ADGA Genetics Link
Illustrator was interesting to me due to an impressive longevity of the does in his pedigree. These does milked not just for a year or two on official test, but 8 or more lactations on a lot of does! They also were structurally sound animals that held up well for the long haul, which is as important or more important than just ‘lots of milk’. Does that break down or burn out after a few strong lactations are less valueable and productive over a lifetime than are does who milk less but hold up well. It’s all a balancing act, and I hope that Illustrator brings in those longevity traits and I hope to use him on very productive lines to help ensure above average production as well.
Dam: GCH Tempo Aquila Lois 6*M 10-02 EEEE 92 (Yes, 10 years old!) Scroll down to page 25 on the link provided to see her picture, or use Control+F to search for “Lois”. Lois was a flashy broken piebald chamoisee doe of the Tempo herd, and though she never had a complete lactation on test (all are shorter than 305d), they were respectable in the 2000lb range. She averaged 8.9lbs per day on official milk test, over the course of 8 recorded lactations.
DD: GCH Green Valley Jex Isis 5*M 11-03 EEEV 91 (Yes, 11 years old!) Isis had several shortened lactations and none a full lactation at 305d, unfortunately. Her 3 year old lactation is 295DIM, and produced a very respectable 2980# of milk in that time. She has 8 lactations on record and was clearly structurally sound to a very old age.
DDD: SGCH B’s Green Valley A Venus 4*M 04-06 VVVE 90 – produced an average of 7.1#/day on official test, over the course of a very impressive 10 lactations on test! Yes, many were abbreviated lactations.
DDS: Journey’s End Experienced *B 04-03 +EV 85
DS: Tempo Aquila A Starting Over ++*B D/avg 2534# milk, 83# fat, 73# prot
DSD: GCH Des Ruhigestelle Astarte 2*M 05-05 VEVV 88. Averaged 8.5# milk per day on official test over 5 lactations on test, with her 5 year old completed 305d lactation producing 3540# of milk.
DSS: SG Serendipity’s Topper ++*B D/avg 1859# milk 72# fat, 57# prot
SIRE: GCH Redwood Hills Sunshine Reverie ++*B 03-01 +EV 85 D/avg 2468# milk, 83# fat, 71# prot. Can’t tell from the picture if he is a broken two tone chamoise or just a two tone chamoise. 😉
SD: GCH Redwood Hills Fortune Teller 4*M 06-05 VVEV 88. 6 lactations on tst, with 4 of them being complete lactations. Production was respectable, with a notable lactation as a 5 year old with 3290# milk, 106# fat. Average is 8.1# per day on official test.
SS: Sunshine Stella’s Vicar ++*B 02-06 AVV 82 D/avg 1963#
SSD: GCH Diamond Sunshine Stella 3*M 05-05 VEEE 91. Avg 8.5#/day on official test. National RCH 1977, National GCH 1976.
The reasons for abbreviated lactations are many, but the one I primarily encounter is a lack of desire to milk through the winter or animals being dried off if they are not on the show string and aren’t needed to produce milk to feed kids, once they are past weaning age. My main wish is that more animals in his pedigree would have had full lactations, though structural longevity and multiple lactations are still impressive.