Sandie Neal
Don't Forget to Sign My Guestbook
NEWS FLASH: My Alpine Doe Kidded pics coming soon
About My Herd
Well, my 'herd' began early 1995, when I acquired a three year old nubian
milker and an alpine doeling on the bottle(because like everygoat owner is inevitably told--
you can't own just one goat). So I was content at just providing milk for my family. After
the alpine was weaned, I soon realized that even with just one milker, sometimes I had surplus.
So I started looking into making cheese. And I also needed to learn about things like vaccines,
wormers, injuries, kidding, etc., so I was encouraged to join the
local dairy goat club. At that time I had no intention of showing whatsoever. I figured you either kept goats
for practical purposes or you had fancy show goats. So the first year went by with no shows, and
alot of learning. After the first kidding, I had 2 doe kids and 1 buck. I traded back a doe kid
to the herd owner who I originally got my goats from. I kept the other doe and sold the buck to
my neighbor as a pet(after wethering). That fall I got a hankering to show. We put the doe kid(by
then she was very large) in the ring and soon realized she wasn't show quality. About a month later
I showed my alpine and she placed third out of three. Very depressing. I was devastated and decided
to give up the goat project. I really needed to understand what qualities those judges were
looking for. I felt that she had an excellent topline, legs, length, dairyness, etc., but her
udder had a cleft in the front.
After the next kidding(early 1997), I did some hard thinking and decided to cull
heavily. By then I had three nubian bucklings and a gorgeous little alpine doe kid...with a double
teat on one side. It was heartbreaking. So I culled back to my two original does. The alpine was
doing better in the show circuit(4th out of 10; even 1st at the state fair after a few does were
moved to another class). In July '97 I decided to make a purchase to improve my herd. I bought a dry
yearling nubian with alot of promise. I've been showing her with my other two does and she hasn't
placed below first, and has gone grand champion in all but one show(see table
below). She was junior grand champion at the Arizona State Fair. I'm excited to see what her udder
and her kids will look like!!
Back to top.
About me
Well, I'm a mother of five, with three kids still at home. We've been homeschooling
since '91 or '92. My 15 year old has just completed high school. I also have 21, 20, 4 and 2
year old kids. We live on an acre in Mesa(near Phoenix), Az., but have just bought a home on an
acre in Thatcher, Az(near New Mexico). We'll be moving soon. I've been doing the
payroll and accounting for our contracting business, but we've reduced our workload and are only
doing an occasional custom home. We are devoted Christians and really like rural living(with the
exception of our 15 year old). We have chickens, goats, and horses.
Back to top.
Back to top.
Copyright © 1997.
Canterbury's Caprines. All rights reserved.