06/12/2026
LETS talk SILVER
Because I am so tired of these narrow minded idiots saying that silvers have bad udders or silvers have poor confirmation or silvers are “bad goats.”
The people that say this are standing on the backs of the people who created the breed, turning up their nose at those people while simultaneously reaping the benefits of their hard work.
If you own a silver they go back to the herd Flat Rocks. Flat Rocks was owned by Terry and Sunni, two wonderful women who lived in my home town. Over the years we became very close, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I was the only outside person allowed to walk around on their farm, and I saw all their goats more than any other non family member.
So this isn’t speculation. I saw what I’m talking about. Sunni was VERY strict in herd bio security and had buyers meet her at the gate when they came to the farm. I’m the one who helped her chase their butts down with her daughter Morgan to copper bolus them or draw blood. lol.
Anyway let’s pass my credentials and get to the silvers.
Flat Rock farm was one of the founding Nigerian dwarf herds. They shaped what you have today. That parasite resistance? That ease of kidding? All things purposefully retained and bred for. A “bullet proof goat” Sunni liked to say.
Then came along Expecto Pateonum, by Irish Whisper Harry Potter. He was not the first silver, which hadn’t become super popular yet. But Sunni knew his lines to be “bullet proof,” as well as solid confirmationally and extremely balanced. Elegant, even. So she kept the little buckling and used him. That first crop of kids was stellar! Very few coccidia outbreaks (in Texas? That’s a big deal) healthy. As they grew they were easy keepers and then excellent mothers. But the real kicker?? So many of his dam raised kids were bottle baby friendly!!! The friendly temperament of the kids sealed the deal.
Sunni was in love. Her daughter Morgan could go sit in the pen and be mobbed by dam raised kids. Buyers were in love. The color started gaining popularity at the same time. Expecto Patronum was used heavily in the herd. His kids that went on milk test almost always earned their star for butterfat, if not production. Amd again, that was great for Sunni. Because she wanted bulletproof goats. And goats that milk in the extreme have issues related to that, and when she was building the breed, she wasn’t trying to recreate the saanen. She was trying to make the Nigerian dwarf as sturdy, long lived, and as healthy as she could.
Now we get to the people who want to poo all over that. There isn’t really anything you can do about it because her hard work is already represented in your herd. (And if your herd doesn’t trace back to flat rocks, then it probably traces back to an Alpine…)
Sure! You can take a goat and breed it for more milk or show ring fads. But you aren’t CREATING A BREED. And Sunni knew an udder can be changed in a generation. You can breed for more width or more…. Whatever!! But genetic traits like ease of kidding, less mastitis, ease of milking, parasite resistance? What about temperament? Those take a lifetime to work towards. I see SO many people buying fancy show goats only to burn out a few years later. Can you imagine if you had a whole herd of goats that you could take a year off, let them dam raise, and the kids are FRIENDLY??. Don’t need coccidia treatment?? Don’t need to be wormed?
Now you tell me…. What EXACTLY does it mean to “better the breed”?
So the next time you see someone diss a silver, remember that the silvers are not a color- they represent the very reason Nigerian dwarfs are so superior, no matter what the current fad snobs say. They literally became popular because of the initial temperament they exhibited. It was a selection for breed characteristics- NOT a color breeding.
PC Flat Rock Farm
This snarky response is a work in progress and does not fully represent the Flat Rock herd or every facet that creating a breed encompasses. It just touches the surface. Also I love Sunni and Terry and Morgan dearly and it pi**es me off when people use their ignorance to be jerks, even if it’s not aimed at them directly.
