Welcome to the Mini-Mancha Information page!

SGM Mooshine Elise - An F2 Mini-Mancha born here on our farm in 2012.

     All of the information on this page (currently) refers to Mini-Manchas, but all of it also applies to other miniature dairy goats (excluding Nigerian Dwarfs or Pygmies). When I say miniature on this page I will be referring to a goat that is a decendant of a full size dairy goat such as a LaMancha, Nubian, Alpine etc and Nigerian Dwarf. Pygmies are not acceptable in miniature dairy goats because they are classified as meat goats, not dairy.
Little Intro (feel free to skip to the next section if you want). :)
     I use to breed Nigerian Dwarfs on a pretty good sized scale for several years and also had Mini-Manchas off and on over those years. The last couple years I'd been working on a really good Mini program. My goal was to produce a smaller goat than the full blood Lamancha, who was conformationally correct with a well attached easy to milk udder. That doe should milk as close to a gallon of milk  daily as possible. I brought in some excellent LaManchas and bred them with my Nigerian Dwarfs and began my program. I had Nigerians milking a half gallon and brought in LaManchas who milked a gallon to two gallons daily. The next year though, I decided to sell out of goats completely. My minis went to several farms in several states so I'm hoping to bring some of my own lines back in.
     You might be wondering why I'd go through all that trouble and then just sell out. I'll explain why... my dream from childhood up was always to have horses. We purchased 2 more acres of land next to us and the opportunity to FINALLY have my own horse arrived. To make it all easier, I chose to sell the goats in order to focus fully on the horses. After a year and a half of being goat free though, I've decided to get back into goats. I miss them, they're quirky goofiness, the eager faces and companionship they offer. Not to mention the gorgeous playful babies who are full of personality and sweetness and of course the wonderful milk! So thank you for visiting our goat page and we welcome you to take a look through our herd and be sure to contact us with questions, comments and of course reservations or sales. Thanks again for looking! :) ~ Ashley
Buck pictured above is 5 Cedars Suede - an F1 Mini-Mancha.

Generations
If you see F1, F2, F3 etc and wonder what that means, let me explain. The F in F1 etc means Foundation. The foundation animals in Mini-Manchas are the purebred LaMancha and purebred Nigerian Dwarf. Anytime you breed back to a full blood LaMancha or Nigerian Dwarf, then you have bred back to the foundation stock. The number behind the F tells you how many generations away from foundation you are. Meaning how many generations you are from pure Nigerian or pure LaMancha animals. So for example, a F1 goat is 1 generation from foundation animals. That F1 goat was born from a pure Nigerian and LaMancha parents. A F2 goat is 2 generations from foundation. It was produced from crossing two F1 goats together. (There are exceptions to those but we'll get to that later.)Does that make sense? The best way I can explain how to figure out what generation your kids will be when breeding minis is to take the lowest generation goat of the crossing and the kid will be one generation higher. So for example; If you breed a F1 to an F2, the kids will be one generation higher than the lowest parent. The lowest parent is a F1, so F2 is the kid's generation. Doesn't matter if you cross a F1 to an F6, the kids will still be one generation higher than the lowest parent, so the kids will still be F2s. That being said it also applies to crossing back to foundation LaMancha or Nigerian animals. If you cross a F2 to a LaMancha, the kids will be still be one generation higher than the lowest generation parent. The lowest is foundation, so the kids will be F1s. Here's a brief chart to show how it works too.
LaMancha x F1 Mini = F1
F1 x F1 = F2
F2 x F2 = F3
F2 x F3 = F3
F2 x F6 = F3
F3 x F3 = F4
F4 x F5 = F5
F1 x F4 = F2
If you're still confused feel free to contact me.
Doeling pictured above is SGM Mooshine Belle - an F3 Mini-Mancha doeling born here in 2012.

