Stormstruck

Stormstruck once again gave us quadruplets with 3 does and a buck delivered on February 28th. The pedigree on these kids is absolutely stacked for performance top and bottom. Both dam and sire’s dam are Superior Genetics Grand Champions with VEEE 91 LA scores. We are expecting these kids to be all around performers who can milk 1,000 pounds plus per lactation.

On their maternal side, both their dam, SGCH Carl B’s Stormstruck 2*M (VEEE 91), and grand-dam have earned ADGA’s Superior Genetics designation. Stormstuck’s daughter, SG Cabochon AR Windsong 3*M , and granddaughter, SG Cabochon ZZ Calliope 4*M , are both ADGA Elite does.

On their paternal side, the sire’s dam, SGCH Carl B’s OH Sweet Champagne *M (VEEE 91) , is a stunning doe with a beautiful mammary. Their sire’s sire, Dynamo Falcon Ziggzag (VEE 90), has excellent conformation (scoring Ex 90 twice on Linear Appraisal) and brings phenomenal milk production. His dam is litter mate sister to the dam of the all-time high producing Nigerian, SG Sugar Moon V Zuzanna 4*M. He also has two SG Daughters in our herd: SG Cabochon ZZ Sierra Nevada 3*M and SG Cabochon ZZ Calliope who made her debut on the Elite doe list at the 98th percentile as a yearling first freshener.

Because we believe strongly in supporting those who do performance testing and contribute data to improve the Nigerian Dwarf breed, a discount will be available for homes that participate in DHIR Milk Test and Linear Appraisal.

Sire – Cabochon ZZ Dom Pérignon
Dam – SGCH Carl B’s Stormstruck 2*M (VEEE 91)

Stormstruck’s litter was one of our most anticipated kiddings this year and she exceeded all of our hopes with these gorgeous quadruplets delivered on March 8th. The pedigree on these kids is packed with Superior Genetics top and bottom. It’s rare to find kids with this much proven performance behind them.

On their maternal side, both their dam and grand-dam have earned ADGA’s Superior Genetics designation with their dam also being a permanent champion with an LA score of VEEE 91! On their sire’s side, the sires dam and grand-dam are both Superior Genetics does with the sire’s dam being a permanent champion with an LA score of VEEE 90.

Their dam, SGCH Carl B’s Stormstruck 2*M (VEEE 91), milked over a 1,000 pounds on her last lactation with an average butterfat of 6.2% and appraised “Excellent” on her mammary system. Their sire’s dam, SGCH Carl B’s OH Sweet Champagne *M (VEEE 90), milked more than 900 pounds on her last lactation with an average of 7% butterfat and appraised “Excellent” on her mammary system.

These kids will definitely put milk in the pail and stand out in the show ring. We are retaining at least one of these kids and possibly more. Preference will be given to performance homes for available kids. The buckling is a *B buck. Kids are priced at $975.

Sire – Cabochon XY Prosecco
Dam – SGCH Carl B’s Stormstruck 2*M (VEEE 91)

A 2:30 a.m. barn check on Wednesday found Stormstruck already in labor with a mal-positioned kid who needed to be removed manually. Unfortunately, that first kid didn’t make it and I never made it back to bed that morning. I had to re-position a couple more kids, including one who was breech – presenting rump only.  In a rump only presentation, you have to work inside the doe to carefully find and extend the back legs so the kid can be delivered.

Anyone who is raising and kidding goats, should be prepared to identify birthing problems (dystocia) and assist a birth or call a vet to help.  One really good reference is What to Do in a Kidding Emergency from the Dairy Goat Journal.  I recommend printing it out and keeping in it your birthing supply box, just in case you need it.  Nigerians are known for having multiple kids and that increases the chance that the kids could be positioned wrong or “tangled up” inside and need help.

In the end, Stormstruck delivered four more beautiful kids, 2 does and 2 bucks, who are doing well and Stormstruck has recovered from her rough delivery.  Now I just need catch up on my sleep because Taffy is due in a few days and she looks like should could have several kids packed in there as well.

It’s often hard to balance raising livestock with working a full time job and never more so than during birthing season. It’s always best to be nearby in case a doe needs help delivering or a baby needs help getting started, especially when it’s January in Minnesota.  So this year we are inducing our does to deliver a day or two early so that we can be there to attend the births. We induced Stormstruck one day early and I’m so thankful we did because she gave us our first set of quintuplets on Friday January 27th about 5:30 p.m. when we could all be there to help.

When there are that many babies, it’s not unusual for them to be tangled up and for the doe to need assistance.  We helped pull a couple babies and spent a lot of time helping to get everyone dried off and warmed up.  The babies were all a good size ranging from 2.7 – 3.7 pounds with four boys and a girl.

So far Stormstruck has been nursing them all with no problem although we will be teaching them to take a bottle so that we can supplement any that seem to be lagging behind as they grow.