T is for TESTING

Sorry, again no photograph for this post.
T is for TESTING - something we do pretty regularly in our herd. We love our goats and they take care of us so we want to make sure they are healthy. We began our testing several years ago with TB/Brucellosis. We don't test often for it but we do test periodically as we want to keep tabs on their health. So far we have had no positive tests on our goats - Thank God!
We also began from the beginning testing for CAE - a debilitating disease for goats - it stands for Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis. Again - none of our goats have tested positive for this.
This past year we added Johnnes disease and are planning on testing for CL (Caseous Lymphodenitis) - a disease that attacks the lymph nodes and is marked by abcesses - this nasty one is one that once you have it on your property you cannot get rid of.
It is expensive to test your goats but we know what leaves our herd is healthy and we usually do not buy goats unless they are tested or are from a tested herd. Also, when folks bring their goats here we require testing for at least CAE.
Last year we decided to take the plunge and do our own tests so I learned to draw blood and we began sending it in to WADDL (Washington Animal Disease D??? Laboratory) for the tests.
Not as expensive as having the vet do it but still costly. We believe that since these goats feed our family with good, raw milk and products it is worth the effort to make sure that these girls and boy are healthy and can provide us with quality babies and food!

S is for SOAP.

S is for SOAP...ONE of the main reasons we got into goats (besides all of the yummy cheese, milk, ice cream etc.) I was already make soap when I got the goats, but I was using the melt and pour. I sooooo wanted to learn to make it from scratch - you know - the old fashioned way!!! I was and still am to a certain point very enamored by the whole do it yourself thing. I probably would have felt right at home (MAYBE) in Laura Ingalls Wilder's day.
About a year into getting my goats my precious Hubby signed me up for a soapmaking from scratch class through UNM Continuing Ed. And now I'm a soap maker. I even sell quite a bit
at craft shows and to a few loyal customers (Thanks you all!!!!!) as well as give soap workshops of my own to goat owners who want to learn. UNFORTUNATELY, these computers aren't scratch and sniff or you'd be able to smell the Lovely Lavender scent of this batch of soap.
I make about 6-8 varieties and try to come up with a new one every year and typically discontinue those that don't sell well. IF you'd like to order soaps from us - feel free to drop us an email at NMgoatgal@gmail.com - our soaps are $4.00 for a large bar of soap and YES we do ship out of state!!!!

R is for RELIEF

R is for RELIEF!!! For the last two days we've been dealing with BABIES. Our Little Visitor, Shihara decided to kid late Saturday night. After a very exhausting day working outside I was already asleep and Aaron came in and said "UM, honey, there is a goat out in the goat pen making wierd noses!" So up I get and go out there throwing on barn clothes indeed - Baby number one was NEARLY out but with only back legs. She was no problem. Out pops this precious little doeling (YIPPEEE!!!!)

Now, Shihara was so small we thought we were done. Baby gets cleaned up and we are trying to get her to nurse when Shihara plops down and starts hollering again. UHHH, NO WAY!!!! After what seemed like a very long time of her screaming (at nearly midnight or after now) I'm panicking - she's making no progress and I can't feel anything but a bony thing in the birth canal. Baby #2 is stuck. So I call and beg on the mercy of my neighbor the retired OBGYN nurse who said to call her if I ever need help. YEP - baby # 2 is wedged in

that birthcanal - NOT normal. she pushes, we massage and encourage. At one point it seems like the contractions stop. She rests and we give her her first baby hoping to stimulate some contractions. WE are back in business - Well, after what seems like ages the sack bursts and all we see is fur and bone. I am panicking, because we cannot find anything to get hold of to pull him out - Thankfully my neighbor is NOT! A few really strong contractions and baby #2 makes his entrance.

