Castle Rock Farm Bucks

SG Fairlea Barnaby Rudge *S
DOB 2/17/07

Sire: Rosasharns Julius *S
(MCH OTR Magic's M Heracles x ARMCH Stonewall's Little Luli *D)
Dam: ARMCH Fairlea Gretchen 2*D E
(MCH Fairlea Diggory Venn x MCH Fairlea Heidi *D)

Barnaby is the full brother (although definitely not a litter mate of) ARMCH Fairlea Fleur 3*D E, a doe I have long admired, and comes from a line of does with well attached, capacious udders. He is long, angular, flat boned and has a good amount of dairy character and really nice spring of rib. I'd like to see his front legs a bit straighter when viewed from the side. He has gotten even friendlier over time, seemingly the first to meet me at the gate, and he'll follow me around the pasture while I'm doing chores. He is one of the first nigerian bucks to earn a Superior Genetics designation from ADGA.

In anticipation of bringing in some new lines next spring, Barnaby is being offered for sale for $550.

CRF Castle Rock Guy Noir +S
DOB 2/18/07

Sire: Twin Creeks BW Montego Bay ++*S
(MCH Twin Creeks BH Bay Watch ++*S E x MCH-CH Gay Mor's JJU Nonpareil 3*D)
Dam: CH-MCH-PGCH Cloverdale YJ Blue Raven
(Promisland CP Yellowjacket x Pecan Hollow Bonnie Blue)

Sometimes I break my own rules. When Guy Noir's dam was a first freshener she had an amazing udder for a first freshener, and having seen how well her dam's udder held up over the years, I decided to keep this guy intact. Since then, she has continued to freshen with an incredibly high, wide udder and is such a pleasure to milk too with very nicely sized teats that have very open orifices, and I've been quite happy with my decision to keep Guy as a buck. I am pleased with how he is looking-- he's got smoothness of blending, a very wide, open escutcheon, dairy character, and tops it all off with a very sweet personality.

Update: at the 2008 AGS National Show, a trio of Guy Noir's doe kids won Best Get of Sire, and two of his daughters- Little Dipper GN Flashdance, and Sly Farms GN Catalina, have won best junior doe in show at all-breed goat shows. I'm very pleased with the general appearance and dairy character of his offspring so far.

Later Update: Guy's first freshening daughter, Sly Farms GN Catalina has already finished in ADGA and AGS! At the 2010 REDGA Nigerian Specialty show three of Guy's first freshening daughters won Senior Get of Sire, and CRF Castle Rock Roxanne was Best Udder of Breed. The judge noted that Guy's daughters were stamped with dairy character, and all had very good height and arch to the escutcheon. It is so nice to see those daughters of his who showed so much promise as juniors living up to that promise as they freshen.

One more update: Guy now has a second finished champion daughter, who has also earned her superior genetics designation- see his daughter SGCH CRF Castle Rock Penny Wise 3*D VVEE 88.

CRF Castle Rock Harvest Moon *S
DOB 3/28/09

Sire: Rosasharn's TL Sitka Spruce *S
(ARMCH Rosasharn's Tiger L ++*S x ARMCH Rosasharn's UMT Sassafrass 5*D)
Dam: CH-MCH Castle Rock Once Ina Blue Moon 2*D
(PGCH The Promises Pay It Forward x Copper Penny Misty Blue *D AR 1963)

Harvey is such an exciting addition to the herd. Since I just had his sire, Sitka, here on lease, I decided from the outset to breed him to a doe I would want my next herdsire out of. Moon was a natural pick for many reasons, and I am so happy with the results. Harvey isn't nearly as steep in the rump as he looks in this picture- he levels out very nicely on the move. He has very flat bone, nice spring of rib, and I have to say, it would be very tempting to keep him just on the basis of his personality. His dam was one leg short of being our second triple-finished champion and had nine best udder awards when we unexpectedly lost her just a few days before she was due to kid in 2010. I am really thankful to have kept this buck out of her to carry on in our herd. His kids, both in my herd and in the herds of others, have consistently shown very nice general appearance, being long bodied with flat bone. First freshening yearling daughters have had nice MSLs, teat placement, rear udder height, texture and attachment.

Castle Rock Bentley *S
DOB 2/05/10

Sire: Rosasharn TL Sitka Spruce *S
(ARMCH Rosasharn's Tiger L ++*S E x ARMCH Rosasharn's UMT Sassafras 5*D E)
Dam: ARMCH Lost Valley TB Infinity 4*D
(MCH Lost Valley Tae-Bo *S x MCH Lost Valley Mercedes 3*D)

Sometimes it takes a little extra time for kids to really start coming together, and Bentley is a very good example of that. When he first hit the ground, he wasn't nearly as eye catching as his brothers and sister (Kharmann Ghia), but eventually,I started to notice how nice he was looking, and when I put my hands on him, I realized that he was incredibly dairy and flat boned. At just a month old, there was already enough space between his ribs to easily fit my thumb! So here he will stay. His dam, Infinity, had very strong scores on Linear Appraisal for dairyness, rump angle, rump width, foreudder attachment, and rear udder height-- all traits we'd like to see Bentley pass on as well.

