Why yes...I do believe before the month is out our little herd here at NadaLottaRanch will be on milk test officially :) Kind of exciting really - I have wanted to go official for YEARS in this fashion...but I have been scared away by the paperwork and how much it seemed like you needed to do. I had this vision in my head of needing to fill out a million forms each and every day at each and every milking...um NO! NOT THAT HARD!
First of all, why test you ask? What's in it for the herd? Well, very simply, your does can earn their "stars". I know...stars on yars...sounds like that book by Dr. Seuss about the Sneeches right? But stars are GOOD! With dairy goats you want to see things like "star milkers" in their back ground. You want to know that a goat comes from genetics that produce MILK and LOTS of it LOL :) Otherwise, WHY have a DAIRY goat? I mean yeah, sure, showing can be fun and rewarding if you enjoy it. But really...ultimately...to me at least, a dairy goat needs to make enough milk for my time and effort in caring for them and milking them to be WORTH it! A cup or 2 a day, even back when we had dwarf goats, does NOT cut it! We need to see POUNDS of milk a flowing!
The other thing you find out by sending in samples of your does' milk is how much protein and butterfat they are putting out there. I would prefer to see a goat make a bit less milk with higher fat and protein than a doe who makes tons and tones but it's almost all water. When making things like cheese and yogurt, and even when just drinking it, you want a nice, sweet, rich milk. Not a watery milk.
I have a few more questions to call ADGA with....a few more to call Langston with (who my tests/samples will go to each month) and then after a few forms to fill out and I will be good to go :) I'm pretty excited - at this point I am drying up 3 of the 5 does in milk and I will only have 2 on test. To me, I want it to be simple the first year. I want to only have the potential of a few mistakes and not a whole herd worth if we screw up on papers haha, PLUS the other does have been in milk for 6 months now and I am ready for a break! After this, there will be no more breaks....starting with the next round of kidding we will be on test until I give up LOL...and I think as simple as this is I can stick with ti for a long time to come!
So...stay tuned....there will be more info on this to come so everyone can join in. It really is a valuable tool in making well informed decisions on what goats to buy and bring into your herd and such - remember, it costs the same to feed a crummy, low producing wompy looking goat as it does to feed a high producing well built goat! Might as well get the most bang for you buck when you buy right?
Happy dance, happy dance - we are gonna be "official" lol :)
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