Sunday, September 22, 2013

Three Bucks Bring More Than $1000 Each

Three of the fourteen top-performing bucks from the 2013 Western Maryland Pasture-Based Meat Goat Performance Test sold for more than $1000. They were sold at the 1st Annual Mid-Atlantic Small Ruminant Extravaganza on September 21, 2013, in Chatham, Virginia.

For the second year in a row, Sam Burke from Delaware had the top-performing buck. It sold for $1100. The top-selling buck was the top-gaining buck consigned by John Weber from Illinois. It brought $1350. Weber sold another top-performing buck for $1200.

Top-performing buck
Craig Adams from Illinois sold a pair of bucks for more than $500. P.J. Murphy from New Jersey also had a $500 buck. John Smith's (Virginia) top-performing buck brought $950, and Jarred Dennison (Kentucky) sold a buck for $700.

The top consignor award is given to the consignor with the three best bucks. This year, the award was shared by Dana and Kendall Barnes from Kentucky and John Weber. The Barnes were top consignor in 2008, whereas Weber is a first-time consignor.  The three Barnes bucks were more parasite resistant, whereas the three Weber bucks had better rate-of-gain.

Top-selling (and gaining) buck.
Burke's top-performing buck also received an award for being the most parasite resistant buck. This year, the award was given to the buck that had the best combined data for parasite resistance (fecal egg counts) and parasite resilience (FAMACHA© scores and number of dewormings). The Burke buck had the lowest average fecal egg count of the six bucks in the test that were not dewormed.

This year's test conditions were very difficult. The test bucks faced an almost constant parasite challenge. Their growth was limited by dry matter intake; persistent rainfall kept the forage wetter than usual.

For more information about the buck test, visit the blog at http://mdgoattest.blogspot.com.

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