Baby #2 is a little buck kid. Both babies apparently will be gold though they look light brown now. Momma was EXHAUSTED and could hardly do anything so we cleaned up the babies, gave momma some Penicillin, dipped cords, and expressed some colostrum into the babies mouths hoping to get them to eat. Which begins part 2 of our saga. Shihara isn't making much milk. AARGH!!!! So we've spent the last day trying to get enough food down the babies throats to keep them alive. Buck is doing well REALLY - Doe isn't - well, wasn't. WE are supplementing with bottles to make sure she survives.

Here is doe kid shortly after birth and before baby #2 contractions begin. We are calling the girl Cupcake and the boy Scooter while they are here but they are due to go home on Saturday the 31st - we will miss them.

The best news of all though- both babies are blue eyes like their daddy, also it appears that their conformation is good - strait legs, long strait toplines. Shihara's owner said I did a good job picking out a herd sire (BIG SMILE! I cannot wait to see OUR babies out of him).

Q is for QUEEN of the herd.

For those of you who don't know this, there is a definite hierarchy in the Goat Kingdom. With the Alpha goat as QUEEN. The QUEEN goat is the one who basically keeps the rest of the herd in order. Usually when you bring in a new goat everyone has to challenge each other and that involves a lot of posturing and head butting (usually not hard and dangerous - just challenging). IN our herd the QUEEN is Miss Priss (yes, Lisa - she owns me and the whole herd!!!! LOL!) IF you have more than a few milkers - you know you always milk the QUEEN first or you could be in for PROBLEMS!!! I find it kind of funny that Miss Priss isn't the biggest goat but she is still head honcho....So far the Alpine (Narnia) hasn't knocked her off her throne.

Miss Priss is the most Senior Doe here and has been here the longest and in her mind - that's enough for other's to respect her. Willow, when she was here was really the QUEEN (don't tell Miss Priss) but she let Miss Priss think she was in charge. I thought for sure Dixie would try for the throne but she seems quite content with Princess of the Universe status. She's cute, she knows it and that's all there is to it. Who is your herd QUEEN?

P is for PREGNANT Goaties

P is for PREGNANT goaties. I love watching these little bellies growing. I sit around and look at the does and their ever growing bellies and wonder - how many are there? What color will they be? Will they deliver right on their due dates? Will I be there to watch the blessed event? AHHHHH - and of course their are the trepidations.....will they all be alive? Will I get ALL BUCKS (talk about a NIGHTMARE!!!)? Will they be healthy? Have I fed them enough to keep them all healthy? I hope no one is breech (had that last year - no fun!!!!) I hope no one is stuck (had that the year before - NO FUN!!!!) Yep, this is probably the most stressful and wonderful time of goat ownership. This little pregnant belly belongs to Twinkle Lil Star....she is bred to Storm for babies due March 27, 2009. she is also the one with the smallest pregnant belly - if we get two I'll be happy, If we get one I'll be happy especially if it is a doe.

This is our little visitor, Shihara - today is her due date and NO BABIES! hubby says yeah - tonight at 1am when it's cold she'll have them. I think she has a single kid and she too is due to Storm. We are watching and waiting with much anticipation for Storm's first kids of the season.

This BIG pregnant belly belongs to Narnia - she is MY first one due and she is due to kid March 1st. Most folks probably wonder what we do during pregnancy. Well, if the doe isn't milking we cut out the grain completely and feed them a combination of Alfalfa and grass. I think it must be working as all the girls have beautiful soft fur and look healthy enough. We give them their BoSe shots and CDTs one month before kidding...That means Narnia is due for her shots around March 26th.since February is a short month. We will also trim her feet and worm her one last time before kidding. She is bred to a Boer buck and we are hoping for twin bucks so the kids can show market goats. Before kidding, we clean out our stall real good and fill it full of fresh, clean straw. It's going to be a juggle this year since the three does are due all in one week.

This pregnat belly belongs to Dixie. She's much rounder than Twinkle but smaller than Joie. She is due March 29, 2009 also bred to Storm. She is beginning to show a little bit of an udder also. Normally I don't see this until 2mo to 6 weeks prior to kidding but we are still 2+ months for this one so she's early.

