Special K feed is a recipe developed by me and ESP feeds especially for show goats. I was not finding what I wanted in other feed brands. I was constantly having to mix other additives in order to get the desired results. Why does a hog feed company make goat feed for me? Because they understood that I wanted consistency in feed stuffs and that I didn’t want to spend a fortune advertising the feed therefore causing the price to be over $20 a bag. This is also why the feed comes in a plain white bag with an orange label. Straight forward, simple, cheap yet very effective.

It is an alfalfa/corn/soybean meal based feed. It does have ammonia chloride in it and a proper Calcium/phopshorous balance to help prevent kidney stones. With all feeds, I still recommend keeping apple cider vinegar in their water for stone prevention. It is over 16% protein and 4% fat. With the higher fat content, there has to be an exercise program in place, unless you are creep feeding and wanting to bloom goats.

Anybody that knows me has heard me say “It’s not what you feed, but how you feed it as long as you use a quality feed.” I still believe this. But lets look at the result for one year.

–Grand & Reserve grand wethers at State Fair of OK

–Grand wether Tulsa–several other division & res. division champs

–Champ middle division doe Tulsa

–Grand wether Lone Star Elite

–Grand doe, res grand & bronze wether Champions Choice Jackpot

–Res. grand wether Phoenix

–Grand, Reserve, Bronze wethers at Enid–eight of the 18 premium sale wethers

–Reserve grand wether Woodward–over half of the premium sale wethers

–Grand wether OYE, Bronze wether & several other res. divisions, class winners & premium sale wethers

That’s an impressive list for one year. It ain’t bragging if you can back it up. ESP is making the feed how I want it and the feed is doing its part for the goats.

The feed is designed to be fed while using an exercise program. When fed properly, goats will handle with a fresher handle. We don’t use track dogs on our goats, but they are ran on a regular routine. A wide variety of judges have consistently stated that these goats handle fresher and with more shape. We haven’t been beat because of a lack of muscle. We do add Oxy-Gen vindicator to the Special K. I have used very few other additives this past year.

If you are interested in feeding Special K, contact me or go to the ESP link on oklahomshowgoats.com and call Troy Baumgardner. I keep feed here at the barn. Tyke gets a ton at a time. Kids from Ellis county buy a bag or two at time from Tyke.

Obviosuly, it is easier to get feeding help from me if you are feeding Special K.

So, I sat down with my favorite son and reflected on the past year the other evening. I said “Duke, you had the reserve grand wether at the state fair, you had a division champion at Tulsa and was 4th overall, you had the reserve grand wether at Phoenix, the grand hog at Phoenix, the grand wether at Enid and a reserve division and 4th overall at OYE.”

In his flat line, monotone fashion with a quick head bob, he said, “Yep.”

I said, “Do you know what you call that?”

Once again, in his flatline, monotone fashion, he answered, “A good year.”

I said, “No, that is what you call a career.”

He said, “Hhmm. Let’s do it again next year.”

I don’t know if he understands what a career is or if he means it. If you have ever talked to Duke, you can’t tell if he is excited or not. Some say it is genetics. Must come from his mother.

Several have asked if I am upset that Duke was not grand or reserve at the city. Nope. Not upset in the least. Anyday, that my kid is in the final drive with the calibers of Braden Schovanec, Lora Riley, Trent Boles and Bree Taylor, I’m pretty pumped. I love good competition and I enjoy winning. But I enjoy the journey more than the win. I like an animal with a story and a cheap price tag. I like my kid having to work harder than the rest.

Duke and I continued talking about his goat “Spasm”. He is a Gallagher goat that was tag 1060 at their June sale. I was way into him, but he cost like $2,750 bucks. I was prepared to give more, but then he wouldn’t have stayed at my house as I am somewhat low rent. What did I like about the goat when he was little? He was huge loined, big ribbed, good boned, smooth hided and twisted eared. I didn’t like that he tracked a little narrow and was dumb as all get out. The goat never changed. He was always huge loined, square racked, deep twisted, good boned, smooth hided, twisted eared, a little narrow and dumb as hell. But Duke had to work to get him shown.

