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Building a New Goat Pasture

This weekend we started building the goats new pasture area. We are trying to build it a little at a time so we don't have to deal with the costs all at once. The area we fenced in this weekend comes to 1,536 sq ft., it's an enclosure of 32x48. We eventually want to fence in the entire area all the way up to the road for the girls, but will be doing it every few weeks until it is completed.

What we have done is used 6x6 square posts for the corners and to support the gate. We used 4x4 8ft long posts every 8ft to support the panels. The posts are all close to 2 ft in the ground and the hubs is going to cut them all off even to make it look nice.  We used the cattle/hog panels for the actual fencing. We chose this type of fencing because goats are known to be difficult to keep penned up and this seems to be the best thing for keeping them in. I have a very young son so electic fencing was not an option and any of the other wire type fencing they seem to damage really easy, by either rubbing on it or standing on it and making it sag and loosen. This may be a little more expensive than the others but we feel it will last much longer and we thing it looks nicer as well. The panels we have are 16ft long and approximately 4.5 ft tall.

We used the wooden posts to hold the fence but along the back we used T-posts because that area is not going to be there permanently, we will be adding to the fence to make it eventually go all the way to the road so we didn't want to waste wood posts in an area that won't be there forever. The T-post do a great job at holding the fence up and you could build a fence using them but they don't look as nice so we only plan to use them during the construction phase.

Even though this is our "after" photo, this fence is not yet complete. We will be extending it further toward the road, we still need to cut the posts down so they are flush with the fencing and we will also be adding a wood board along the top and possibly the bottom of the panels to give a more finished and polished look to the whole thing. 

We still haven't decided exactly where or how we want to do the goat barn, so for now the girls have a large wooden house to sleep in and get out of the elements. They love to nap on top of it though. I also have their hay bag and their mineral block out there for now. And I am hoping to go some time this week and get some things for them to jump up on because I know how much they love to climb. 

Our Trailer full of supplies.

For this project we used:

4x4 posts every 8 ft

6x6 posts for the corners and gate

16ft cattle panels

U shaped fencing nails

String to keep the fence straight

A level to get the poles straight

Post hole diggers and a shovel

Tape measurer

Helping daddy pack the dirt in the holes around the posts.

Measuring out the fence perimeter

Goofing off

It's coming along great!

Lori's Romeo

I just picked my doe Lori up this Saturday from being bred. I had a chance to take a few photos of her Romeo to share with yall. His name is actually LEVI, but I don't know what his registered name is, gotta check with his owner on that to be sure I get it right. But he is a very sweet buck, his young handler was showing us his tricks on the obstacle course, it was very cute, he followed her anywhere she went. It was quit entertaining watching him take those jumps, it will really remind you of a deer and was just very cute to see. 

Breeding my girl Lori

I dropped my girl Lori off to be bred at Painted Zia Stables this past Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. I was so excited. I can't wait till we have some cute little kids of our own here at the farm. The stud I am using comes from some great lines over at Madisons Meadow. Some greats in the pedigree include CH Woodhaven Farms Cowboy Cadilak, sire of the first ever ADGA Nationals Reserve Junior Champ Nigerian Dwarf Doe (2010), LTE Camellia. I am very excited about this breeding and really hope to get a doe from this cross. I may or may not have kids available for sale from this breeding.  I hope to retain just 1 doe and any other kids should be available for purchase. Please contact me if you are interested in acquiring a kid from this breeding.

MCH/PGCH Flat Rocks Opal *D

CH Woodhaven Farms Cowboy Cadilak

                                    Woodhaven Farms Texas Twister

Madison's Meadow Chrysanthemum

Little Tots Estate Loropetalum

CH/MCH Kaapio Acres Hot Habanero
(a WHF Bently Hotwing son & Cadilak grandson)

Kaapio Acres HH Red HOT Poker

Rosaharn GX Cinnamon D

You can view Lori’s pedigree on our main goat page.

Milk Production Awards (the pluses and stars)

Since Nigerian Dwarves are dairy goats, perhaps the best place to start understanding the pedigree is with the *M (ADGA) or *D(AGS) designations.  This indicates that a doe has been tested for milking ability, and has successfully passed the required levels.  There are many details associated with earning the star milking designations; however, stars in the pedigree are a good indicator that the goat has potential for good milk production.  The star and plus designations are always listed after the goat’s name.   

Goats can also earn stars based on their progeny; and this is obviously the only way a buck earns production awards.  For AGS, the rules are as follows:

For a *D (star doe), the doe has met the minimum standards for milk production or she has three *D daughters, or two +S sons, or two *D daughters and one +S son.

A 2*D (two star doe) is the daughter of a star doe, and has also met the minimum standards for milk production.  The number preceding the star indicates the number of consecutive generations of qualifying does.   

A *S (star sire) has a *D dam and has a +S sire or sire with a *D dam.

A +S (plus sire) has at least three *D daughters (from three different does), or has two +S sons, or has two *D daughters and one +S son.

A ++S (two plus sire) has at least three *D daughters (from three different does), and at least two +S sons.

A ++*S (two plus star sire) has at least three *D daughters and two +S, and a *D dam

In the ADGA registry, the D’s change to M’s, the S’s change to B’s; and there are small differences in the requirements. 

Titles (CH, MCH, GCH, ARMCH)

Goats are awarded titles for show wins, and MCH is the title for a Master Champion in AGS while CH is a Champion in ADGA.  To reach Champion status a goat must win three shows as champion under at least two different judges.  If a goat has achieved Champion status and also has production awards (the pluses and stars), then the goat becomes a Permanent Grand Champion which is denoted by ARMCH for AGS and GCH for ADGA.  These designations are placed in front of the goat’s name. If animals have multiple titles (MCH/CH), then they have completed wins at shows for both registries.

SG indicates that a doe or buck is in the top 15% of the production index for that breed, and if they also have Permanent Grand Champion status, the title becomes SGCH.