MATURE DOES

Our small herd of 20-30 animals is composed of breeding bucks, milkers, first fresheners and the current year’s kids. All our animals are American Oberhasli though we occasionally use purebred bucks in our breeding program. The bloodlines represented within our herd trace back mostly to Seneca Valley stock through the Hyonahill, Wayfarer, and Destiny Farm herds among others. We thank these Oberhasli breeders, and those before them, for preserving and passing on the quality genetics we've been fortunate to build on with our breeding program.

Since we are always working to improve the overall quality of our herd, we continually evaluate our animals to assure we're making progress in that direction. To guide our breeding decisions we use linear appraisals, milk records and our occasional show results on top of pedigree information and a basic gut feeling about what direction we will head next.  

In the fall of 1999 we began working with some exciting new purebred Oberhasli genetics we imported via frozen semen from Switzerland….the result of a productive search for quality bucks displaying true Oberhasli coloring, stature and breed character traits. The first 'Swiss' kids out of these breedings have been remarkable (see Yearlings). In spring 2001 we'll see the first 'Swiss' doelings freshen as yearlings. We’re anxious to see where these new genetics will take our herd and have enjoyed sharing this unique opportunity with other quality Oberhasli breeders (for more info, see Swiss Bucks).

Our breeding goal has always been to establish a herd consistent with our own desired ‘style’. That style is best described as deep-bodied animals with substantial stature, width and length. We specifically prefer medium boned frames which display good dairy qualities like open ribbing and flat bone, while exhibiting an overall elegant balance that catches the eye. Productive, broadly supported udders are important to us since they tend to hold up to repeated long lactations and demanding milk production over a lifetime. 

We prefer the rich, solid colored, reddish-brown coat which truly represents the native Oberhasli herds we’ve seen in Switzerland even though lighter shades are accepted here in the U.S. Correctness in coloring and proper markings is a basic requirement in our herd since, after all, the Oberhasli is a ‘color breed’. That means each individual must always meet a specific appearance standard in order to qualify for registration into the Oberhasli herdbooks. Simply put, if it doesn't look like an Oberhasli...how can it be an Oberhasli?

We have yet to experience any white markings (caps, splashes, stripes, feet, etc) that the ADGA and native Swiss Oberhasli breed standards clearly reject but strongly feel that animals with such markings should be registered in the ‘Experimental’ herd books and bred up to 'American' registry status if desired, regardless of pedigree. We feel that doing so is the proper way of eliminating or at least reducing the appearance defects in our breed's genetic base.

Milk production of 8-12 # or more, over a 7-10 month lactation, is expected from our mature dairy goats. We don’t push our doe’s production since our commercial market for goat milk is limited to feeding butcher pigs but we do expect them to truly earn their title of ‘dairy’ goat. In the past we’ve used official One-day milk tests to document our milker’s production. This year we’ve decided to go on official DHIR test. We'll be posting our milk test information as the lactation season progresses.

Though we don't show very often, we did bring our entire herd to the 1999 National Show held in Sacramento, California. In competition with 194 Oberhasli does representing herds from 9 states, our 16 entries placed as follows...

TWO YEAR OLDS

YEARLINGS

KIDS

RR BUCKS

SWISS BUCKS