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Piru Creek Tiara (barn name Ruth) has only been with me for a few days, and already I can't imagine my barn without her. She is so sweet, so calm, so graceful and gentle... Exactly what I expect from a Guernsey.
What is NOT expected from a Guernsey though, is to milk over a gallon a day, but she did that as a first freshener!

Long story alert....
I've been looking to add this bloodline to my herd for well over a year, ever since I heard about a doe in California who produced over 3,000lbs of milk in 305 days! That's solid production for a SAANEN, and absolutely mindblowing for a Guernsey...
I spent several weeks trying to set up to buy a buckling out of that big producer (Piru Creek Jewel), but the seller couldn't get me the paperwork I needed and we missed out on transport (much to my devastation).
Then I found out that there was a Guernsey breeder in Seattle (Sarah) with Jewel's FULL sister Ruth/Tiara, and I immediately bought a buckling out of her! Unfortunately the buckling was horned and it just didn't work in my herd, so I had to send him back (Sarah was lovely about the whole thing) after breeding him to only ONE doe. For 5 months I waited and hoped for a buckling out of that doe that I could disbud and use in my herd, but nope. Twin doelings. Sigh.
So THEN I tried to talk Sarah into crossing Ruth with a Saanen buck, but (of course) there was no real benefit in that for her. Sigh. So finally I asked her which does I could buy outright, and cringed (you NEVER get the chance to buy the best goats in a herd!). But due to some bad luck on Sarah's side, I got lucky!!!! Unfortunately Ruth's udder was damaged this year as a second freshener when she packed 12+ pounds of colostrum into it. Her attachments held up surprisingly well, but her gland cisterns stretched out and while her udder is still functional, it's now unattractive (pictures are from her FIRST freshening before the damage).

The thing is, Guernseys aren't really BUILT to support massive milk production... They are smaller, daintier goats in general, with common genetic weakness that hinder them further (weak pasterns, minimal udder attachments, etc).
But luckily, Saanens have incredible capacity, so Ruth will work very well in my program. I will try to maintain the milk production from both sides of the pairing, and keeping only the most structurally sound and powerfully built of the offspring.

Breeding Plans:
I'm going to breed Ruth to my very VERY fancy Saanen buckling (Ronan) this year and next. I will be keeping every single baby until I see how they freshen (or how their daughters freshen)...

Special note: I am so so so so excited about the opportunity that this doe represents... Up to now, I've had to accept that adding the Guernsey genetics to my Saanen lines would cost me some milk production. It was just inevitable... But gaining the incredible Guernsey personality was worth it to me.
Now.... Now I get both... I can hopefully build a line of Saanseys with BOTH incredible personalities AND incredible production. It's my dream.

Thank you Sarah!! I am just over the moon...