This big round belly belongs to Joie - Amazingly this doe is almost as big as she was when she kidded with triplets last February. I am truly wondering how many are in there as she still has nearly 2 months and a week to go and they usually do the most growing in the last 2 months. She already waddles and looks uncomfortable - I remember those days well - Poor Joie! She was a trooper last year and delivered 3 healthy babies - the first one, Twinkle, was breech presentation and I had to pull her out....Hopefully not again! Joie is due March 25, 2009 and is bred to my friend Darlene's buck Tapdance. I am beginning to get very excited for kidding to begin in about 5 weeks but at the same time - I'm kind of glad for the little break from all the work I have right now. I know that will change soon- probably as soon as Shihara moves back to her rightful home....I will have to dig out the stall, add lots of sand and straw and be ready for the first set of babies.....until then I'll be dreaming of bouncing baby goaties!!!

Tell me about your doe's pregnancies? How many will you have kid this year?

O is for OBERHASLI

O is for Oberhasli. This is the first breed of goat we got into at CBF. I loved their beautiful coloring and smaller size as well as their generally calm, quiet disposition.
We bought a doe named Praline first- boy was that a mistake. That goat's milk was ICK! and she really wasn't great quality. Then we bought Rita - who had great milk but wasn't a huge improvement conformation wise but at the time we weren't showing much so we didn't care.
Rita was pregnant with two does; Miss Priss and Licorice. Both does were black and Miss Priss immediately crawled in my lap and well - she's still HERE!!!! Yep - this skinny, black, goofy goat is Miss Priss. She has great milk and makes lots of it. And despite the fact that we have a hard time putting weight on her, we love her. She may be here until she dies (we tried selling her once and she didn't eat or drink for 4days and the new owner said COME GET HER). Darn goat.
She is good with the Nigies and keeps us in milk most of the year. So far she has had no problems birthing and we just adore her quirky personality.
WE think Oberhaslis are by far the next best thing to Nigerians.......and for my hubby she is Numero Uno. Oberhasli's are another Swiss breed of goat and were derived from the Alpines. Black is okay for does but not for bucks. They are generally quiet and sweet personality-wise.
Their milk is lower in butterfat than most other breeds. Most Oberhaslis come in Chamoisee coloring (Red brown with black legs, face, belly and dorsal stripe. )

N is for NEWS!

Life is always interesting - and I never know how things are going to turn out but here are 2 pieces of NEWS for N day. One - I got hold of Eva at Langston and she is sending out the CD and the tests for me and one or two buddies to become certified milk testers for ADGA and AGS in this area. WooHOO!!!! The other piece of news is that Shihara (Nizhoni's BB Shihara's Mace) who my daughter sold back to Shihara's breeder when she decided to get out of goats came back temporarily to have her kid(s). So we get to goat sit until the babies are born. WOOHOO! This will be Storm's first kid(s) of the year to be born so I'm super excited to get to be a part of the birth. She is losing ligaments in her tail and I noticed considerable swelling in her vulva today.
WOW. Maybe sooner than later. I did not realize how much I'd miss little Shia but her sweet face sure brightened my day - she let me give her a belly and side rub today while she stuck her head in the air like this was the most pleasurable thing to ever happen to her. I sure am gonna love having her here while she gets to stay. can't wait to see Storm's first baby(ies) of the year!!!!
I will keep you all posted and post pics - NO MATTER WHAT the letter of the day is.