Castle Rock Tanzanite *S
DOB 3/22/10

Sire: CRF Castle Rock Guy Noir +S
(Twin Creeks BW Montego Bay +*S x MCH-PGCH Cloverdale YJ Blue Raven)
Dam: SGCH Algedi Farm H Purple Rain 4*D VVEE 90
(Rosasharn's UMT Hamachi *B x CH Rosasharn's TL Zenith 3*D EEVE 90)

I decided last year that I was going to retain a buck out of Purple Rain, so paired her with one of my favorite bucks on the farm, and got Tanzanite. As a second freshener, Rain is one of our heavier producers, and on Linear Appraisal received very strong marks on dairyness, rump width, foreudder attachment, rear udder height, rear udder arch and medial suspensory ligament.

Castle Rock Pound Foolish *S
DOB 2/05/10

Sire: Castle Rock Bentley *S
(Rosasharn TL Sitka Spruce *S x ARMCH Lost Valley TB Infinity 4*D)
Dam: SGCH CRF Castle Rock Penny Wise 3*D
(CRF Castle Rock Guy Noir +S x Castle Rock Money Penny 2*D)

When Penny Wise freshened this year with an even better udder than last year, I decided that I would keep one of her bucks, just for those does (both mine and outside the herd) that needed a boost in udder capacity. Then she went out to her first show weekend of the year and won three champion legs in a row, Linear Appraised VVEE 88, and now has her SGCH. Glad I kept this boy! He's related to quite a bit of my herd, so may not get that much action this year, but certainly has a whole lot of potential to pass on flat bone, dairy character, lots of milk, and, large, milkable teats.

Castle Rock Cleveland Sage *S
DOB 2/05/11

Sire: Castle Rock Tanzanite *S
(CRF Castle Rock Guy Noir +S x SGCH Algedi Farm H Purple Rain 4*D VVEE 90)
Dam: CH-ARMCH CRF Castle Rock Alum Root 3*D VEEE 90
(Twin Creeks BW Montego Bay +*S x Castle Rock SnowFlurryCeanothus 2*D AR 1988)

Cleveland is a very exciting cross that brings together a combination of exceptional dairyness, udder structure and capacity. His dam has near ideal teat placement, with wonderful rear udder height, an exceptionally strong MSL, and wonderful overall structure. Even with the large kidding season we had, this boy stood out to just about everyone who came to the farm- he's very masculine and charismatic, while still being very friendly and quite dairy.

Castle Rock Chicago Peace
DOB 2/06/11 polled

Sire: Copper Penny ROF Calico Jack
(Twin Creeks FAX Ring of Fire x MCH Ponders End MB Nevis)
Dam: CH-MCH CRF Castle Rock Tuscan Sun
(Woodhaven Farms Latigo +S x TX Twin Creeks WDF Sunsprite)

I really admire the general appearance of Chico's sire and dam- both get quite a few compliments in the show ring for being long and uphill with good dairy character and blending. Tuscan Sun has a pliable udder with easy to milk teats, strong foreudder, high rear udder and good capacity. Combine that with his being polled (naturally hornless), and I couldn't resist retaining this guy.

Castle Rock Cyclone
DOB 4/19/11

Sire: BRB SS Dust In The Wind
(Twin Creeks BW Storm Surge +S x Piddlin Acres Nota Gossip)
Dam: CH CRF Castle Rock Blizzard 3*D VEEE 90
(Lost Valley KW Stetson *S x Castle Rock SnowFlurryCeanothus 2*D AR 1988)

Cyclone is a nice dairy buck with good length of body, angulation, flatness of bone, and spring of rib. His dam has gotten better with age- a trait we always like to see! She is a wonderful milker, with excellent dairyness and a rump I would love to see on more of my does. Cyclone's sire, Dust In the Wind, has been making improvements in his daughters, so I am hoping he will be a nice outcross of sorts for us.

We do offer stud service at a rate of $75 for Guy Noir, $60 for any of our bucks per doe bred. Boarding of does is available at $2.00 per day, and I prefer that does be brought either in heat or close to when they are expected to come into heat, as I prefer not to have more goats to take care of than already live here. We do ask that your does be disease-free when they are brought for breeding, as we strive to maintain a clean and healthy farm. Does left for boarding must have proof of a recent (within 30 days) negative CAE test. Any doe left here for boarding must have a collar when dropped off, or she will incure an additional $10 charge so we can purchase one for her. No exceptions.

A note about breeding your does: In order to be fertile, goats need to have a good mineral balance in their systems, with the two most important minerals for fertility being copper and selenium. At a minimum, your doe should have a free choice loose goat mineral available to consume at all times. We prefer Sweetlix Goat Minerals, and have found that Bar-Ale makes a decent one as well; our goats won't consume enough of the Purina Goat Mineral to make a difference in their systems. A sheep and goat mineral will not do as there will be no copper in it (toxic to sheep), but goats MUST have copper. Even with a loose mineral available to our goats 24/7, we have found the need to supplement with copper bolusing and BO-SE (a selenium/vitamin E shot) at least a couple of times a year. If your doe has a rough terrier-type texture to her coat, the liklihood of her settling is much lower, as this is a sign of mineral (usually copper) deficiency. It has been my experience that weak heats are also a sign of mineral defficiency, and that as the mineral balance gets better, their signs of heat get much stronger. Another way to judge if your doe is mineral defficient is to look at pictures of her from when she was a kid- is she significantly lighter than as a kid? That is also a sign of deficiency. If your gold kid is white as a mature adult, or your black doe is turning brown, there is a really good chance that she needs some extra minerals before you take a drive up to our farm.

Sarah Hawkins and Andy Pestana
7547 English Hills Road
Vacaville, CA 95688
707-448-4655
castlerocknigerians@yahoo.com