Goat Milk Soaps.

One of the things we do around here to make some extra hay money for the goats is to make and sell Goat Milk Soaps. This is a batch of curing Cucumber Soaps. We do several scents here at CBF. Thanks to our girls who work extra hard to provide
fresh creamy milk for our table and our soaps we are able to make soaps nearly year round.
Typically we sell out during christmas season though I am making batches continually so will have soaps shortly again. Our scents include: Lavender, Lavender Oatmeal, Lavender Eucalyptus, Spice (Cinnamon/Clove/Nutmeg), Cucumber, Jasmine Green Tea, Clary Sage Flax, Tea Tree Oil, Pure and Basic (no scent/no colorant), Strawberries N Creme. We are planning on coming out with some new soaps in 2010. One thing we will be doing is a Gluten free/Corn Free soap. A person request from Dear Hubby who is gluten intolerant and has a corn allergy. Did you know that your skin absorbs what you put on it? So folks with sensitivities can have reactions to the things they put on their skin!!!! YUCK! We also use all natural ingredients in our most all of our soaps including Mica for colorants and mostly essential oils. WE do use a few "scent" oils in our soaps so if you choose one of those scents - they aren't all natural! Please bear with us as we transition to even better ingredients. Because we care about what YOU put on your skin!!!!

Update on new buck!

As some of you know, we have a new buck on order from Ironwood Ranch.
He is due in Jan (out of Pecan and Snickerdoodle) or Feb (out of Minnie and Jed)
We have been getting updates periodically from the Carpenters about the goings on there
and I get more and more excited by what I'm hearing. First, All of their does have earned their AR through I believe both ADGA and AGS. Minnie and Pecan both milked over 1300#'s of milk on the 305 day test this year.
Minnie and Pecan are both 1/2 sisters to Tirzah's Dam MCH Esperanza SJ Patience.
I also found out that Smarty Jones - Patience dam just became + *B thru ADGA and earned his AR herdsire designation as well which will make my buck's sire a *B/*S, and because Pecan has her * - my little buck will also have his * designation as well. Also, IF Jed's dam, Ice Sculpture, gets tested and earns her star (which the Carpenter's are sure she will) then Minnie and Jed's buck kids will also receive their * designation . No matter which way you cut it, this is great news for CBFNigerians. Oh, our 3rd choice doe is due this week. I highly doubt we will get one out of Gingersnap BUT it will give us a good preview of what we may get this year.
Congrats to the Carpenter's and the Ironwood Ranch goats who have worked hard this year!

Alyssa Update/Hana Update

Well, we've been getting some good news on the medical side of life. Alyssa just completed her 3rd set of "CLEAN" scans and is officially at 6 month in remission. They will be scheduling her port removal soon and then we have another set of scans in March. Dr. Winter is very happy with her progress and so are we! PRAISE GOD!

For those of you who have been praying for Hana Allen, she is home finally after 2 months in Cincinatti OH. Unfortunately it does look like she may have to go back for more surgery but we are praying hard her bladder recovers and doesn't need the augmentation afterall (for more reasons than one ;0) ! As of right now she has had some post surgery deterioration and her Dr. is thinking more surgery is needed but they will have some testing done locally to determine where her bladder is at then go from there - in the meantime, Hana is home with her family and getting some recovery time with her loving family and in her familiar surroundings.

Another update on a few of our organizations of the week - Children's Cancer Fund of NM recieved a $200 donation from Bosque Farms 4H club - Thank you ALL for your generosity!!!!
The money will be used to buy toys for their toy box at the hospital. This box provides new toys to be giving to kids when they go to clinic for treatments and appts. They also give toys to siblings. It really makes getting those treatments a little easier!

Light the Night/Lymphoma & Leukemia Society - We did the walk this past fall and through all of our generous family and friends raised nearly $1800.00 I know that LLS does research on new medicines that have helped the survival rate for blood cancers go way up (Hodgkin's Lymphoma has a survival rate of 98% right now!) and they also provide stipends for families of cancer patients battling blood cancers to help defray the costs of medical treatments etc. YOU all deserve a big pat on the back and we can't thank you enough for your generosity!

