Patona
Park Bandit - Australia's
Smallest Registered, height verified Adult Miniature Grade
B, Buck (2007).
A Legend in his own right, this little man has given us our
smallest bucks and some pretty outstanding does too. Bandit
had the most gentle nature, he was one of very few bucks that
I would trust with the children. I believe that he has put
his mark on the Australian Miniature Goat breed and with out
him, we simply would not be where we are today. Bandit has
consistently given us top quality offspring that have stayed
very small many of which can be found in Breeding Studs Australia
wide.
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Where
He Came From
This little guy was bred by R. Druery, in 2001. He
was almost 10" at birth. We had been promised
the "surplus" buck kids out of a couple
of little does that Rhondda found were pregnant, (as
payment) for a couple of little D Grade does that
I had given to her.
So when the kids were born, we picked him up, he was
about 3 days old. We raised him on the bottle until
he was 5 months of age. He of course was a little
"in-bred", the product of two naughty little
twins breeding together, (Fruity Farm Simba x Fruity
Farm Nala), possibly why he is so small.
He was a funny little character that we all fell in
love with, right from the start.
Growing up
Bandit was always the smallest in the pen, even when
the new babies started to arrive. He was as "cute
as a button", but "ugly as a hat full"
and very short, round and stocky compared to our other
kids. He was a big eater / drinker, especially in
comparison to his small size and he constantly had
his head in the hay feeder and grain dish! As small
as he was, he was always the first in line for a feed
often standing over…. or in his case, "standing
under" his larger friends. After weaning, he
went through a really "ugly" growth stage.
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57.2cm at 5yrs of age |
As
short as he was, he seemed to get really "lanky"
in the leg and with his cashmere coat in between coming and
going, he really was a funny looking little chap. He was always
the odd one out.
His
Conformation, Height & Temperament
Bandit could not be compared to our other goats as a youngster,
as he was very short, cobby and compact compared to our lanky,
more angular, refined young stock.
As he matured he thickened out in the neck and shoulders giving
him that smoothly blended look and balancing him out.
Bandit had good strong well placed legs, had great depth and
width of chest and girth, he had a very wide pelvis structure
(necessary for easy kidding - for his daughters). He proved
to be a very fertile male with a very good strike rate. He
did tend to throw broad heads on his kids, but as we only
paired him to well developed "first time" does,
we had no trouble with kidding. His "small" kids
were always born very stocky and were easily discernable from
the ones that would be taller.
Bandit
had a fantastic temperament and had always been great with
our children. He is a very easy buck to handle and is often
run with his girls and their young kids. He was also very
happy to stay with his sons (3-4yrs of age) and any young
bucklings (weanlings -2yrs) that we were raising.
Bandit measured 54.6cm (21.5") as a three year old, and
as expected he measured in at 55.8cm (22") as a four
year old. Bandits final height was 57.2cm (22.5") at
five years old.
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Breeding
At 12mths of age, he was far too small to think about
introducing to our little does, most of them (at
18mths of age), were twice his size! At 14mths of
age we decided to run him with one of our most gentle
does who he managed to cover. When this little doe started
to develop an udder (about 3mths later) we gave Bandit
3 more lovely little ladies to "chat to",
and "chat" he did, with all three settling
on the first service and producing 3 very beautiful
(and very small) little does for us (born late 2003)
in addition to the buck he produced earlier in the same
year.
Over the years that followed, Bandit became our main
herd sire simply because their was no comparison between
the size and stature of the many kids he produced, |
compared
to that of all of our other bucks (when bred to the same does).
Bandit
had a very active life. He travelled around the country visiting
studs and making new friends. He has sired many offspring
over the years on several different studs.
He was used by S. O'Brien "Bouncing Hooves" in 2003,
he visited T & D Watson "Just Kiddin" in April
2004, he was visited by several outside does when he returned
home and many other Studs were offered does that were sold
in kid to him. In January 2005 he travelled down to visit
S. Junee "Yattarna Stud" in Stanwell Tops, NSW.
Bandit returned home in March 2006 and remained with us from
that time onward.
His Progeny
I believe that Bandit is not a "freak of nature"
I believe that he does have "small genes" as he
has produced some really outstanding youngsters over the years
including Deago (his first son) 57.2cm 3yrs, Darby (his first
daughter) 53.5cm 3yrs, Dinkidi 55.1cm 3yrs, Echo 56.9cm 3yrs,
Esha 52.6cm 3yrs, Emma 53.2cm 3yrs, Erin 52.9cm 3yrs, Ezastar
59.2cm 3yrs and Faith 52.2cm 3yrs, to name a few. Bandit also
has a small tribe of sons and daughters (including Fattimus
& Demi), coming up for their 3yr height measurements.
