Welcome to our new French Alpine herdsire ~ Pleasant Grove Ember's Bugs Moran

Bugs was born in mid-February and made his way here last weekend. Thanks to Jean for transporting him from  Iowa and Blanche for allowing me to visit your beautiful farm  near Louisville to pick him up.

Bugs is sired by +B Qu'Appelle Ember, whose progeny speaks for itself. In addition to several finished milking daughters, he boasts several daughters who have superior genetics status as well. Most notably, he sired SGCH Redwood Hills Ember Amicale 8*M (LA EX 93 EEEE), 2009 National Grand Champion Alpine, 2009 Best Udder, 2007 Reserve National Champion and 2007 Reserve Best Udder and also 2009 Reserve National Champion Alpine, GCH Shining Moon Sine Qua Non 4*M (LA EX 93 EEEE).

His dam, Pleasant Grove Mountain Muave (LA EX 90 VEEE), pictured above, has tremendous rear udder height and is getting better with age. She will definitely be in the showring in Iowa in 2011. Photo courtesy of Craig Koopman, Pleasant Grove Farm.

Bugs is settling in well. He is a bit of a hog, so we expect him to grow well. Mealtime is definitely the highlight of his day! He's very clever, as you can see here, he's trying everything to steal some milk from the girls' bucket.

Already a ladies man, he's checking out his future prospects.

He has Rog's stamp of approval!

Kaelyn, however, is still thinking about it.

We look forward to using him this fall and are excited about the impact he may have on our small herd of Alpines. I'll update with new pics as he grows. . .

For now he'll be in the main barn, keeping our friend Megan's 4H market goat company. Once he matures and the lovely buck-stink sets in, he'll move into his new pen in the buck barn with Capone and Enzo. Hopefully the Capone x Bugs Moran rivalry doesn't translate in the Mafia- goat world and we maintain a peaceful community buck barn.