News from Six M Galaxy September 2008

Superior Genetics

+*B Six M Galaxy Nova Sunrise has recently received his Superior Genetics award, as well as making his debut on the USDA Elite Sire Summary (97th percentile).



Top Ten

The new ADGA Nubian Top Ten list for 2007 production has SG Six M Galaxy Red Sunrise 14*M in the #2 spot for milk production with 4,060 pounds of milk produced in 305 days. She was #5 on the protein list, with 135 pounds of protein.


Sunnie is now living at Cooper-Payne Farms in North Carolina. They have three does in the ADGA Nigerian Dwarf Top Ten this year. We know they have the management skills to help Sunnie make another Top Ten record in the future and hope to see her there again.

SG Six M Galaxy Nova's Sonia Noel 10*M is on ADGA's 2007 Top Ten at the #10 spot for milk production, having given us 3,400 pounds of milk in 305 days. This was Noel's third time in the Top Ten. Last year she was #1, and the year before that she was #3. Noel and her dam Sonia both made the list three times each.

We are planning to breed Noel with Sunnie's son Jupiter this fall and look forward to seeing their offspring next year.

USDA Elite Does

The 2008 USDA-DHIA Elite Does list of the nation's top 5 percent of does with recent kiddings has been posted at the ADGA web site.

The list is once again headed up by SG Six M Galaxy Nova's Sonia Noel 10*M. Joining her on the list in the 99th percentile are SG Six M Galaxy Red Sunrise 14*M, SG Six M Galaxy Noel's Holly 11*M, Six M Galaxy Obe's Unique, and SG Six M Galaxy Gemma's Topaz 12*M.

Six M Galaxy does in the 98th percentile are Sunnie's Hope, Isabelle Darlene, Midnight Angel, Topaz's Minuet, and Gabe's Portentia (Tia).

In the 97th percentile Six M Galaxy is represented by Herm's Minerva, Ivy League, and Echo's Treat.

Our girls in the 96th percentile are Obe's Bella, Sunspots, and Mick's Sheila.

In the 95th percentile, we have Isabelle Serena, Darlene Ailene, and Hermione's Rowena.

About Us

The McClure Family has raised Purebred Nubian Dairy Goats in Sonoma County, California, under the herd name Six M Galaxy since 1973. Our goats are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA).

Our goal always has been to breed beautiful, highly productive, easy to milk animals with good dispositions.

We have had a good degree of success in this effort, and strive each year to improve upon our previous success.

At this blog we talk about whole-herd issues and management. Please use the links at right to learn more about individual animals from our herd.

Superior Genetics

Forty-six of our goats have qualified for the American Dairy Goat Association Superior Genetics award. Animals who have received this award have the designation SG at the beginning of their names.

Animals are evaluated on the DHIR and Linear Appraisal records of both themselves and their relatives. The Superior Genetics award is given to goats who are determined to be in the top 15th percentile of their breed.

DHIR: Dairy Herd Improvement Record

Six M Galaxy has been on continuous DHIR since 1974. Over the past two decades, our line frequently has been represented in the National Top Ten Lists for Milk, Butterfat, and Protein Production.

Visit our blog Six M Galaxy Top Ten Does to view a complete list of these outstanding producers.

DHIR scores are included in the write-ups for each of our mature does.

For those who are new to DHIR records, I should explain what the numbers mean.

Each line of a DHIR record score indicates a separate year of milking. For an example, a score that is written
02-11 305 2970 100 90
means that the doe freshened (had babies and started producing milk) at the age of two years and eleven months (02-11). After that, she was in milk for 305 days. During those 305 days, she produced 2970 pounds of milk. The components of that milk included 100 pounds of butterfat and 90 pounds of protein.

Linear Appraisal: A Second Opinion

One of the tools we use in our effort to improve the conformation of our goats is the ADGA Linear Appraisal program. With Linear Appraisal, a specially trained ADGA appraiser scores each animal for how closely it comes to the "ideal" goat.

While we are good judges of goat quality, it is helpful to have a second opinion from an unbiased expert who doesn't know the animals personally. Also, having the official score lets other people know it isn't just our opinion when we say an animal is beautiful.

We have participated in ADGA's Linear Appraisal program four times. We were unable to participate in LA in 2008, but plan to resume Linear Appraisal next year.

When Harvey Considine was alive, we used his Herd Evaluation Service whenever it was available in California. Harvey's wise advice made great contributions to the quality of many herds across the nation, our herd included. We miss both Harvey and his guidance.

The forerunner of ADGA's Linear Appraisal program was their Classification Program. The Six M Galaxy herd was Classified five times.

In all three programs, the categories that are scored for does are General Appearance, Dairy Character, Body Capacity, and Mammary. For bucks, the categories are General Appearance, Dairy Character, and Body Capacity.

A score that reads "E V V + 88" means the doe was Excellent in General Appearance, Very Good in Dairy Character, Very Good in Body Capacity, and Good in Mammary. The number at the end indicates the final score.

Final scores of 80-84 are Good. 85-89 are Very Good. 90 and above are excellent.

Bio-Security For A Healthy Herd

We work hard to protect our animals from exposure to disease. By maintaining a healthy herd, we make our work much more enjoyable.

It is fun and rewarding to look at happy, healthy, beautiful goats. It is very good to know that animals we sell cannot carry disease into their new herds.

We maintain a tightly closed herd.

When human visitors come to see our goats, they scrub up and then put on disposable boots and coveralls. People who don't want to go with the program don't get to see our goats.

We do not allow other animals to come onto the property. We do not provide stud service to outside does.

Currently, we are working only with our own genetic lines. If and when we decide to bring in one or two bucklings from other herds, we will keep them in a VERY separate area, far from the rest of our herd, for a full year before using them. And we will test them regularly.

Some people think we are too strict. Unfortunately, experience has convinced us it is necessary to be so strict.

Long years ago, our family was less strict and more trusting. As a result, many animals became sick, suffered badly, and died young.

Having sick animals is not fun. It hurts us to watch them suffer. It is stressful giving shots and other medication, because there can always be bad reactions to medication. When an animal dies, so does a part of us.

So we will continue to work hard to protect the goats who are in our care.

Our Closed Herd Is CAE Negative

All animals on our property are CAE Negative. We test all adult does at least once a year. We have been completely CAE-free since 2001. Our most recent test was in August, 2008.

Our Herd Is G6S Normal

All of the animals we use as breeding stock are G6S normal either by test or by pedigree.

An abnormal G6S gene can cause a variety of problems, including high mortality rates in baby goats and general unthriftyness in older animals.

Back in 2001, I read that the G6S gene mutation was rampant in high-milking lines. I told Martin we should have our goats tested. He read the description of what problems the mutation causes and said, "We don't have that." I said we should get tested. I gave the article to our veterinarian. He read it and said, "You don't have that." I said we should get tested.

We spent a lot of money to test all our breeding stock and every test came back normal.

I said, "Well, dear, you were right. But now we have the papers to prove it."

Six M Galaxy at McClure Ranch

Four
of our
National
Top Ten
Nubian
does







Herd owners:
Martin and Louise McClure

Mailing Address:
4537 Grange Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Telephone:
707 523-3074

Email:
sixmgalaxy@yahoo.com