids, but her style will catch the judges eye in the ring.  Bred for more milk ,bred to be taller, longer, and flashier. 
 Extreme describes this doe.  She's refinement and compromise. 


  We know what we love, but what about what we hate? Include that in your style.   Do Hard keepers drive you nuts? Bad pasterns make you cringe? Large teats, or teats that are pointing away from each other? Nervous personalities that are hard to catch? Goats that stress easily and dry themselves up? What about goats with a will to milk who will NOT dry up??  Do not forget or gloss over your hates.  These dim your Daily  Joy.  

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Step 2:  Non negotiables and preferences 

Now take it all in.  Your herd, your goats.  Options A and B. Its time to separate out the traits that may have you leaning more one way than the other.  

Do NOT fall into the trap of thinking you will breed for both!!!  That's impossible, and a common new breeder pitfall.  
You can, however, breed for aspects of each, combined into your dream goat.  

A and B aren't just looks!! They are different problems to solve.  
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A: (Balanced and Hardy)  gives you peace and durability but are less flashy and eye catching
B: (Extreme and flashy) breed extremes can be goals!  but higher possibility of genetic and care issues

Your brain says "I want goats that are easy" and your heart says " I want to be proud and excited to look at them." 

So what question actually decides? --- What benefits you most long term? 
1- Owning goats that are easy and hardy but not extreme and can get beat at shows?
2- Owning extreme animals that are at the pinnacle of the breed, but come with extreme problems such as genetic defects, extra management, "extra" issues? 

YOU are one herd and one manager: YOUR herd must match YOUR nervous system!!  

We need an example going forwards, so lets say you do want both worlds, you want goats that show well and are easy to care for. (if you don't show, you will pick structural traits that are most important to you)  Let's pick out the initial traits from A and B that could get you started!  

Right now you should pull out the ADGA Scorecard, and make a list of your personal must haves for ease of care. I will make a pretend one here as an example to work off.  USE YOUR OWN PREFERENCES HERE!!!!

MY three traits from the highest Points on the ADGA Scorecard:
Feet and Legs -- 15pts
Body Capacity-- 10 pts
Mammary System-- 35 pts

MY ease of care preferences:
Peak around 4 lbs a day and average off around 3 lbs a day of milk
Easy Keeper
Calm demeanor and friendly
(NOTE!!): If moonspots or wattles or whatever give you joy, you WRITE THAT DOWN!!! It wont be a foundation Tier trait, but you can still have it in YOUR plan for Joy)

Now fit these in your mind to more of the Option A goat or More the Option B goat.  
Feet and Legs: Option A- i want strong pasterns and feet that don't require a lot of maintenance
Body Capacity: Option B- I want extremely wide and deep goats
Mammary System: a combo of each.  I want extreme height to the rear udder, but I want a tight athletic mammary that doesn't make so much milk that it creates issues for the doe.  
Peak Around 4 lbs a day then steady off around 3 lbs.  This is Option A.  I don't want extreme milk production. 
Easy Keeper: Option A
Calm Demeanor and Friendly Could be either 

Looking over these traits I am definitely more of an Option A girl in this example.   I value ease of care over extremes.  My icing on the cake would be a really High rear udder.  


Step 3: Separate these traits into THREE TIERS

​Its easiest to rank your traits into three tiers. 

TIER ONE traits that can NEVER BE COMPROMISED OR LOST. 

TIER TWO traits that BUILD STRENGTH over time.

TIER THREE traits that REFINE after the structure underneath can support it.  


We are not trying to average out A+B, we are finding our personal non-negotiables within the genetic variables that bring us JOY.   

So lets fill in the Tiers of our Example:


TIER ONE:   (NOT able to be compromised, our foundation):     
Feet and Legs, friendly personality, a tight, athletic mammary that doesn't move when the doe does.  

*******************NEVER USE A BUCK who compromises your TEIR ONE**************************

TIER TWO: (Working towards): 
Extreme Body Capacity, milk around 4 lbs a day, Easy Keeper

********************BREED FOR THIS each year*****************************

TIER THREE: (the icing on the cake)
Extreme rear udder height

********************NEVER CHOOSE this over your lower tiers.  it is for refinement only ********************


Now We Have Tiers!!!



Step 4: (Bucks) can now be ranked into 2 categories: 

Buck Rank 1: Foundation Protectors!! ---  these bucks are SOLID on tier 1. They are most likely type A. Solid and Balanced.  They don't just encourage, they PROTECT pasterns, feet and legs, tight mammary, and pass on calm demeanors (or whatever your tier 1 is). These bucks PROTECT tier 1 and work on tier 2.  One buck may protect tier 1 but add body capacity.  Another may bring in milk. Another may create easy keepers.  You will spend most of your time with Rank 1 bucks. They will protect your tier 1 and work on tier 2. Remember that each breeding should protect your tier1 and work on ONLY one or two traits from tier 2. You will never be able to protect your foundation if you start working on too many traits at once.  

