Friday, February 7, 2014

Our Little Herd

    
     We began hearing about Kinders through blogs that my mom follows. She was extremely interested, because, recently she found out she was lactose intolerant and had heard goats milk was more easily digestible. She heard the Kinders were small, but still produce a large amount of milk. They also had high meat quality incase we ever want to slaughter.

     So- we soon found ourselves with two Kinders in June 2012. A buckling (Willow) and a doeling (Daisy May).
 
My sister and I holding our new Kinders!
 
 
     Daisy was only about six weeks old when we bought her, so she still needed milk. My mom worked tirelessly at trying to train her to the bottle. After a few days of squirting milk into her mouth  and trying to put the nipple on the bottle into her mouth, she finally caught on. After that she was always ready to be fed.
 
    That winter, we began thinking about when she needed to be bred. We watched to see when she was in heat, and finally, later that December she was bred. My family watched her grow big and fat with the kids, and in mid April we began feeling little baby kicks. She finally kidded in May. She had two kids, but one of them died shortly after birth. But, our little Dandelion was a hearty, healthy, adorable kid.
 

 
          We tried to sell him as a buckling, but unable to find a buyer at that time, we had to band him. We currently use him as a Kinder 'Ambassador' to show what a Kinder wether looks like. And yes, he is still cute!
 
     After a while I became very interested in this 'Kinder' business, and wanted a doe for my own. After a long time of searching and searching for a doe to buy, we found several. There were a few in Missouri, a couple that I adored in Nebraska, and a whole bunch in Washington. After some research, craigslist adds, and a bazillion Facebook posts, we finally found an option. We would ship a young doe in from Washington state, to Kansas for my dad to pick up there.
 
   
     Poppy has the original Zederkamm genetics in her pedigree, and is a registered 6th generation Kinder doe.
 
     Both of our does are currently bred* with Daisy due March 17th, and Poppy due June 25th.
 
*Daisy is definitely bred. We are not very sure about Poppy, however Poppy was put in with our buck for a full day during her heat.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read about our Kinders,
                                                                 Lillie~

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

An Introduction

 
The Kinder goat breed is a fairly new breed. It is a Nubian and Pygmy cross that originated in Washington state on Zederkamm Farm in 1985. It is a dual purpose goat, good for milk and meat. Read the story of how it originated here.
Photo from http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/

  
     The milk has an extremely high butterfat percentage at 7.5%! Many say it is the best tasting milk they have ever tried, having a sweet taste.
     The Kinder has meat qualities too, as they can easily meet, if not top the Boer goats dress out percentage. They are more feed efficient too.
     One of the best things about the breed is the fact that Kinders can give birth to super multiples,
commonly twins and triplets, but it's not rare for there to be sextuplets.
      These little goats are also docile and friendly, making perfect pets.
Among all the pros there is one con, which is awareness. People
simply don't know about this ideal breed.

          

We are hoping to change that, well around here anyway. Our family is endeavoring to make the Kinder breed more familiar in the agricultural community that we live in and hopefully and ultimately the state of Oklahoma.

Thanks for taking the time to read.
Lillie


More to come in the near future!
The Sniders