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Like many
people, my entry into raising and showing dairy goats was
largely unplanned. In 2000, my father purchased an un-registered Lamancha doe kid, Duchess, for me. These animals were intended
as pets, but I joined the local 4-H club in order to learn how
to care for my animals. It was only after I won Intermediate and
Advanced 4-H showmanship and received my first class ribbon at
our county fair two years later, that fell in love the idea of
breeding and raising my own quality dairy goats. In the fall of
2001, I purchased my first American Alpine does. Since their
addition, I have had, primarily, a grade and American Alpine
herd.
As soon as I
had brought my new does home, I immediately began researching
the herds and animals in their pedigrees and searching for
local, high quality bucks I could eventually breed them to. For
the past seven years, I have striven to “breed-up” my does and
improve the quality of my herd through the incorporation of
high-quality bucks. The first buck I used was a Waiilatpu
spotlight sale buck and since then, my herd has been built
primarily with genetics from the Shining-Moon and Sweet-Dreams
herds. |

Tori Kennedy
displays the Alpines International Club jacket she received for
winning the
Steven Schack Outstanding Youth Exhibitor Award at the 2009 ADGA
National Show. |
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My dairy goat herd
has been a wonderful learning experience, and I’ve tried to
experience as many different programs and opportunities as possible.
With the help of numerous mentors, I was able to incorporate both
linear appraisal and DHIR into my herd with a great deal of success.
One of my homebred does, Modesto Magic WTA Parfait, was #1 in milk,
butterfat, and protein production, in 2007. In 2008, I attended the
ADGA National Convention in Fort Collins, CO, where I was honored to
have been selected as the 2008-2009 ADGA Youth Representative.
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This year’s
National Show in Sacramento was the second I have attended (I
attended the 2008 show as Youth Representative) , but the first
to which I was able to bring my own animals. I exhibited eight
animals (six of which were homebred) and was thrilled to have an
animal “make the cut” in every class we entered.
Due to the time
constraints and costs of college, I dispersed nearly my entire
herd following the national show, so it can go on a hiatus until
I can again devote the time and effort necessary. I hope to earn
my ADGA Judges license in the next year or two so I can continue
my involvement with dairy goats through college and beyond, when
I hope to return to breeding and showing my Alpines. For the
time being, I am keeping a few doe kids in hopes of maintaining
some of my herd’s genetics.
Thank you!
Tori Kennedy
California |