Bandit is the Grandfather of our first (potential) purebred
Firstnforemost who will be due for his 3yr height measurement
in August 2008.
His Passing
Bandit spent 2006 and half of 2007 with us and fell ill a
few months after returning home. I suspected some sort of
plant toxin as he got sick after being put out in an area
that had not been grazed, that was full of very tall grass
that I believe was hiding some sort of noxious weed. He gradually
lost weight over the months that followed, the vets were finally
able to confirm irreparable liver damage. After many months
fighting a losing battle with trying to keep weight on him,
(and treating him for everything the vet & I could think
of), the vet was called out one last time and he was gently
put to sleep on the night that his organs shut down and in
true mini goat style, he went out snuggled up in his ida-down
doona, peacefully chewing on his grated carrot and chopped
parsley.
Bandit has been a gentle sire, a wonderful father and a loving
friend, he has touched many people during his time with us
and he will be sadly missed.
Bandits last kids were born on the 28th July 2007.
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A
Bit About The "Little" Stories...
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As
Bandit matured and the internet became "more available"
to us (access to pictures of goats from other countries),
many have commented not only on his uncanny resemblance
to the Pygmy goat of America, but his genetics that are
showing up in some of his progeny…..
"The
Pygmy Goat is an achondroplastic dwarf. It's genes are homozygous
for being short and meaty. It's body is round and full,
and it's legs are short, they are suprisingly good milkers
for their size producing as much as a quart of milk a day,
which will contain an average of 6-7% butterfat...."
Pygmy Goats 1996
There have been a few stories circulating over the years
about a small handful of pygmy goats travelling with one
of the circus groups, that were allegedly sold to a lady
in Brisbane in the 1960's, just prior to a (particular)
circus closing (due to persistent protests by animal liberationists
and their success in having the laws change with regards
to animal performances).
These
little animals were said to have been incorporated into
the buyer's existing herd of goats (believed to be cashmere
and crosses) and it was believed that the original animals
had crossed with the existing herd, over the years that
followed. It is also believed that these little goats were
not bred together or kept as an individual breed.
After
many internet searches it has been found that several of
the Circus groups did have little goats travelling with
them around these times (and earlier) and that quite a few
Circuses had travelled overseas, Asia, Africa, America to
purchase animals, elephants, leopards, tigers, lions, monkeys,
goats, llamas, other rare and exotic animals etc, (Sole
Bros 1926), (Bullen's Bros 1947) Ashton Bros, Perry Bros,
Wirth Bros, etc.
"Most
of the original Pygmy Goats came from West Africa. They
were carried on ships as a food source for lions and other
meat eating animals being imported into other countries
and
to supply a fresh source of milk.
Some of the left over Pygmy imports were kept by the zoos
as novelties...."
Pygmy Org. 2002.
...some may have made their way in the hands of private
citizens....
Many circus groups had also documented sales of animals
between each group. It has also been documented that "excess"
animals (of various kinds) were often "disposed of"
when necessary. (Some "interesting" reading can
be found on some of the animal liberation sites, under Circuses).
We
believe that Burbill could possibly be a descendent of these
little "circus" goats. Rhondda said that she had
bought Burbill (and Debbie) from someone up near Brisbane
as youngsters, many years ago. Anne Alcock (living up toward
Brisbane) had a tiny buck "Grandfather" who was
also very short and stocky (similar to Bandit), but quite
unlike any other goat that I had ever seen. He too, had sired
a small handful of tiny stocky goats (when he was allowed
to breed).
Burbill herself, is not the smallest of goats however she
did suprise me with the amount of milk that she produced compared
to many other cashmere and crosses that we have milked over
the years (she could also be a cross of any number of other
breeds that milk well, here in Australia).
The (un-planned) mating of Burbill's twins may have simply
combined enough of the "little" genetics to produce
an animal similar to the original animals. The fact that Bandit
(when selectively paired to small does), has consistently
produced small stocky offspring, even out of finer bodied
mums, who are now producing small stocky offspring of their
own, should this account for something?
It
is harder for me, to believe that he is just a freak of nature,
able to pass on this smaller gene, especially when the same
(twin) pairing, using different animals, has never produced
an animal similar in size and stature to Bandit.
It would be lovely to be able to say that Bandit is a descendant
of the Pygmy goat as to look at him, he could easily pass
as one, but without documented proof and extensive DNA testing
we will only ever be guessing…..
SueL
Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank Shari at Harvest Breeze
Pygmy Goat Farm for allowing us to use the photo of her beautiful
doe "Urban Select Pygmy Trixie", please take the
time to check out some of their other outstanding animals
at Harvest
Breeze Stud.
I would like to thank the administrator at Historical
Pygmy Goats for allowing me to use the two beautiful pygmy
buck pictures above.
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