M is for MILK, MILK TESTING, MILKING STARS

This is the Certificate of Joie's for earning her MILKING Star.
of course, right now she is our Star Milker in the Nigies and we are proud of her accomplishments - if you'd like to see the numbers - click on the certificate - it should enlarge.
We have high hopes for Joie's daughter, Malina and Dixie to get their stars this year at Nationals. I think the club Milk test is too soon after kidding - I may not be able to get them on test then.
Also, I am currently trying to go through the program at Langston DHI to become a certified MILK TESTER for NM along with one or two of my friends. IT should be fun as we will be able to do 305 day testing or 1 day tests. HOPEFULLY that will mean a lot more goats with stars in NM.
AH MILK - the whole reason CBF NIgerians even came into existence. We wanted our own fresh clean milk and dairy products - as well as soap. This is our milk shelf in the fridge - yep -lots of milk and this is only from ONE goat (the Oberhasli) Imagine how full this will be this summer when we are milking an Oberhasli, Alpine, and 3 Nigies. I don't think the new BIG refridgerator will be big enough!!!LOL. Actually the Alpine might be leased out to a couple who wants milk but not the hassle of kidding etc. and I am considering putting one more milking Nigie up for sale which will be HARD. Need to see how the two youngsters compare - the best milker will stay and the other will become available.
WE love the MILK and all the wonderful products we get to make: cheese, yogurt, kefir, ice cream as well as the milk for all of our cooking is our own wonder goat milk.

L is for LESSONS LEARNED!

Wow, this post could be long but I'll do my best not to bore you all. I am posting about lessons learned about goat raising - For those of you who might be just starting - you have a hard but rewarding journey ahead of you which is Lesson #1 - Anything worth doing - IS HARD. I've learned that the stuff that's easy is usually put on the back burner quickly in favor of more challenging stuff. When we started out in goats, we had stars in our eyes, not milking stars my friends - those pie in the sky - we will have the best herd in NM next spring after kidding time stars...HAH! YEP lesson #1 - We realize quickly that our Oberhaslis aren't the best quality animals available and they have terrible udder attachments etc. (but are great milkers) and well, not a bunch of folks beat down our doors to buy our not so good quality animals. AND not every goat you breed has a REAL pregnancy - NO MARTHA - there is this nasty little thing called a false pregnancy that produces, not babies, but TEARS in the eyes of the expectant goatie owners. What do you mean Dr. Zimmerman that she's 1 week late and there are probably NO BABIES but she's as wide as a house!!!! This can't be!!! YEP- lesson #1 hit home in a HARD way.
But lesson #2 hit just as hard - even though you may do things right - you make dumb decisions (or at least they seem that way at the time!!!!) Lesson #2 is to NOT be so hasty - one my DH likes to point out to me regularly - Year #2 - the Nigie does really get pregnant and produces two doeling only to have one be stillborn with the cord wrapped around her neck - MORE TEARS. And because we don't know what we are doing we decide to sell the remaining doeling
who we are NOW happy we sold but were a little sad when realized that we actually had sold a good doe - she has gone on to do well in the ring and in the milk pail and she produced triplets her first freshening. YEP - our stupidity did give Camino Allegre a great start in the their goatie adventures and NOW we don't regret the decision but it sure made me think twice before I sell a doeling!!!!I am now of the opinion that other folks actually do a lot for your herd so it's not a bad thing to sell a good goat and have someone else toot your horn though!
Lesson #3 - YOU should resist at all costs the urge to buy 10 precious, cute, adorable doe kids and buck kids your first year - I call this being overgoated and frankly it is the danger of being a goat breeder because REALLY how can you resist that cute face that crawls in your lap and awwwwww - you just have to fork out the $300 (or more) pricetag......OH SO HARD. But see, we forget, these cute little fluffballs grow up and REPRODUCE, oftentimes multiples - yes- twins, triplets, quads, quints and OCCASSIONALLY sextuplets. Okay so your herd of 10 is now a herd of30 and you can't bear to part with them all and after a summer of trimming hooves, banding, dehorning, giving shots, and general goatkeeping and milking your 10 goats you realize you are exhausted and WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????? Seriously though, while some of this is true of me and some of it is lesson learned from other goat keepers (and maybe a tad exagerrated - NOTICE we haven't quit yet and we are down to 7 goats with babies and at least one, possibly two adult milkers to leave this year - WE are learning from our lessons! Oh, and if you read all this and want more - I was published in December's COUNTRYSIDE and Small Stock Journal - Avoiding Mistakes in Goat Raising. And resist the urge to buy too many goats your first year - they DO multiply.

