We recently discussed Famancha and how it sometimes isn't accurate as far as we are concerned. Here are some of the problems we have experienced and what we have done to make it more useful for a commercial operation.
First, we figured out pretty fast you never have one of those color chart/cards when you want one. Like most people, we found ourselves using memory to match the colors or just plain guessing. I sure most reputable breeders would never do this - unless . . . . . . Yep, there are a lot of us who haven't always had the card available as we checked eyes.
Second, sometimes goats don't cooperate. One of our bucks was checked a week ago with the examiner lying on the ground looking up while the other one was wrestling him toward the ground. Probably should made a video so we could show you how not to do it! It would have been a hit!!
Third, some of us have been accused of being just a little bit color blind when we pick out our clothes in the morning. If you see colors differently than others, it makes it doggone hard to consistently rate eye color unless it always the same person doing the checking. Maybe other farms are different than ours, but we don't always have the same person there to check. Believe it or not, some days we don't even have the same person looking at all the goats!
Fourth, the amount of sunlight streaming down seems to change the way the color looks just a little. Bright days as opposed to rainy, grey days seem to give slight variations. Ever notice how the color of your truck ( for those of you who actually wash your vehicles ) looks different in the evening than in the middle of the afternoon.
While we completely agree Famancha, to the extent it indicates a degree of health, is a useful tool. It is not always convenient to have a color chart and certainly not completely accurate means to test for parasites. It is also difficult for some of us to distinguish one shade of pink from a marginally lighter shade except when we are matching our socks to our shirts.
We have developed our own approach that is a little simpler.
Goats are checked by one person as much as possible to maintain consistency. The scores are marked using three colors that are suitable to meat producers: white, medium, and pink. White is pretty easy to see. Pink tends to stand out pretty well. Everything else is medium, sort of like medium well. Using three grades is easier for folks who don't count well and really gives us the information we want.
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