Spasm ended up being res. grand at the State Fair of OK, Grand at Major County, Grand at Enid District, res. div. 3 and 4th overall at OYE. And further proof that he was a good one– he was last in his class at the Fairview Local Show. If you ever want a good one beat, take them to the local show. It happens. I would way rather get beat at the local than at a show that mattered. Every kid needs to win their local and then a county. But, once you do, notch that one up and never worry about it again. Let somebody else win it after that.

We show because I think every kid needs to be involved with animals and agriculture. We show because I like the social skills kids learn from working, winning and losing. We show because we can do it as a family. We show because we have fun with other families and, if you know me, if I can’t have fun doing it…I don’t want to do it. We show because we like meeting new people, dealing with other breeders and helping new show families learn what it takes. I like the fact that my kids know most of the people in the show barn. I like it when other breeders want my kids to feed their animals. I also like that my kids have had targets as ones to beat. If you can outwork, outshow and outfeed my kids, then I don’t mind getting beat. Hats off to you. I love good competition. Sure, I could keep all the goats that I raise, buy and coach and could guarantee that my kids win. But that wouldn’t be fun. I’ll still sell them, feed something a little off, work hard and if we don’t win, there is always next year. Maybe, we’ll just have another career next year.

Here it is the Thursday after OYE and I am still trying to decide if I survived or not. One, it was an incredibly tough wether show. Two, I don’t get sick but every third year or so, but the OYE barn cough has got me down this time.

That was a dang good wether show. Classes were very deep in quality. The division two champion line up was impressive. All four of those wethers had a shot at it. It was the best division line up that I had witnessed and Zanolini agreed on the mic. His reasons on the division 3 champ and reserve were interesting. Duke’s goat was a “specimen” and Braden’s goat was a “rockstar”. Can’t say that I disagree.

As far as the grand drive went, I thought that Braden’s div 3 goat was for sure the best one. Then I thought he could go a number of different ways–take the next two out of div. 2 or take div. 2 then res. div. 3 or res div 3 and then div. 2. I wasn’t into the reserve grand very much. I would have beat him in division. However, where that goat was good, he was way good. But he had too many structure problems for me. I also think that a kid should be able to half way show an animal in order to win at a major show. But my opinion didn’t count on that day. All in all, I followed him very well.

We had a lot of wethers placing in the top five and have a couple in the premium sale. Didn’t have any class winners, but they consistently placed very well. I didn’t watch much of the doe show. Just enough to see the grand and reserve grand. They were both very good. I don’t get too excited about the OYE doe show as so many of the good ones are left at home and the whole scratching, buy out option, buy your own goat back deal just doesn’t intrigue me. I wish they would do away with the doe sale part of it and just show them. It shouldn’t cost a kid to be successful with an animal.

I attended the Woodward District Premium sale last night. I had not been to this sale since 2005 when I was still teaching at Waynoka. Enid show has always conflicted until this year. WOW!!! Woodward put on a sale. Great crowd & a ribeye steak dinner for all in attendance, not just buyers. Lots of money was being spent on kids in the ring and that much or more was being spent on add-ons. It was a very impressive sale. I don’t know what the average was, but I bet it was close to $2,000 per kid not counting add ons. I hope OYE sale is as good as Woodward’s was.

Enid has always screwed up on their sale as they don’t allow add ons. That leaves a lot of money on the table for kids that doesn’t get spent otherwise. They told me one year, that they didn’t have the man power to handle the add-ons. I told them I had several women that would donate their time to take care of it. They still don’t allow add-ons. So much for that excuse, but that’s fine. It’s their show.

Dogs.

Heard some story about 3 dogs on the side of the road in Gage, OK. Ask Tyke or Wild Bill for the Paul Harvey part of this…for you all too young to remember Paul Harvey–He did “The rest of the story.”

