My first Goats

This guy is Cossayun Starlight Prince, sire of the two does.


The goats for my new herd were born this week at Sweet Spring Farm in New York. I want to toss everything and drive 3 and a half hours to Argyle New York and hold them while they are tiny babies but that probably won't happen. I still have a lot to do to get my barn ready for the goats and the weather is not cooperating. My fence is in need of re-stretching but it's frozen in ice and can't be moved until it thaws. Temperatures have been below freezing and more snow is on the way so I will have to wait. The kids aren't due to be picked up until they are three months old anyway but I am really eager because I've waited almost a year already.

A year ago I found Capri-suds maker of goat-milk soap, on the inter-net. Dot is raising beautiful, purebred Nubians less than three hours away. I contacted Dottie and asked if she had anything left in the way of kids and she didn't. I waited until February to contact her again and she didn't have any kids that weren't spoken for but she told me about Sweet Spring Farm...which isn't much further. Sweet Spring is continuing to breed beautiful Nubian goats from Dottie's bloodlines. Jeff at Sweet Spring sent me a breeding chart and I chose my kids based on milking stars (since he doesn't have pictures of them).

The kids I reserved are a doe from Capri-Dot's SYM Lily-of-Song and Cossayuna CG Starlight Prince. They threw a single doe who is brown with white spots born around the 20th of March. Next came a pair of bucks from Cossayuna Claire-de-Luanne and *B Capri-Dot's Cherished Infinity (Finn), which I get to choose from. I'm excited about this buck because both sides of the breeding have grand-dams's that earned stars.

Here are the two bucks, one standing and the one laying down who looks just like his dad.




Here is Finn as a baby: as you can see, the apple didn't fall far from the tree!



Here is Finn at about a year?? What a good looking buck!


Finally, yesterday another doe was born from Cossayuna PP Kalamata Olivia--who is expected to earn her star (third generation star). Her doe is a beautiful little thing, black with white ears and a mark on her head that looks like the yin-yang symbol. Here she is with her brother (he's the one with all the spots).


So, as you can imagine, I am itching to have these babies come home but I know the start they get with Jeff at Sweet Springs Farm will be invaluable to their future.

History

Here I am at the very start of my new dairy goat herd. Dairy goats aren't new for me...I've had four stabs at it in the past. The first time I ever saw a Nubian goat, I had gone over to my neighbors for some reason and she was standing in the yard with these adorable, frisky, floppy-eared....things. I had no clue what they were...not sheep, not like the goats I was familiar with. I had to ask "This may be a dumb question, but, what are those?" I was instantly hooked. I had my very own pregnant doe and wether within a month. I had a very knowledgeable mentor who took me through goat health basics, milking, CAE prevention, hoof trimming and all those questions new animals bring. This was 1996 so, even though the inter-net existed it was bulletin boards. Most of what I learned I found in books which told me how to make cheese and soap.

Since then, I've had La Manchas, Nubians, Alpine and Oberhasli...all wonderful goats, but each one different. I decided this past fall that I wanted to have Nubian goats again and started looking around. I want to have registered goats so I know what they are (I've had an "I think it's a Nubian" before). I contacted several breeders but they all sold their kids un-weaned and without a milking doe that would be unwise. Dorothy at Capri Suds told me to contact Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle, New York and they told me that they sell their kids after weaning and even have enough genetic diversity to sell a starter herd to me.

So, now I'm waiting for kids to be born on this farm I've never seen, three and a half hours away by car. I am certain it will be worth the trouble and anticipation to do it right this time. With my mistakes, I have the right set of experiences to draw from.

What you will find here : My experiences as a goat keeper, Soap and Cheese Recipes or just good things to do when you are drowning in milk. I don't know the laws governing the sale of cheese and milk so I will be finding that out and posting it here. Please come by when you get a chance and comment if you have input or questions.