(Photo and text used with permission of Castle Rock Farm.)
MCH/SGCH Castle Rock Once Ina Blue Moon 2*D
DOB 10/15/5 height 19 3/4″
ADGA: 3xRGCH, 3xGCH, 3xBU, 3x BOB
AGS: 3x GCH,2xBU
NDGA: 2xGCH, 4xBU
Top 10 in 2008 on one day milk test!
LA: VVEV 87
Sire: PGCH The Promises Pay It Forward
(Twin Creeks WB Hero of the Day *S x JVJ Whispering Hope)
Dam: Copper Penny Misty Blue *D AR 1963
(Goodwood Loganberry x Copper Penny Sky Blue Glory)
I waited through several sets of triplet bucks to get Moon, and even then she was the only doe from a set of quads. I definitely think she was worth the wait! Moon is one of our smallest milkers, but that doesn’t stop her from doing her best to keep up with Sky in the milk bucket. On a one day test at the AGS National Show, she produced 4.1 lbs of milk- an incredible amount of milk for a doe that can’t be much over 40 lbs. herself! At the time, she was under 17 inches tall, and managed to earn a spot on the Top 10 list, both for test points and for high milk for one day milk test! The next shortest doe was three inches taller than Moon, and it’s too bad we weren’t able to do another milk test in 2009 to see how she would have done. She stands on a great set of feet with exceptionally strong pasturns, has good capacity both in body and udder, and carries a high wide udder that does not move when she walks. She has tight elbows, with exceptionally flat bone and good sweep to her ribs, along with very dairy skin. She is one of my favorites on the farm, being not only a great milker but also having an outstanding personality.
Without our realizing it, in early 2010 Moon had somehow developed tooth rot in a molar, which caused the teeth on either side of it to start going necrotic as well. She never exhibited any signs of pain, or reluctance to eat while on the milk stand, but apparently the tooth pain kept her from eating enough and we lost Moon very suddenly to pregnancy toxemia just a few days before she was due. In 2012, she was awarded her SG (superior genetics) designation, and I’m very happy with the influence she continues to have on our herd, most notably through her son Harvest Moon, as well as daughters CH Castle Rock Moon River, and CRF Castle Rock Lunar Eclipse.