K is for KIDS and KIDDING SEASON

Kidding Season is bar none my favorite time of year here at CBF Nigerians. I love seeing each new kid make his or her entrance into the goat kingdom and I so love eating breakfast while watching the kids all play, running, bounding,jumping and cavorting around. NOTHING is as cute as a baby Nigerian. These triplets are out of CBF Seredipidy's Laikla and CBF Entei (Stinker Belle, Wendy and Peter Pan residing at Camino Allegre)

This is Malina aka Twinkle Lil Star. She is here at CBF getting geared up for her first kidding.

This is Shakespeare - cute little wether who went to a 4H family here to show.

Dixie - princess of the universe (LOL!) She is quite content after having her fill of milk and a good soft bed to sleep in. Dixie is one of our most playful goats here at CBF - even now with her pregnant belly she is often found on the slide or little climbing toy. She'll probably be up there playing with her kids when they come!!!!

Two of the Triplets (Malina makes 3) This is Crash and Racer who now reside at Lauging Orca Ranch as Mudd Pie and Moon Pie. I so wish I could post more baby pics - I have tons. But these will have to do until kidding commences at CBF (March 1, 2009 is our first due date!)

Our philosophy here is to be there in case we are needed but we prefer a pretty much hands off approach. I stay in the kidding barn until the last baby is cleaned up and I can get their bellies done (dipping cords) and I make sure they are nursing well then it is time for momma and babies to bond. Of course we can't help but be out there as much as possible, who can resist lavishing attention on these adorable babies!!!! AS such, our dam raised babies usually wind up being more like bottle raised spoiled lab goats. Oh well, I can think of worse problems to have.

Thanks for peeking at last years kidding season- come visit us again in March - May when our babies all show up for spring!!!!

K is for KIDS!!!!!!

KIDS and KIDDING SEASON - my favorite time of year around the farmette. I love to look out over breakfast and watch all the bouncing babies running jumping and playing together. There is nothing better. Right now we are about 7 to 8 weeks away from our fist set of kids who are due to arrive March 1, 2009. This is Malina (Twinkle Lil Star) from our 2008 kids

Twins and their momma (Dixie and Shakespeare - two of our favorites)

Shakespeare

Triplets out of CBF Serendipidy's Laikla (Stinker Belle, Wendy and PeterPan) and our buck CBF Entei. (all but Entei are residing at Camino Allegre)

Dixie - I so wish I could post more pics as I have lots more of the kids. WE just love to snuggle and play with our babies - as such (and because we have such a small herd to begin with) our babies usually act more like bottle raised babies and not dam raised babies which they are. Sometimes we have one or two who don't want to be "social" but for the most part - we have super friendly kids.

J is for JOIE!

