7/14/10: I haven't had time to update for quite a while but want to congratulate the breeders whose fine animals did so well for me at my recent Linear Appraisal. I had three animals receive 90 Excellent from the following herds:
TX Twin Creeks Farm - Kellye Bussey
Dancing Angels - Meghan Namaste
Silveraurora Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats - Suzanne Nevada
I was also quite pleased that my home-bred first freshening doe Suzy Q was appraised with a final score of 88!
4/9/10: I think I might finally be caught up on sleep. Only two more does to kid. I will work really hard to get photos posted and the rest of the web site updated this weekend.
4/6/10: Rachel came out to help me take photos of the new kids but instead played chauffeur to me and Sheyanne for another trip to the vet clinic. No c-section required this time but since the vet is so far away we didn't want to take a chance. Needless to say, the photos had to wait.
4/1/10: Much heartfelt thanks to my good friend Kristin at Babel Brooks Acres who dropped everything in her busy schedule to race me and Red Velvet to the vet clinic for a c-section. Velvet and her triplets are doing great.
3/20/10: Brucellosis and CAE tests on the remainder of my does (one year of age and older) all came back negative. I just have four of my adult bucks left to test and will try to do that this week if I can twist Kristin's arm to help me with the stinkers.
3/18/10: Just got notification that my buck reservation came through! Check out Big Bopper on the Bucks page.
3/17/10: Well, it looks like today is the day for Cinnamon ... hopefully pretty quick here. She is huge. I'm guessing triplets ... and triplets it was!
3/12/10: Looks like today might be the day for Persephone and Baby Doll to kid and Windy can't be too far behind.
3/9/10: My first kids sired by Obama are here! Expression kidded with beautiful buck/doe twins.
3/5/10: All TB tests were negative. Still waiting on the results of other tests.
3/2/10: Whole herd TB testing was done today by our vet, Dr. Fisher, from the Vermilion Vet Clinic. Test results will be read on Friday. Eleven more does had blood drawn to be tested for CAE and the two does that will be going to Wisconsin were tested for Brucellosis. Results will be posted when they come back. Much thanks to Kristin at Babel Brook Acres for helping me out with the goats!
2/10/10: Baby Doll is making an udder and will probably be the next to kid.
2/6/10: Our first kids are on the ground! Willow kidded with beautiful twin bucks. Both are available as wethers. One is a cream/chocolate buckskin and the other is a cream/black buckskin. See their photos on the New Arrivals page.
2/4/10: Pedigrees for all current animals are done .... Yeah! I am now working on pedigrees for upcoming kids.
2/2/10: Junior doe pedigrees are done, at least until kidding begins again <G>.
Our regular farm vet has left so in order to do my annual CAE testing, I must haul my goats quite a ways to another vet. I can only haul 4 - 5 at a time but will have everyone done before kidding. Results will be posted for each individual goat as they are tested and the results come in. I am also doing Johnes testing this year although this isn't something I test for on an annual basis. Whole herd TB testing will be done before reserved kids are shipped out this spring.
1/31/10: Well, I am finally getting back around to getting more pedigree information onto my site. I hope to have it all updated before kidding begins.
10/29/09: I will be making the long trip to Oklahoma to pick up Willow in the next week or so. Hopefully I can twist Kristin and Debbie's arms to join me on my trip! See Willow and her relatives on my Junior Does page.
10/11/09: Check out our beautiful new girls on the Senior Does page.
10/10/09: Our First Snow!!! It really just seems far too early for this, doesn't it? Hopefully we have a few nice days coming before we have to batten down the hatches for winter. Aria and the does above sure don't seem to mind though.
8/1/09: Well, I am now officially retired, quite a bit earlier than I had planned but that's how things go sometimes. I don't know what I am going to do with all my "free" time ... LOL.
12/20/08: We have a blog! Actually, I should say the start of a blog .... Read about the latest farm happenings at sherecountryranch.blogspot.com.
10/11/08: Please note we finally got DSL out in our neck of the woods so our email address has changed!
jshere@frontiernet.net
9/1/08: I just arrived home after my 1,765 mile journey to pick up my new girls. It was quite the adventure! Thank goodness my friend Debbie Newsam agreed to keep me company. Check out my Senior and Junior Doe pages to see the photos of my beautiful girls. Many thanks to Cheryl Sugar for parting with them!
Well, it has been another crazy week but things are finally settling down, at least temporarily. People have been asking about the Northern St. Louis County Fair results as well as my recent Linear Appraisal so here goes ....
In the Nigerian Dwarf classes, Pixie won 1st place Junior Doe, Masquerade won 1st place yearling milker, Little Voice won 1st place 3-5 year old milker, and Violette won 2nd place 3-5 year old milker. Little Voice then went on to win Reserve Champion! In addition, and with all breeds competing, Little Voice also won the Mother/Daughter award with Masquerade! Way to go girls!
My first ever Linear Appraisal was done and I must say that it was a truly educational experience and one I intend to continue participating in on an annual basis. It confirmed some things I thought I knew as well as teaching me a few new things to look for. It was money very well spent. My only regret is that I didn't have my bucks and more junior does evaluated this year. Due to other family obligations this year, most of my freshened does were dried off early. The does that were still in milk were only being milked once a day and in Xplicit's case, still had a single kid nursing on her, so their mammaries certainly were not all they could have been. Anyway, enough excuses. I feel the girls did very well all things considering and am quite pleased and feel much more comfortable knowing what I need to work on. One thing the appraiser did make note of was that all my appraised freshened does rated Excellent in their rump score, which she said is far from typical with the Nigerian breed. Below is a summary of how the girls rated. I have also added some additional comments on their individual listings on the Senior Doe, First Freshener, and Junior Doe pages.
| 8/6/2008 | General Appearance | Dairy Character | Body | Mammary | Final Score |
| Violette | V | V | E | + | 87 |
| Cinnamon | V | V | V | A | 85 |
| Xplicit | V | E | E | A | 84 |
| Terabithia | V | V | V | A | 82 |
| Aria | V | E | E | F | 80 |
| Fire N Ice | V | V | V | --- | V |
| Seminole Wind | V | + | v | --- | V- |
We attended the Northern Lights Dairy Goat Association's Annual Show and the Nigerian Dwarf Specialty Shows that were held in Marshfield, Wisconsin on June 14-15, 2008. It was a long haul but well worth it. Lost Valley KW Excaliber, Dancing Angels Tempo, TX Twin Creeks CAS Troubadour, TX Twin Creeks SEM Fire N Ice, and TX Twin Creeks SEM Seminole Wind made the trip and all of them made me so very proud with their winnings.
Many thanks to Debbie Newsam for keeping me company (and sane), helping me show, and for sharing her many tips and pointers during the show. I would also like to thank my new acquaintances Lori Knutson, and Jim and Andrew of Queensland Farm for their help. Angel and John McPherson and the Northern Lights Dairy Goat Association did a tremendous job of putting together a lovely, well-organized show and I am really looking forward to attending again in the future.