Tennessee Mud & Mudslide

Tennessee Mud reminds me of a solid chocolate junior buck I kept from a litter I had in December 2006. That buck's name was Mudslide. He was everything I had hoped for in a buck for my chocolate program and he was a gorgeous, deep chocolate color. He had a massive head on him and was overall very nicely typed.

I got a couple litters out of him and they were very nice. I did keep one of his babies, but unfortunately I didn't keep more. There was one buck, a broken lynx, out of one of his litters that I regret selling. He was just like Mudslide, only a broken lynx. He had the monster head Mudslide had and all. That buck even went on to win 3 legs and become a Reg. GC.

But, when Mudslide was a young senior/barely a year old, I had to put him down. It was a hard decision and one that took awhile. His nose was wet all the time and I couldn't risk my whole herd if he was sick with something. I had treated him with an antibiotic, moved him to a different area (hoping it was allergies or something) and it never cleared up. After a couple months of having him in quarantine, I decided the best decision was to put him down. It was a huge disappointment. But, it is one of those things that goes along with raising animals. . . tough choices, hard decisions.

Tennessee Mud reminds me of Mudslide a lot, except that he is a chocolate chestnut agouti. Solid chocolates, especially chocolates that have a very deep chocolate color, like Mudslide, are so pretty. But, a solid chocolate agouti is also so gorgeous. I don't know which one I'd prefer. I have hardly any agoutis in my herd, so I guess an agouti color for a buck would be nice (since I rarely have an agouti buck!). Tennessee Mud has that huge, monster of a head and the smooth body that Mudslide had.

I think Mud does have an overall better body than Mudslide, in that he is deeper in body, but we shall see for sure as he matures. I hope, by God's grace, Mud will be that gorgeous chocolate colored buck that can be used so much in my herd.

If he does turn out nice to be a gorgeous buck, I'll be sure to keep more babies from him, instead of regretting having nothing from Mudslide. I have learned that lesson the hard way a couple times, even recently . . . with the losses of Rose Dust & Chocolate Rum (who was Mudslide's sister). Thankfully I do have one baby from Chocolate Rum that is a great replacement.

Some comparison pictures:

Mudslide at 3 weeks old ~


Tennessee Mud at 3 weeks old ~


I can't find any pictures of Mudslide as a junior, but here are these two pictures of him as a young senior. He was so cute!


Qadoshyah