Hello Everyone!

Yesterday, Mom and I also made a visit to Marilou Webb of South Fork Lamanchas.  Marilou has some of the best Lamanchas in the nation, and frequently wins big at goat shows.  This spring, Marilou has FORTY-NINE kids and counting!  She still milks all her does by hand and hand-raises all the kids.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Click on each picture to see a larger version.

The Lamancha is the only major breed of dairy goat that originated in the U.S!  Lamanchas were first bred by in Oregon by Eula Fay Frey.

Lamanchas are one of the most easily recognizable breeds of goat because they appear to have no ears!  Don’t worry- they can hear just like any other goat.  There are two types of Lamancha ear: Gopher (less than one inch of cartilage) and Elf (maximum 2 inches of cartilage, turned up or down).  Gopher ears are preferred (as seen above).

Lamanchas come in every color known to goats and can have spots, stripes or no pattern at all

The name “Lamancha” comes from the earless goats from La Mancha, Spain first exhibited at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1904

Only male goats (bucks) with “Gopher” ears are able to be registered because it is possible to breed the short ears out of Lamanchas by using elf-eared bucks and elf-eared does

Lamanchas are known for their high milk production

Lamanchas have very calm and loving personalities

Dairy goats are tattooed in each ear to be registered and identified by ADGA.  Because Lamanchas do not have external ears, they are tattooed on the left and ride fleshy sides of their tails instead!

Like the Nubian goat, Lamanchas have high butterfat in their milk

Pictured above: Cate, an old goat with a goofy, toothy grin

To find out more information about Lamanchas, visit the American Lamancha Club website: http://www.lamanchas.com/

Thank you Marilou for sharing your goats with us!  To find more information about Marilou’s herd, visit http://www.southforklamanchas.com/