Hefty Goat Holler Beryl
February 7, 2021
Grade Herdbook
Quiet and Sweet
Beryl was one of Storm's last set of triplets and was sold as a weanling. Unfortunately, those goats were surrendered and not in great shape when I bought her back in 2022. Storm daughters are dear to me, so I made the difficult decision to only buy one back instead of all three that I had sold, at the time.
Beryl does remind me a lot of Storm, especially in build and expression. She's gained back condition well over the summer! Like Storm, Beryl is quiet and friendly...and sports an impressive beard.
She's lower in the herd pecking order, but sometimes buddies up with Velvet. I don't know if Duke and Storm crossed as well as Jupiter and Storm, yet, but it does seem like Beryl will have very milkable-size teats, already. Her body capacity is also promising so it will be fun to see her continue to mature and freshen.
2023 - Beryl freshened with big twin bucklings. Excellent instincts, kidded out in the pasture. By her second milk testing, her udder structure was just wonderful. It was not to last. Long story short, by the day of the second test, she was "off." She was quite ill for a few days, and in that time, also presented with mastitis. It turned into gangrenous mastitis. This girl is such a fighter and came back from the brink of death. Eventually, she not only survived but started doing wonderfully. Her right side eventually ceased functioning but her left was/is unaffected. In fact, she came back into milk on the left side after nearly drying up. She's milking at least 2lb a day on that side, as of May 2023. Lovely texture, orifice size, and teat size. Most importantly, she is alive and feeling great - sassy and playful, even! I have a full album of this on my Facebook profile and eventually might post it on the blog.
Beryl milked steadily on her remaining side until I dried her up. Incredibly easy to milk and wonderful manners every time. I have no doubt she would have easily starred had she milked from both udder halves longer!
Milk Test 2023 Results: 10 tests. 318 DIM. 820 pounds milk.
305 Day pounds 793.
31# butterfat; Highest BF: 5.5% Avg BF: 3.8%
26# protein: Highest Pro: 4.2%; Avg Pro: 3.3%
Beryl's first freshening udder just prior to illness and mastitis, on about a 12 hour fill at about 6 weeks fresh. Nursing twins. she gave 2.5lb in the AM, when this photo was taken.
Beryl's udder August 2023. It was a VERY long process, but her right side finally sloughed and then healed. Her left is not 12 hours full in this photo.