Wednesday, February 13, 2013


Knowing that it was so important to get the Kinder name known and to show the Kinder, in a hands on situation, Capra-Quest and Bramble Patch Kinder joined together to exhibit this little goat at the Missouri State Fair during the ADGA Show, Angora Goat and Colored Sheep Shows in the fall of 1992. I had written the Missouri State Fair Director and had gotten written permission for the exhibit. We would exibit for a couple of years then with enough Kinder goats and breeders we would be able to show.

Harvey Considine was the ADGA Judge that year in 1992. We ask that he come back to where we were penned for the exhibit, his first questions was, can this goat milk? Other Kinder in the Pacific North West were milking but these were only small doelings, born in the spring, so we didn't have any good answers. It was then that I decided that mine were going to be good milking Kinder goats. I would work hard to see that they did. I had fallen in love with this Kinder goat and was willing to work the rest of my life trying to improve and make them champions in the show ring and in milk testing.

The Kinder goat began to grow in popularity it wasn't long until We Luv Goats from Iowa joined us then Country Critters from Nebraska and from our own State of Missouri came Bluefield, Riversun, Cedar Creek Farm and from Arkansas there was Merry Thought Farm and from Minnesota came Beauty Mountain. The Kinder goat was on its way.

Bramble Patch Kinder Taffy was the first Kinder doe to win as a Permanent Grand Champion. It was BPK Ruppel who followed Taffy into the record books as a Permanent Grand Champion but it was Ruppel who was also the first Kinder doe to win her star in One-Day Milk Testing in 1998.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Kinder


Being the new kid on the block is not easy. When I started breeding Kinder there were few that had ever heard of the Kinder goat. I attended every event that would allow me to hand out literature about the Kinder goat and talked to anyone willing to listen. I heard all kinds of things, that this goat would never succeed and that there would never be any consistency in the breed. For the most part the dairy goat industry was not willing to accept this Kinder goat with many Nubian breeders not willing to share their genetics if they were to be used to create the Kinder goat.  Pygmy breeders were in general more open minded. I like to think that today those Nubian breeders that allowed me their genetics are now as proud as I am of the Kinder goat.

The Small Farmers Gatherings were being held in different places in Missouri. It was free and since I had no money to promote this little goat this is where I began. I have such fond memories of these gatherings. Printed up all kinds of articles on the Kinder goat, set up in one of their tents and started passing out Kinder goat information. They had all sorts of things going on regarding work horses, plowing and disking fields and other horse related work. We were allowed to camp out for free so we sometimes slept in the car. My sister-in-law loved to accompany me on these excursions. Later as Kinder goat popularity grew with more breeders we set up at bigger events.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Kinder

This is BPK Kaffee, first generation Kinder doe. There is Gasconade Nubian lines and Hallicenda Pygmy lines in her pedigree.
Harvey Considine, well known ADGA Judge and Evaluator, agreed to help the Kinder Goat Breeders develop their dual purpose goat very early in this little goats beginning. Harvey helped to revise their Breed Standard and made a Score Card especially for the Kinder doe. Some of his  suggestion for the  Nubian lines used for first generation Kinder was some of older lines of Nubians that would produce more of a meat carcass. A couple of these lines were Casconade and Cadallic. I searched out these lines and included as many as I could in my Kinder lines. I also added as much of the Hallicenda line of Pygmy as I possibly could. I knew that Hallicenda Pygmy lines milked well.

I have always line bred. I had Harvey come on a regular basis to evaluate my herd very early in my Kinder breeding program. Between the line breeding and evaluations I believe contributed greatly to the consistency in my herd. When you  have something good don't keep bringing in new lines that will wash away those positives. Bringing in new genes is good to a point but it doesn't take long to lose those  positives with continued out crossing. When I bring in new lines I always make sure that some of my good lines are in that pedigree. Evaluation sheets and registration papers are two of the best tools available for breeding a good Kinder goat.


Kinder Goats

This is BPK Raisin, born in 2010, third generation doe.









This little black buck is the son of Raisin, fourth generation buck, born in 2012
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This is the son of the doe below. This is second generation BPK Denim Jedi. This buck was born in 1993. These are examples of consistency.
What has been happening with the Kinder goat? Kinder® is now trademarked! Some may not agree with this but it was done to protect the breed and the breeder. If you are new to this wonderful breed then it should help you by knowing right away if the goats you are buying are truly Kinder goats. If they are not registered or cannot be registered with the KGBA then they are not Kinder goats. Be sure to ask this question before buying animals.

I plan to show some of the Kinder goat history in future posts. This will be a view of the Kinder goat as I have experienced it and the way I see this little dual purpose goat thru my eyes.

I believe that the most important thing in breeding the Kinder goat is to keep consistency in your herd. This is a dual purpose goat for both milk and for meat. You need to keep the milking genes and also those genes that produces meat. For the Kinder to compete in the goat world it also must have excellent conformation which among others things will allow it to win in the showring. I have had others to say that this is not possible but it is possible and can be easily done.

One of my first Kinder does. First generation, Bramble Patch Kinder Frosted Lace.