Saw something at the store the other day. There was a new 4 door, 4 wheel drive, flatbed pickup parked out front. On the dash of this pickup was a little poodle looking beast. All clipped up. This was not the kind of dog you expect to see in an ag related vehicle. More like the kind that you would see one of those Kardashian’s or Hilton chicks carrying. I went to the parts counter to see who the customer was. I knew the guy, so I started giving him crap about his dust mop on the dash of the pickup. He was actually babysitting the dog for his mother. However, he had his dog in the backseat. I asked him what kind it was. It was a one of kind — Old English Bulldog x Dachsund cross. Yes, a weinerdog/bulldog mix. It actually looked exactly like you would imagine that a weinerdog/bulldog offspring should look. The dog had great personality. Just for the record, the weinerdog was the father in that mating. I know, I asked.

Sasha, the dog that inhabits our little piece of paradise, has taken to sleeping on the backporch. It started during a bad cold snap back in November, but has somehow continued. I am the one that has to throw her out. Now, when I walk on to the backporch, she hides her face, so that I can’t see her and make her go outside.

Well, we leave for OYE tomorrow morning. Wethers show on monday. I expect a high quality show. Probably won’t be on here until after OYE. Next week, the wether pens will be empty and we will start thinking about next year.

As a judge, I don’t enjoy showmanship contests. I believe that showmanship matters when you are trying to make the animal looks its best–while the judge is judging the animal-not the showman. Showmanship should be judged during the actual show, not at a seperate time. Kela was a phenomenal showman. She showed most every goat different. Whatever she needed to do in order to make the animal look its best from every angle, she knew what, when and how to do it. However, the better job of presenting the animal she did, the fewer showmanship contests she won. It doesn’t make sense, but it is true.

As a competitor and an addict of good livestock, I absolute love watching a great showman at work trying to win a show, not a showmanship contest. Last week, Duke won Enid. Yes, I was happy about that. But I was more stoked with the job he did showing. He had been throwing up from 5 am that morning until after the show. He spent most of that day lying in the backseat of the pickup. We had a substitute showman lined up to show his goats for him. He said, “Nope. They’re my goats. I’ll show them.” He puked, took a drink of water and went to the ring. He is not the showman that Kela was (yet). But he did a very good job of showing. Several have said it was the best they’ve seen Duke show. I loved seeing the competitor in him. That was the part I liked. Especially, if you haven’t been around Duke, he doesn’t get too fired up.

Monday, I was at Woodward. This was a very good wether show. Going into the grand drive, I wasn’t sure which goat was going to win. Izzy could use 3 of the 4 division champs and justify any one of them. Once, the division and reserve champs were in the ring. I watched a great showman go to work. The other showmen in the ring did a very good job of presenting their animals, but Lora Riley absolutely showed the wheels off her goat. It was evident that there was lots of hard work done at home, lots of experience and a huge desire to win, but also a huge desire to not get beat. She had the wether looking right on the move, on the brace and she showed him on the chain. Her dad was nervous as always. I told him, “It is always a good thing to be in a grand drive and know that you have the best showman in the barn. Sometimes, that is better than having the best animal.” I don’t know if Lora had the best wether in the ring or not, and I don’t care. I do know that she made sure her wether looked like the best in the ring. To me, that is what showmanship is all about.

Showmanship is a family sport. Ask Lora. Her family works together to do chores with goats, play lots of basketball and softball, etc. Parents have to help. Parents and siblings can help coach. Feed of an evening while the kids are playing ball. Not to mention her toughest competitor lives in the same house. Ally can get it done also. It is a team effort. It has to be and that is what makes stock shows worthwhile.

Does showmanship come into play when judging a show? Absolutely. If it is close, the showmen will seperate themselves. As a judge, you have to recognize when a showman is hiding a flaw. But you also have to respect the fact, that they are working to accentuate the positives of their animals, while hiding a flaw or two.

And that is why I am an addict. It is about the work to study genetics, nutrition, hair care, exercise and the work at home. It is about knowing how to make your animal look its best. And it is about feeling the competition and rising to meet the challenge. Win or lose.

On that note, you might want to watch out as we are dealing with a herd of younger showmen. Bree and Britt Taylor get better every time out, Chesley Comstock has came a long way in a short amount of time. Lexi Vanderwork, Darcy Peach and Darci Whitley are getting tough at this deal. Oh, and there is also Braden and Halie Schovanec. Those two can show with anybody. Most importantly, these are great kids with good family support.