Bucks Rank 2:  These bucks refine. They are the extreme "extra"  bucks. Type B bucks. 
 USE WITH CAUTION on tier 3 does ONLY!!!!!   Never use on a doe who isn't solid on your first two tiers. 
Bucks who refine or are extreme and can create more issues than they solve.  Refinement comes last after years of tier 1 and 2 work.  Refinement never comes first.  Rank 2 bucks for my example would add extreme Rear Udder Height, my icing on the cake. To find an Extreme trait buck, he will most likely be lacking in one of your lower Tier traits.  This is why you must have does that are solid and consistent for several generations in your lower Tiers before trying to tweak or refine any one trait. Remember that consistency is the goal, and work with Rank 2 bucks can be very rewarding or very frustrating.  Be prepared to cull any kids from a Rank 2 buck if he doesn't work out.  Try to find Rank 2 bucks who have an inbreeding percent with your Tier 3 does to help maintain consistency.  



Step: 5 Cull List

Culling does and bucks always starts off your Teir 1 non-negotiables. 
In the case of my example, I would ALWAYS cull animals with weak pasterns, toes that pointed out, loose or poorly attached mammary systems, and that were not friendly or ran at milking time.  ALWAYS.  These are tier 1 for a reason. They create my JOY. Do not let Ego get in the way here.  

The more strict you are at culling for Tier 1 traits, the faster you will get to Teir 2 and 3!  

Let that sink in.  Your breeding program will jump leaps and bounds ahead of others if you just stick to your guns here and NEVER place a tier 1 herd foundation fault in front of a Tier 2 goal. 

Culling for Tier 1 doesn't mean the sale barn, but it must include honesty.  These does do not represent your style, but they may have foundation traits that someone else is looking for.  Culling Tier 2 does will be more consistent and you can proudly offer them to the public.  Culling does for Tier 3 traits usually involves Tier 1 and 2 traits that were compromised while shooting for a special trait. 

 
Step 6: create a keeper kid filter

A good kid filter should refer back to your tiers, as relatable by AGE.  You don't want to be feeding a whole bunch of "almost" kids.  Neither do you want to sell a kid that is a key piece to your plan.  Not every excellent kid is a keeper, and not every non-keeper kid was a failure.  Its OK to sell good goats.  For many that's the goal.  Lets get there faster.  
 Decide on your groups early:

Group 1: Keepers!  
Meet ALL Tier 1 traits 
Are clearly excellent in at least one Tier 2 trait
are RARE.  These kids met or exceeded your breeding goal for the year.  DO NOT keep anything less.  

Group 2: Marketable Stars
 Meet ALL Tier 1 traits
miss one or two Teir 2 traits
Have strong pedigree, eye appeal, and will make someone else VERY HAPPY
no Red Flags or disqualifying traits 
These kids often make you the most money in sales

Group 3: Companions, Culls
miss your Tier 1 traits
buck kids that have no Tier 2 traits
have a disqualifying trait such as a teat spur or overbite
These can be raised and taken to the sale barn, or sold to a pet home with full disclosure

Is the kid moving you towards your EXACT type? (keeper)  Or is it just generally "nice"? (Marketable Star)
If a kid is beautiful but redundant- Marketable Star.  KEEP THE KID WHO SOLVES A PROBLEM.

So if your tier 1 Is feet, pasterns, and mammary you can cull ANY kid who toes out or begins to show weak pasterns at any age.  Your mammary trait obviously must wait until she freshens. If friendly is a Teir 1 trait for you, then kids must be bottle fed or handled daily.  
if your Teir 2 is Body Capacity, you can easily sell kids for width of chest floor, between the hocks, or spring of rib.  Those aren't flaws or disqualifications and those kids could make someone else happy.  
Tier 3 culling usually happens after freshening.  
If you are currently working on Tier 1 traits in your herd, you might keep ALL your kids and part with some brood does who don't fit Tier 1.  

Personal Permission Slip:
You are allowed to sell goats that will win ribbons for someone else. 
Keep a Type A doe that isn't flashy but reached your yearly goal.
You are allowed to keep fewer kids because if could prevent burnout and actually help you reach your goals faster.  
You are allowed to trust your own instincts.  
You are allowed to change your goals at any time. 




WRITE DOWN YOUR TEIRS as a breeding goal or herd memo.  
"We breed friendly dairy goats with strong pasterns, tight mammary systems, and ample body capacity." 
​ Make it a credo!  Recite it as you are out milking, feeding cookies, and de worming.  

Dailly decisions are made from clear herd rules.

Tier 1- protect feet and legs, attachments
Tier 2- build body capacity and steady lactation curve
Teir 3- strive for RUH



Remember that your herd should point towards your JOY first of all, and all decisions should stem from JOY and STYLE.  

Good luck and happy goating!
Id love to hear how YOU make herd decisions.  It might spark another post.