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Braveheart Farms to Breed La Manchas
With the help of America's top two dairy goat breeders -- the Kastdemur Dairy Goat Farm of Redding, California and the Lakeshore Goat Farm of Kelseyville, California, Braveheart Farms with breed on a limited scale the La Manchas, a goat breed that was developed in America a few decades ago.
Braveheart Farms will acquire from Kastdemur and Lakeshore Farms several pairs of La Manchas and discover how they will perform in a tropical country like the Philippines.
The first few La Manchas will be bred at the 32-acre Braveheart Goat Farm at the foot of Mt. Apo, the Philippines' tallest mountain, in Kidapawan City.
Aside from their unusual look marked by the absence of ears characteristic of most goats, La Manchas have proven to be prolific milk producers in the US thus the attempt to experiment on how they will do in the Philippines.
To know more about the La Manchas, we are reprinting here an article which is sourced from Wilkipedia.
Privacy Policy ½ Site by John D. Pagaduan
Last Updated: November 01, 2007
As part of the continuing effort to discover the potentials of the goat industry in helping improve the life of the Filipino farmer, Braveheart Farms of Kidapawan City, North Cotabato will start breeding the La Mancha, a dairy goat breed which is performing very well in the United States dairy farms today.
LaMancha (goat)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LaMancha Doe
The LaMancha is a type of dairy goat noted for its appparent lack of, or much reduced, external ears. The LaMancha breed is medium in size, and is also noted for a generally calm, quiet, and gentle temperament.
The LaMancha goat was developed in the 1930s in Oregon by Eula F. Frey when she crossed some short-eared goats believed to have Spanish blood in them with her outstanding Swiss and Nubian Bucks. The LaMancha has excellent dairy temperament and is an all-around sturdy animal that can withstand a great deal of hardship and still produce. Through official testing this breed has established itself in milk production with high butterfat.
The LaMancha face is straight, with ears being the distinctive breed characteristic. A Roman nose, that is typically a characteristic of a Nubian goat, is considered a moderate to serious breed defect of the LaMancha goat.
The LaMancha goat is typically a good 4h show goat. The LaMancha goat comes in just about any color.
There are two types of LaMancha ears. In does, neither type of ear has an advantage over the other. The two types are described as follows:
Gopher ear: The external ear is very small and appears to be 'shriveled'. There is no fold and the external ear must not exceed 1 inch (2.5 cm). This is the only type of ear which will make bucks eligible for registration.
Elf ear: An approximate maximum length of 2 inches is allowed. The end of the ear must be turned up or turned down, and cartilage shaping the small ear is allowed. LaManchas with a fold exceeding the allowed length cannot be registered as purebred animals.
Any color or combination of colors is acceptable with no preferences. The hair is short, fine and glossy.
Ears
LaManchas do have ears; that is to say an auditory canal and other internal structures. It is the pinna that is visibly shrunken. It is not usually possible to use ear tags or ear tattoos for identification of individual LaMancha goats. Tattoos are normally placed on the tail web.
The rather small ears on LaManchas make them a unique breed. However, it is possible to breed the small ear 'out of them'. The reason only gopher eared bucks are allowed to be registered is because two 'elf' eared animals bred together can create an erect (normal) eared kid. Some breeders prefer the gopher ears on all of their animals, but the type of ear is purely cosmetic.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org