I don’t care who is winning which presidential primary or poll whatever kind of crap they have today. Its kids like these will make the future of this country. And that makes me feel good.

Yesterday was the Woodward district goat show. Izzy Cardenas judged it. The wether show was by far the deepest show in terms of quality that has ever been at Woodward. Lora Riley was grand wether with a pfeiffer. Bree Taylor was reserve grand with a Helms. Joe Dirt sired the ch & res. div. 1 wethers and res. div. 3 as well as several other premium sale goats. There were a couple of Rainman kids that won classes. There was a Joe Dirt doe that was a reserve division in the doe show and a Captain Morgan that was a reserve division.

I’ve got the dec/jan wethers weaned, banded and pounding feed.

The weather was a little warmer than I’m used to at Enid. The northwest district goat show was yesterday. The quality was very deep in both the does and wether shows. The doe show was extremely tough. Every class was stacked with four or five really good does. We did have a good day in the wether show. Duke was grand and Schovanec’s were reserve and bronze. Duke’s goat is a Gallagher and Schoovy’s were both Helm’s. Lot’s of high placing goats sired by Joe Dirt, Freak on a Leash, Rainman and Captain Morgan.

I did learn something about bigfoot’s yesterday. Porcupines eat squatch turds. I find this interesting as the Oklahoma porcupine population has tripled during the past decade. I wonder what they might be eating?

Duke likes to watch the show “Finding Bigfoot”. His Phoenix goat was named Squatch and he showed a Bobo at Tulsa, names resulting from this show. To be honest, I kind of enjoy it also. It cracks me up that these people “know” what a bigfoot sounds like and they can mimic a squatch yell, but they’ve never seen or actually heard one before. They do show some fairly compelling evidence that a bigfoot does exist, but they use all kinds of technology and still, nothing. It is possible that they exist, but I doubt it.

I can understand how a creature like that can stay hidden, but what I don’t understand is why they haven’t even found a Squatch turd or skeleton. I would like to see these researchers stalking through the woods at night, with their night vision cameras and infrared scopes, trying to catch video of a real-life bigfoot, when dang, oh my, one of them steps in a big steaming pile of sasquatch excrement. Imagine that smell.

There are animals that exist, that humans haven’t found yet. Kind of like that magic buck to breed to 900 influenced does that will make great ones but doesn’t throw parrot mouths, structure issues and all the other problems that are out there. Much like a squatch, it’s out there, but we don’t know where to find it.

Be checking your goats, especially wethers, daily for any signs of fungus, ringworm or staph. On warm days, take the blankets off and let the goats air out. Take preventitive measures to stop fungus and ringworm.

If you have an active infection on a goat, don’t take it to a show, as it will spread to other goats. Be courteous to other showmen. Pay attention to your animals. If you notice something on them, seek help immediately. If it is active, don’t take them to a show.

Had a weekend without any shows or work related stuff, but we were still plenty busy. We had some visitors Friday evening, Kela and her friend Jacy spent Friday night with us. Kela worked with Duke on showmanship. Jacy was here to work on a report for a class. Duke thought it was big stuff having a couple of college chicks stay up late with him watching movies.

Duke and I worked babies Saturday morning. Then I went to Cleo Springs and Aline to sort through goats. There is a good set of wether and doe prospects scattered around. None will be for sale until after OYE.

Saturday afternoon, a trailer load of wethers made it to my house. Weighed, handled, cussed and discussed what has to be done between now and OYE.

Sunday, I went back to Cleo to clip a pair of does. I spent both days with the Cleo Springs Goat Queen–Tori Sessions. She’s pretty good help and she dang sure had hair popping on the does I had to clip.

Tammy was ecstatic about Arnett basketball. If you didn’t know it, Tammy was a heckuva basketball player for Arnett in the late eighties. She played in the state tournament every year. She now has a niece starting for Arnett and they came through the losers bracket to make it to the state tourney. The Arnett boys also qualified for state.