Bittersweet year for CBF Nigerians Ahead

As an animal owner there is nothing more pressing than finding good homes for those you can't or don't keep. After a lot of thought and sleepless nights I have decided to sell both Joie and Kokoro. It wasn't a decision I came upon lightly and really did not want to make but I really feel, with the crossroads I'm at in the herd and in my life I did finally decide to sell both girls. I did not think it would happen quickly at all but it happened much faster than I thought. Thankfully, both girls are going to what sounds like and incredible home in March. As much as I adore Koko, her pretty markings, her beautiful face....

It is Joie that I will miss the most. Joie has been and really is a very special doe for us. She has provided us with a lot of learning, wonderful babies, A TON of milk and she just is my Joie. But alas, I am going in a little bit different direction than I originally thought. Yes, we are still going to be concentrating on milk of course !!!! But when I began shopping for a new buck in spring we thought we were going one direction - a direction where Joie would have stayed here, but because that buck fell through and another buck is in the making (literally - he is due either the beginning of Jan or Feb) I felt the better choice was Joie's half sister Tirzah. I would like to keep a lot of babies this year with our herd name as well and in order to do so, minimizing my stress levels and given our very limited amount of space I needed to cut my numbers somewhere. I only kept Kokoro because I thought my older daughter was getting back into showing and now she's not wanting to show so Koko was an obvious choice.

I know there will be a lot of tears this spring as Joie moves on to help a new herd get underway and I will miss lovely little Koko running around the goat pen. I do thank the folks who are buying Koko and Joie for giving them a wonderful loving home to go to. I hope Joie will be a joy to you as she is to me and I hope Koko fits into your herd and provides you with lots of ribbons, and milk for your herd. On a more positive note - we sold Joie's first daughter to a friend in Colorado - this doe was a favorite of my daughter Suzy - and due to health issues they are havng to cut down on numbers therefor Skye will come back to join us here at CBF. I don't know if this is wise but Skye has always been Suzy's doe even after we sold her so I know that maybe this doe is meant to be back in Suzy's hands so Suzy can start her own herd of Nigies. Our Colorado friends are keeping Skye's doe kid and buckling from this year so I guess that's the way the ball rolls.....Welcome back Skye.

Dixie Came Back for a Visit!

If you have visited our website recently - you may have seen the cutest goat EVER as our Home page Mascot! I sold little Miss Dixie to the sweetest family and they brought Dixie over to visit our local StudMuffin (Piddlin Acres H Calm the Storm). She is hoping for a repeat of this year: 2 does and a buck (who is now a wether and lives with the same family) Or....even better....3 doelings?

I still think she is CUTE!!!

Look at that beautiful mug. She isn't quite in heat but is due in the next few days and she's NOT happy being in with the buck - well, maybe she isn't happy being away from her little herd (She IS the queen you know!) We are happy to have Dixie back even for a short visit - can't wait to see what she produces for the D Family

Hana Allen

We have been getting regular updates from Heather on her daughter Hana. It appears that things are going much better and Hana is doing very well. They were released from the Ronald McDonald House after they performed a surgery to remove Hana's ureter catheters which apparently were causing both the leak and the bladder spasms. It wasn't a scheduled thing but a frustrated mom who is concerned about her child's pain and discomfort moved mountains.
Thankfully the Dr.'s listened to her and they got this child in a place where she isn't miserable.
The next surgery is scheduled for Dec.1, 2009 and at this time will remove the rest of the tubes from Hana, do a minor fix up job on something and then HOPEFULLY after healing up Hana can go home. The Allen's have met a lot of really wonderful folks at RMH and the hospital and thankfully family members have been able to go to Ohio to help Heather out. Her hubby was there for the first couple of weeks, then Heather's sister came for several weeks and now their eldest son is there helping out. Hana is in much better spirits now that she isn't being plagued by those aweful spasms. Because of the Allen's, my next Organization of the week will be Ronald McDonald House (after I do some research!) even though we didn't use them it is apparent that they are a blessing to families who are dealing with very ill children and bring relief to their families in the form of a safe and often less expensive place to stay with a much nicer atmosphere than a hospital.

