Too Much Bucks Dairy Goats

We are a small, family run dairy goat and rare and heritage breed poultry ranch
(click on the link at the bottom left to see our poultry).
We also enjoy raising heirloom produce, organic gardening and we are learning
about how to raise our animals using a rotation program as well as practicing
organic gardening.
We started our goat herd four years ago, with three dairy goats, and since then, we
have grown to about 30 adult dairy goats and several kids.
We are really enjoying raising these amazing animals. They surprise us constantly
with their intelligence, character and beauty. We are enjoying the challenge of
maintaining a large herd while improving the herd in general, through selective
breeding. We started with a fantastic batch of goats for our foundation herd,
thanks to the many local breeders who have already put so much into the animals
we started with. We currently participate in Linear Appraisals through ADGA and
are hoping to start Milk Testing in 2009 or 2010 (we are hoping by then, we can
actually have the time to milk through a 305 day lactation). We currently do keep
accurate barn records on milk production and we are very confident that we have a
productive group of milkers in our herd. We raise Nubians, Alpines and LaManchas
and keep several bucks from all three breeds. This allows us the flexibility to
improve on weeknesses in a particular animal by crossing it with the buck that is
most likely to improve on that animals weaknesses.
We attend the births of all of our babies and remove the kids from the does. The
babies are then moved to the house where they receive heat treated colostrum and
then pasteurized goat milk. Our herd tested CAE Negative in 2008, but we will
continue to keep testing as well as feeding pasteurized milk to make sure it stays
that way. We wean our kids at about 4 months old and the kids that are staying get
moved up to a big barn with a large fenced pasture, whith other goats of similar
size, where are protected by one of our three livestock guardian dogs. For more
information on our kid raising practices, click here. Kid Raising Philosophy.
We enjoy taking our goats to shows. We try to attend at least two- three shows per
year. I love showing both goats and poultry!

When we aren't feeding pasteurized goat's milk back to the babies, we make
cheese, soap, ice cream, yogurt and of course, milk to drink.
Taking care of all of our animals is a big job, but also the the most rewarding job I
could imagine! It takes about 40 hours per week to feed, clean and maintain
everything. When we are milking, that goes up to about 65-70 hours per week, so
you might say, I have a lot more than a full time job! Thank goodness I have help! I
owe a huge amount of thanks and appreciation to my husband, Ethan, who builds
and fixes everything. Ethan has been helping at shows, goat class and linear
appraisals!
Our 19 year old son has also been a tremendous help with the regular maintinance
of all of our animals. He has learned a lot over the past five years and has been so
helpful.

Starting in 2009, we will be offering a free kid to a qualifying and deserving youth.
To see our KID PROGRAM, click on the link in the top left corner of this page.

We are also donating an Alpine doe kid to the Mega Bucks Show 2009.