Percentages
     Your ultimate goal in breeding minis is to have equal amounts of LaMancha and Nigerian Dwarf blood in the goat. The advantage to the first few generations of minis is to play around with different percentages to try to get all the qualities you  most want in your mini program. For example, say you have a really beautiful well built mini who needs more production. You can always cross back to a LaMancha or high yielding Nigerian to increase your milk production. The resulting kid will not be 50/50 but IS still able to be registered as an experimental. Or another example is that you've produced a kid who has upright/erect ears. This kid IS registerable as Experimental, however you may choose to breed back to a full LaMancha for correct ears.
     When you reach your third generation with your mini program, your goal is to be as close to 50/50 as you can be AND meeting the breed standard (ie correct ears and height) so that you can apply for American Mini-Mancha registration papers. The goal in breeding F3s to F5 is to show the minis breed true. So the goal by F6s is to be meeting the standard 100%. If the kid meets standard by F6, then you can register the kids as Purebred Mini-Manchas.
     Now all that aside, the way you figure up percentages. All you need to do is take the Nigerian portion of the mother and add the Nigerian portion of the father. Take that total and divide it by 2. The resulting number is your kid's percentage of Nigerian. Do the same thing with the LaMancha percentages of both parents and you will have your kid LaMancha percentages.
For example:
Say you have a doe who is 50% LaMancha and 50% Nigerian and a buck who is 48.44% LaMancha and 51.56% Nigerian. You would take the percentages for LaMancha from both parent and add them together. 50% for the doe and the 48.44% for the buck. That gives you 98.44. Then divide that by 2. The kids will be 49.22% LaMancha. I always calculate both the LaMancha and Nigerian and then add them together and make sure they equal out to 100. I do this to ensure I haven't miscalculated somewhere. If you do miscalculate just figure it up again. Its very easy to make a mistake with calculations.
Buckling pictured above is SGM Mooshine ... (I called him Flynn Rider) - an F3 Mini-Mancha born here in 2012.

Mini Registries
To register your mini you will need the application supplied when you buy your kid(s) from us. For either registry MDGA (Miniature Dairy Goat Association) or TMGR (The Miniature Goat Registry) you will need to take photos (you are welcome to use any we take of the kid while it is here). One needs to be of the head so you can clearly see the type of ears the kid has (straight shot or 3/4 but not a side of the head) as well as a side body photo. It does help if you have a way to tell size of the goat in the photo but it is not necessary. If your kid is an F3 or higher generation, its best to wait till it is a year old before registering because the kid who qualifies for American registration will no longer be eligible if you register it as Experimental first. Keep that in mind when you are registering your kids. I will post what generation and percentage the kids from each breeding are so that should help clear up any confusion about whether or not you should submit your kids. If you aren't sure feel free to ask.

Does pictured above are Gotta B Kid N Z Seabreeze (foreground) and Gotta B Kid N Katydid, both F1 Mini-Manchas that we use to own.

Ears (Mini-Mancha)
Unfamiliar with ear types? There are three types of ears accepted in the Experimental Mini-Mancha generations; upright, elf and gopher. Only two of those three are accepted in American (elf and gopher) and for bucks should have gopher only.
Upright Ears
Upright ears are just that, upright like Nigerian Dwarfs. In other words, full regular ears. The kid pictured to the left below is a Nigerian Dwarf with normal full ears. The adult doe on the right is actually a Mini-Mancha with full ears.

Elf Ears
Elf ears should be 2 inches or less and may have cartilage. The ear should turn up or down as straight out is frowned upon. The doe on the left below has elf ears which point down. The two does in the second photo below also have downward pointing elf ears. This straight view of their faces does a good job of showing how much the ears project away from the head of the goat.

Gopher Ears
Gopher ears should have no cartilage and can have a ring of skin around the actual ear canal. It should look close and smooth with the head. The kids left & middle below are minis with gopher ears. The black kid on the right is actually a full LaMancha with gopher ears.

Mini-Manchas are a growing breed. Their popularity is becoming more and more noticeable in the Mini-Mancha market. We truly love this breed for their versatility, hybrid vigor and incredibly cute faces. How can you not love those mini faces? ;)

This doe is Appleberry Cove Elsie, a F1 Mini-Manchas that we use to own. Elsie milked 3/4 of a gallon of milk.