des Ruhigestelle/Tempo
Fern and Laurie
Acton
Last updated January 16, 2010
Download Price List, Terms and Conditions (<0.1 Mb pdf)
NEW! Updated with 2010 breeding plans and prices
NEW! Download Semen Sales List 1.5 Mb pdf)
Download Saanen Herd List (1.5 Mb pdf)
Download LaMancha Herd List (0.5 Mb pdf)
Download Alpine Herd List (1.0 Mb pdf)
Download 2008 National Show - the trip! (1.1 Mb pdf)
Download Herd History (<0.1 Mb pdf)
Hello and welcome to our website. We have been breeding dairy goats for 45 years, but are still new dealing with today's technology. Truthfully, I’d rather be in the barn cleaning stalls and trimming feet, but have finally acknowledged the need to move into the 21st century. It has been a slow road for me to get this done. So, this isn’t a 'real' website so much as just lists of our breeding herds (and some other fun stuff too!). All of the information is official, and verified w/ the ADGA links (that’s what took so long). We had though that someday we would have an improved version, but as I listen to other breeders tales of difficulty and time spent on maintaining websites, and get frustrated trying to check out websites that aren't updated, I think we'll stay with what we have. So, instead of buttons, links and background colors, here you'll find lots of real records and as much information as will fit on a page. And since it is rather easy to update, we do our best to get it updated every couple months. To view our herd lists, click on the ‘download herd list’ at top. Be sure to also download the price list, terms and conditions. If you have any questions, I can now be contacted by email:
myname (at) herdname (dot) com
(change myname to lauren and herdname to ruhigestelle. Automatic e-mail address sniffers are getting more sophisticated these days!)
I try to answer emails within a few days. Please remember this site is about our goats and not a place to ask veterinary questions. I will be happy to answer vet questions at my clinic at 503-982-2421 (Tues/Wed/Thurs), but prefer to speak with your vet. Remember, I do mostly surgery and anesthesia, so other questions are pretty much out of my league.
As the 2009 show season draws to an end, we have much to be thankful for this year. Although fewer in number, the shows were mostly well attended, with high quality competition, and lots of fun with friends, some new, some old. We went to four shows in our area, then Nationals, Sonoma County Fair and one new fair (Humboldt County) in CA. We spent more time in CA from mid July to mid Aug than at home! While our 'stars' were not as bright as last year, our herd was at its strongest for consistency. We did finish four young Alpine does, two of which were Jaeger daughters, and just heard that two more Jaeger daughters finished as well. Our younger Saanens were 'bridesmaids' to some lovely mature Saanens in our area, but we did finish Elende and her sister Elendrea, and won seven RSGCH (and one full GCH) on Lluinil! Congratulations to Kristin Loughlin on finishing her beautiful Just A Dream, twin to Foxmaker, who has seven nice daughters and one son here. If you have to get beat, it doesn't hurt if it is by someone closely related!!! The LaManchas had an interesting year, with our most excitement coming from 'the yearling,' Evianna. Shown 9 times, with 9 firsts, 2xGCH and 2xRSGCH, including GCH (and second in BOB to Skoblikova) at the LaMancha Specialty before Nationals, she then shocked us by winning Reserve National Champion as a yearling! Hannah was 9x2nd, before finally finishing with 2xGCH & BOB, and 1xBIS at her last show. The consistency of the Saanens was most apparent at Nationals, where we had four does in the championship lineup, and came home with Premier Breeder and Exhibitor for the seventh time. It was a very rewarding moment to have three generations of does in the Senior Championship class. The youngest, our first place milking yearling Elenwe, went on to a BIS win at Humboldt Co, and a RSGCH over all our Saanens except her granddam Elendili and Winseeker at the Western WA Fair! We were very excited to win the ADGA Total Performer Award on Elendili, and hope that this valuable award will continue to be a part of the National Show. Winning Premier LaMancha Sire with Tach Lach was a surprise, as we showed only one daughter of our own. Many thanks to the four other herds that exhibited his daughters. Having Freelance be named Alpine Premier Sire wasn't a surprise, but we were quite proud to have bred this outstanding buck, and congratulations to Redwood Hills as his owner. The only sad part of showing was not enough new faces to meet. While I feel consistent appraisal scores may be more meaningful than show wins, I firmly believe you need to compare the does and see what is out there to decide what you need to do to keep your breeding program fresh and active. Not to mention the social aspect of the shows. It is easier to work with people if you know them, and comparing ideas is the backbone of improvement. And after all that, shows are fun!!!
However backwards we are in
technology, we do breed for a modern type of doe, one that is long boned and
dairy, and is a true total performer. You won’t find mature show goats giving ‘a gallon a day’,
or ‘2 gallon’ milkers with poor udders in our pens. Nor will you find obese goats, frail goats,
or goats with severe structural faults.
What you will find are sound, strong, highly productive does that milk
well wherever they are, and rarely get stressed. We take pride in producing genetic foundations
for commercial dairies, as we feel they should be the backbone of our
industry. Our does are not pampered,
rarely do we milk three times a day, and with a veterinarian’s unpredictable
work schedule, they frequently must wait 16 hours between milkings. Pasture is an important part of our
management, so our goats must be able to walk several hours a day. While we have our favorites, nobody gets
special treatment, or special feed. Some
of our more well known does have traveled over 5,000 miles every year of their
lives, and continue to produce over 3,000 lbs of milk.
Production
is equally important as shows to us. We
are always working toward our herd average goal of 3500 lbs milk with 100 lbs
protein. This seemed like a lot ten
years ago, but we have been at or near it frequently in the last few
years. We are as proud of Top Ten does
as our champions, and congratulate Elendili,
Lastly,
but most important, we enjoy our goats. I strongly believe in “coffee management”-
that is simply taking the time to just watch the goats do goat things. If everyone took the length of time it takes
to drink a cup of coffee (or tea, or beer, or whatever…) doing nothing but
watching their goats every day, my work as a veterinarian would diminish
greatly!! While we love our goats and
their achievements, we do have other interests, especially during the “snow”
season. To keep a balance between work
and play, and to keep burnout limited to kidding season, we do dry off many of
our does early, and only milk a select group through the winter. We attempt to keep January as free of goat
activities as possible, choosing instead to spend this time with each other. While this makes it tough to reach our herd
average goal, we value the freedom and freshness the time away gives us.
We enjoy visitors, but ask that you
call ahead to make sure we home. Please
do not wear clothing or shoes that have been in other barns, including your
own. The coffee is always on, in fact I
think I’ll take a cup out to the barn right now…