So I am sure you all are getting tired of hearing about my favorite Goat in the world Joie - I've bragged about what a good milker she is and I love her color and her pedigreeand about how she's earned her milking star. So i'm going to tell you all how I got her. I was online doing research and kept seeing the same names pop up in the pedigrees of Champions and great milkers - over and over - names I'm sure you all are familiar with: Raja Acres Twink's Pixie or Twin Creek's BH Mariri's Zinnia, Green Gate Cinderella, Or Twin Creeks' BH Baywatch and his sire Brave Heart. So I began in earnest searching for a doe with those lines.....I was resigned to saving up the $400 or more I'd need to buy her and the $200+ I'd need to ship her here. UGH - LONG wait. Well, in the spring, at a show a friend came up to me and said what do you think of this pedigree? It is for a doe I want to buy - My answer after seeing all THOSE exact names on it - Buy her OR I WILL! She bought her. DARN. So later - this same breeder had a pen full of babies I spotted this tiny little Chocolate Chamoisee and asked if she was for sale? What was her breeding (she turned out to be that doe of my friend's 1/2 sister - same dam/different sire) and how much she was.
WOW - I found a gem under my own nose, I wouldn't have to ship her and I was smitten!!!! IF my husband said yes - of course. So as I was carrying her to show DH - another breeder saw her and said I WANT THAT DOE - Sorry - not happening MY DOE!!!!!! Of course DH said I could buy her. So when she was weaned we brought her home. This is a decision I haver never regretted. Despite being a bit sick at the beginning Joie has lived up to her name - MY JOY of LIFE!!!! She isn't perfect but she's mine! I think she's a good milker though could use improvement on the udder attachment and she has a narrow rump but she's had no problems birthing - a large singel doe kid the first year and triplets this past spring. She's healthy and isn't overly friendly .....oh and did I mention I LOVE her color? And if all goes according to plan she will soon be double registered and I'll try for her star in ADGA as well as the one she earned in AGS.

I is for INBREEDING (vs. linebreeding)

TIRZAH

Here are my three animals that are Grand kids of PiddlinAcres Peaceful Voyage who I think has put his stamp on the goat world. These animals bring in some of the great goats I've seen in the pedigrees of some very outstanding animals from some of the biggest herds in the Nation including Twin Creeks, PiddlinAcres, Lost Valley, Green Gate, and Goodwood.

CALM THE STOM

JOIE DE VIVRE

Of course Joie's daughter - Twinkle Lil Star is also related and Joie is bred this time around to a

"cross out" buck who has some similarities in his background but isn't AS related as Storm.

I wanted to take a moment to kind of explain the differences between the two so our buyers will understand what we do here at CBF. When I first got into goats, I assumed that Inbreeding was BAD and what the line was between INbreeding and LINEbreeding. After talking to some much wiser goat breeders I learned a little bit. NOT enough to be considered an expert and frankly - I still believe breeding goats is a bit of a roll of the dice with some rolls being a little more educated than others! INbreeding is breeding a closely related doe/buck pair - for instance a Father to a daughter or a buck to his mother or sister. For me personally, this is a little to close for comfort.

Not to say I haven't seen it turn out fine - I did see a pairing that close that turned out a very nice little doe who has done well. I've also seen 1/2 siblings produce some outstanding offspring. My issue is that I've seen what it has done in the dog world and I can see where the "pooling" of

bad genetics produce some health problems we'd rather not deal with - don't want to go there with my goats if I can avoid it. Here, we practice linebreeding which is the breeding of two goats with common related ancestors. Early on, when doing my research I noticed certain names popping up over and over in the pedigrees of outstanding milking/show goats. HMMM I think to myself - I need goats with those lines. So I went searching (and found my best milker right under my nose - I was looking at ordering one from out of state and spending an inordinate amount of money on said goat!) The more research I did the more I was convinced a little bit of line breeding is a good thing. So, while we don't practice close breeding here there are certain lines that we concentrate on to breed (we HOPE) sweet goats, with good conformation, and lots of milk. I now have some similar lines in another doe and my buck. They are related but all are

grand or great grandkids of these particular animals but who have OTHER good lines thrown in for good measure. Sorry if I confused you on this but it's been an area of great learning and I will tell you there is even software out there that can help you figure out your coefficient of inbreeding that will help(supposedly) keep you out of the danger zone and into the zone where you are turning out some nice animals. - Check out some of the big breeders who continually win and earn milking stars and you will often see similarly bred animals in their backgrounds.

