What are some of the comments people have made about your Lamancha Goats

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), April 05, 2001

Answers

Response to LaMancha

Well let's see, the most common is " Ha ha ha!!! just look at those goats! ha ha!!!", while the person is struggling to maintain an upright position and holding both sides. Then there is, " what happened to their ears?", and after you tell them, " Why would anyone want to breed a goat without ears?". It's hard to explain that they weren't really bred specifically NOT to have ears, but that the parent stock started out that way, and the breed is maintained to stay like that. Some people ask why anyone would want to own a goat without ears. I got so tired of it at the county fair, that I tacked a sign next to the la Mancha's pen. I got a kick out of listening to people come up and read the sign.

"Honey, look at this! You've got to see these goats. It says here they were born this way! And that they can hear just fine!! Isn't that different?"

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 05, 2001.

Response to LaMancha

Rebekah, Had some people come over today trying to buy my goats.One of their questions was "What happened to their ears?" I was really surprised hearing this from an adult.

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), April 05, 2001.

Boy I know that one! I have only one lamancha goat, well two now she just had a little doe kid. But everyone who see's them is she lost her ears to frostbite! :-(

-- Kim Mills (kim_mills7@hotmail.com), April 05, 2001.

HI, I had a laMancha for 20 years. You could milk her any where. I still miss her. Sometime in the near future I will be purchasing another one. I believe their milk taste better,no offence to any other breed.

-- lexi Green (whitestone11@hotmail.com), April 05, 2001.

We start eating them while they are still alive and start with the ears.

Where do you think fajita meat comes from?

They do have ears, they are the first cross between goats and humans.

You don't milk the ears.

We make these cute little purses out of their ears, want to buy one?

They are the meanest goats there are, they eat each others ears off.

The Nubians are so jealous of them that they eat their ears.

These are just a few of the things my husband would tell folks as the thousandth person at a fair would come by and ask "What happened to their ears"! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 05, 2001.

Vicki, I love it. My favorite is that you eat the ears. I would love to see the expresion on peoples faces when you tell them that. By the way, what possible reason could my Nubians have to be jealous of a LaMancha? :) Skip Walton, Sunday Creek Nubians

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), April 06, 2001.

Vicki, I laughed so hard I cried!!!!Where do you think fahita meat comes from!!!!I love it. The funniest thing we've heard is why do you want deaf goats? Ha ha...................We love our lamanchas, they're the gentlest things we have. And they give us lots of milk. Have a great day.

-- patti (pioneerpatti@msn.com), April 06, 2001.

Skip, I am a fairly dyed in the wool Nubian lover. Daughter #2 got LaMancha's so she wasn't just showing Daughter #1 2nd place animals. Though I love my Nubians dearly, and I have some very milky does (mostly heavily linebred Price of the Field stock) LaMancha's even just your basic utilitarian type doe can milk circles around them. Bred to decent bucks (we used Yazz) they even have respectable butterfat. A Nubian may have richer milk, and have some impressive milk volume when first freshened, but a LaMancha has that total volume of milk for the whole lactation. Milking LaMancha's through is also easily done. And though our LaMancha girls were always quiet, easy on equipment and easy going, they sure didn't take any stuff off the Nubians. This morning at chores a panel is off the barn wall, someone really had to be working on it all night! A Lamancha simply would never have thought to be this destructive! :) You have a great day! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 06, 2001.

OK, I have a stupid question too. I've wondered if Lamancha goats are more prone to ear problems due to the lack of ear coverings. Do they have more problems with flies and other insects? Are they more prone to infections from getting into brush etc., and getting trash in their ears? Just a thought from a non-goat person.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), April 07, 2001.

Green, part of taking care of your LaMancha's needs are a little bit different. Not only do they not have ear flaps but their ear canals sort of run up. With their monthly hoof trimming we also washed their ears with a washrag soaked in peroxide. They actually do a very good job of keeping their ears clean on their own with their hooves though. The worst habit LaMancha's have is biting. They bite each other, they bit Nubian ears, and they will scrap you with their bottom teeth. We are out of LaMancha's now, Bettie has our last 2 beautiful yearlings, and I haven't had the normal pulling of my shirt as I walk out in the woods I always had with the LaMancha's here. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 07, 2001.

I loved this thread. We had La Manchas a few years ago and really liked them. We're moving back to the country June 1 and are looking to purchase at least one La Mancha milker. We live on the eastern shore of MD. Gloria

-- Gloria Mullinax (mullinaxclan@webtv.net), April 09, 2001.

The kids at our fair used to tell people who asked about the ears that the La Manchas' ears were regularly harvested and would grow back--then show them the Nubians! Funny what people will believe. I'll have to remember all those answers, vicki that was a CRACK UP! We have nubians here. Thanks all!

-- Z in Washington (beebedz@juno.com), April 10, 2001.

LOLOLOLOLOLLLLLLLLLL!

I'm a newbie goat owner w/ about a year's worth of research & 2 months of hands-on experience w/ goats under m'belt. I just got my first La Mancha about a month ago. . . this, after SWEARING I'd never have one of those "Ugly, No-Eared, Stupid-Looking . . .WHY would ANYone. . ." etc. BUT - I needed a milker for milk for a kid I'd just bought & she just happened to be available & the price was right & . . . Well, I just picked up #2 La Mancha yesterday at the auction. It was an accident, I swear!

This is also Auction Goat #2, contrary to popular rumor that auction animals are to be avoided like the plague. I don't know if we just have an unusually good auction or what, but lots of goat people come from all over to attend our local auctions. Maybe we're just lucky, I don't know!

But this 2nd auction goat was just irresistable. Oooooops. Imagine my husband's surprise when he was out there fixing the electric fence & I sort of neglected to tell him I brought home a little something WITH the alfalfa I'd gone up there for! LOL & along trots this little, apricot La Mancha M-m-m-m-ming at him for some attention. He came stomping into the house "I didn't know the RAIN made goats change colors!" stomp stomp stomp.

*snicker snicker snicker*

I am printing the La Mancha comments for future ammunition. I'm hoping to sponsor some local kids in 4H so I'm sure we'll be listening to the same comments! I too was one of those ignorant people who used to mutter about why anyone would cut off a goat's ears!

Regards, Sarah/MI

-- Sarah Sanders (chilechile@hotmail.com), May 27, 2001.

Sarah, LaManchas are really the perfect dairy project for 4Hers. There are small enough in numbers that even at open shows the folks are nice, because they NEED you to make their shows official. LaManchas also carry an open herd book, so, if you register your girls native on apperance, you can then, breeding to a registered buck, register the kids, and eventually have purebred (3 generations for does (the kids), 4 for bucks). Something you can't do in any of the other dairy breeds, American is the most you can obtain. Even raised on mom, LaManchas are eaisly tamed, are quiet, smaller yet with a big attitude, they don't take any guff off of other breeds. They have superior meat to bone ratio and on a whole have better udders without alot of upgrading. They also milk for a longer period of time, and make more profit eating less. The downsides have got to be that most folks either love them (me) or hate them and their odd looks, though commercial herds will buy your milkers, exports and ethnic meat buyers pass on them. Glad you changed your mind, you will be very happy with your munchies! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 27, 2001.