Farm Fresh Blog

I just received word that Raisin Bran and Bailey safely arrived at the Houston Zoo this morning, thus beginning their new life as pampered petting zoo goats that may some day have to face a loose tiger but will never have to face a barbecue pit.

After 30 days in quarantine, they'll be in the exhibit where I can visit them.

As those of you on Facebook already know, as soon as she is weaned, another little girl will be joining our family! My first registered Nubian!

Other Half and I were at the Dairy Goat show at the Fort Worth Stock Show on Sunday when I saw this:

 We had been talking with Nubian breeders in our search for registered doelings to become the foundation for a registered herd. After three years with my grade Nubians, I was convinced that Nubians were definitely the goat for me and I wanted to improve my genetics and slowly begin to get a registered herd.

And so it was that we were talking with Nubian breeders about foundation stock. A show is a good place to get an idea of what a breeder is producing. I liked this breeder's does and her philosophy regarding raising goats. As a bonus, this doe that I liked won Grand Champion. (this helped reinforce that at least the judge that day agreed with me.) I like this breeder's goats,

..... and she just happened to have some doelings for sale!

A few days later we took a trip to the breeder's farm. We looked at more of her stock. I really, really, really like this lady's goats!  Sharon Galbreath of G Bar Acres Dairy Goats in Weatherford, TX is just fantastic! She and her husband spent the day with us and she's even beginning to sway me towards showing this little girl. (I have a background in showing dogs so it isn't a stretch.)

 Meet G Bar Acres Juliet's Dahlia!

(and my baby doeling draped over her head!)

These babies are by G Bar Acres Romeo if you happen to be perusing her webpage.

Udder picture for the dairy goat folks who want to see! (apologies to the non-dairy goat folks who think this is goat porn!  It's really not. This is very important in the dairy goat world.)

So, now I need to come up with a name for my baby. Her dam is Dahlia, a daughter of Juliet. Juliet was bred to Aslan to produce Dahlia. Dahlia was bred to Romeo to produce these babies.

 Romeo

I have plenty of time to decide since I won't get her until she is weaned. At the moment I'm toying with Shakespeare names, or perhaps I should go with the gardening theme. Ahhhh... naming animals, one of my favorite chores.