Hope this post clears up any misgivings you had about LINE/IN breeding for your goats and helps you to understand better why we breed the way we do here at CBF Nigerians

H is for Helping Hands

This post is a tribute to my family. I know it appears that sometimes I run a one woman show around here but that couldn't be farther from the truth. These hands belong to my precious hubby and 3 awesome children and I can say that with out them - CBFNigerians would be non existent. These hands help me build shelters, milk stands, and websites, repair fences, clean pens, feed animals, play with babies, show, water, milk and many other things that I can't even remember. I have the best, most supportive, helpful family there is......though I'm sure many of you feel the same about your families!!!!! So here is a big THANK YOU to the wonderful helping hands that are my support team. This awesome crew is even willing to take on the running of CBF if I am to get my judges license in the summer this year. That will be a huge undertaking I know and they are willing to help me out because they know this is a dream of mine!!!!

G is for GOATEES and GINGER cat

This is the barn cat GINGER, who has a very important job around the farmette - mousing. I do not like the little creepy things and it is her and her sister Minty's job to keep our barn clear of the critters - unfortunatelly Minty has become a wanderer (after 9 years - do you think she's bored?) Ginger cat still sticks around and mouses and in between her job she likes to take LONG cat naps on the front porch bench in the afternoon sun) She was just getting up from her nap for this pictures.

AND the winner of the great GOATEE contest goes to Storm (HOOFS DOWN!) Sorry DH, not quite there yet but then Storm has been growing his for nearly 2 years!

DH was in vacation mode for the past week and decided to grow a goatee - but alas Monday is the end of freedom - bummer for him and ME - so sad as he has been working on my website for most of vacation! - I have two pages up on the WWW

Check it out www.cbfnigeriangoats.com YEEEHAW! Thanks DH!!!!!

F is for FRIENDS and FOUNDATIONS

This post is a bit of a sentimental one - and I couldn't post ALL of the pictures I wanted. This is kind of a tribute to the goats who have laid the foundations of the herd here at CBF Nigerians. This LOVELY doe is Esperanza SJ Patience we bought from a dear lady Katie at Double SunDog Ranch - Patience was everything Katie said she was - and she finished her MCH in record time but she did not like US. Patience is the dam of Nizhoni's DW Tirzah, who I believe wholeheartedly will live up to her mother's example.

El Cerro Wind in the Willows was our first Nigerian. She is a doe with body capacity and a huge udder. We almost earned a star on her but i believe she did not like being away from home. She is a lovely doe who did well in the ring most all of the times she went in earning herself several Reserve Champions and 2 Best Udder in Show. My biggest complaint about her was her teats are too small and she didn't like me. She loved Alyssa and when Alyssa decided to get out of goats we sold Willow to a sweet gal named Janice - who said Willow is great. Willow is the dam of Dixie and CBF Seredipidy's Laikla who resides at Camino Allegre and has done Fantabulous for them - including earning her milking star at 2 years old as a first freshener and producing triplets (2 does/1 wether) this past year.

Nizhonie's Joie de Vivre. This doe is my best/easiest Nigerian Milker and she's a very dairy doe - she does unfortunately lack some udder attachment, a problem we are trying to fix but I must say she is a milker's dream earning her star as a 1yo 2nd Freshener. She is the dam of Twinkle Lil Star (Malina) and Skye who resides at Darkwind Ranch in Colorado. Also her two sons who are wethers are at Laughing Orca Ranch (Moon Pie and Mud Pie). Joie is also here as a representative for her sire: PiddlinAcres Peaceful Voyage. We have two granddaughter's of his here at CBF (Joie and Tirzah) and a grandson (Storm). He has made an impact on our herd and we hope he continues to do so - we just fell in love with him when we saw his daughter Gretel who resides at Double SunDog (who is a daughter of our favorite doe from PiddlinAcres - Fraulin who is also Storm's Paternal Granddam.)

I really wanted to put a picture of Entei but couldn't find it. Entei is the sire of two of our Jr. does - Malina and Dixie. Shalom is Entei's dam and she is a lovely doe who now resides at PrairieWood Ranch. It was so hard to sell this doe but we wanted to keep both Entei and his sister Chickorita and had to make this very hard decision.