More Breeding News.

Dreams coming true! I had Tirzah in with Storm for 5 weeks in April/May and then again for a week recently and miss Tirzah wasn't cooperating AT ALL.

Finally, after a friend brought her doe over to breed to Storm, Tirzah decided he might be a stud muffin after all let him breed her. WE have had a sonogram confirming she is pregnant (about 40 days) now. This has to be one of my most waited for freshenings. We owned Tirzah's mom for about a year and she did not like us. We traded her (MCH Esperanza SJ Patience - she should be in the archives from 2 years ago) for 2 doelings and Tirzah was one of them. I had to wait a while for her but she was worth the wait!!!! I love this little doe. Her due date is Feb 27 (DH's birthday!)2010 and we are keeping a doe kid form this pair if we get one. Storm usually throws triplets and Tirzah was one of triplets so I'm hoping.....


Joie is also pregnant and looking so already - she usually throws me triplets. She is also bred to Storm so I have hopes there as well! Joie is due Feb 5th. I am looking forward to a bunch O little chocolates this year! We now have everyone we are breeding for spring kids. WE are now taking reservations on Joie's kids (we aren't planning on keeping any this year as we have several already and I want to keep some from other does this year) and I will take 1 verbal doe reservation on Tirzah in hopes that she'll throw me 2 does this year.

Joie may also be for sale when the babies are weaned. This will be a VERY hard decision for me as Joie is a foundation doe and one of my favorites but we seem to be at a crossroads in our herd. Needing to keep the herd small and wanting to keep several babies this year with our herd name on them.



Other breeding News: After a lot of thought and consideration we have decided we will no longer breed for Oberhaslis or mini Obs. We are keeping Miss Priss until she should leave us (probably not soon - she's only 5 this coming year) and breed her to a Kinder buck for meat for our family. Because Miss Priss has a few glaring conformation flaws (underbite, horribly attached udder and funky back hooves that require a lot of care) we decided it really isn't worth trying to breed her to sell quality Oberhaslis or Minis. We decided this was the best compromise for our family and for our customers. I do know where to get some decent Oberhaslis and Mini Oberhaslis so if you are interested email me - NMgoatgal (AT) gmail.com and I will gladly help you find one if that is what you want.



Last bit of News: We are buying a new buck. I had my heart set on a buck kid out of Agape Oaks Nigerians. Pam is awesome and has put together a wonderful herd of milky and show quality does and bucks. She has done an excellent job of proving her herd through 305 day testing (milk), Linear Appraisal and showing. I am super duper impressed with Pam's herd and when she bought a new buck this spring I knew I had to have one of his kids. After a lot of thought and conversations with Pam I settled on a few excellent choices but then tragedy happened. Ghiradelli died and several of the does I wanted the buck kid out of weren't settled by him. When I found out he was sick I began looking for a back up plan and found a few herds that met my requirements but still held onto hope that Mica or Catie were bred to Ghiradelli before he passed. Pam was super kind in letting me have a buck if the girls were bred despite so few being bred to him before he passed. When Pam let me know Mica and Catie were not among those bred to Ghiradelli I began talking with the other herds. I have settled on Ironwood Ranch.

I think that they have worked incredibly hard on their little herd and I'm am just as excited about working with them as I was with Pam at Agape Oaks. They have done Linear Appraisals, 305 day milk tests and do show their goats and have some nice genetics going on in their herd.

After talking at length with the Carpenters, I have settled on a buck kid out of Ironwood SJ Pecan2 *D/2*M and Ironwood SJ Snickerdoodle *S or Ironwood Ranch SJ Minnie and Jedidiah. The buck will inherit his star if he's out of Pecan and Snickerdoodle. Probably will get one eventually if he's out of Minnie and Jed. These pairs have already proven themselves and their genetics are wonderful. Like with Pam I know I am probably getting a buck with lovely conformation who is carrying some very milky genes! You can see them at http://ironwoodranch.weebly.com

Thank you Ironwood Ranch and Agape Oaks for working with me. CBF Nigerians is excited about bringing in this new boy when the time comes. Part of me wishes I could have had them both but that was not to be.