The rest of my post is about FRIENDs. I have to say I have made more dear friends through the goats. What a huge blessing this whole adventure has been to us.

When we got into goats we made friends with several folks who really took time to mentor us in the goats: Lora from PrairieWood, Darlene from Nizhoni and Anne from CurrierRockinMinis.

These ladies babied us through the first few years and I can honestly say that we would have quit several times over if it hadn't been for the kindness and support shown by these folks. And I can NOT forget my best friend Tara Joyce who encouraged us and supported us and also bought goats not long after we did. Tara's grandmother gave us our first milk pail and strip cup which we used until Tara needed them when she got her goats and then she gave them back when a move forced her to sell her goats. Miss ya Girl!

In the last few years our circle of goatie friends has expanded GREATLY and includes many 4H buddies as well as buddies who are off across the US. The Sedillos at Camino Allegre who bought our first doeling and have shown her and earned a milking star on her. The Martins at SleepyKid Ranch who own Willow's brother Captain Pellew who have gone to great lengths to get Dairy goats more recognized locally at the County Fair, Kat at Flying Goat who has become a Fiber buddy as well and who blessed us with Flying Goat Jazzy Blues (I so miss him - I can't wait to cash in my free breeding next fall!) Sandy at Twylite Star who sold us Storm. Terri who has Angora's and has become my spinning/knitting mentor, Wendy who bought two Oberhaslis from a lady in AZ after meeting our Miss Priss, Lori - my walking partner and goat buddy whose daughter is also in our 4H club who also fell in love with Miss Priss and bought a Nigerian doe from us and two Oberhasli does from the dairy where Priss came from. Kathy, Doc Z, Joyce, JoDawn, Donna and all the other folks from SouthWest Dairy Goat Club who chose not to judge us because of our love of the little goats and allowed us to join their club! Jeannie Strickland of Darkwind Ranch and the Allen Family of Allen'sMountainView have become VERY good friends of ours and we treasure their friendships a ton!

Last but not least all the wonderful folks I've met through our yahoogroups list - too numerous to even get everyone down but talk about a bunch of folks who have blessed us abundantly with

advice, support, encouragement, prayers, and kudos for accomplishments. Fern, Pam, Kathy, Jaimie, Katie, EVERYONE - you all are counted as blessings to us and we just wanted to give you guys a huge KUDO for just being you. CBF Nigerians thanks and loves each of you!!!!!!

E is for EARS.

I LOVE goat Ears. My kid's(2 legged) say I have a bit of a fetish, I even make sure I like the ears on my bucks (kind of wierd huh?) But, I don't like just any goat ears, I like SWISS goat ears. I have to say, that Nubian KIDS have the cutest ears of any goat alive but all in all - I love these ears. (Sorry, La mancha fanciers, I'm not fond of the La Mancha's "lack" of ears)

These plain black ears belong to my Oberhasli, Miss Priss and I think she has the most elegant expressive ears of anyone in my herd.

And these belong to Dixie - Her and Malina (Twinkle) have frosted ears - TOO CUTE!

These are Narnia's - sort of plain with a darker brown around the edges.

and Storm's plain Chocolate ears. I wish he would have stood still for me since he's got cute ears too but he would not. He either ran from me or challenged me. BRAT!!! I hope he throws his CUTE ears on his babies though. I LOVE the shape of Tirzah's ears but couldn't get the perfect shot of her ears so I won't be able to post hers unless i get a better shot. This reminds me, while i was out taking these photos, I thought of what to do for my next project AFTER I finish the Alphabet challenge (Lisa says I'll get tired later on in the alphabet but to keep going - Thanks for the encouragement Lisa) I want to do a whole series on goat anatamy for those of you readers who want to bone up for the upcoming show year's Showmanship classes.