Last Updated: 5/20/13
Babies are here - kids available!
See the new kids here as they arrive: New Kids
Coming Soon!!!
Dill's MS Conundrum
The most up-to-date news can be found on my facebook page under Shere Country Ranch Nigerian Dwarf Goats so check back often!
Check out the new photos of Old Mountain Farm Black Tulip's first freshening daughters here: Black Tulip's daughters!
Check out this link below for some fun photos and information on the colors/patterns and more of Nigerian Dwarf goats!
http://nigeriandwarfcolors.weebly.com/index.html
Show News!!!
I attended the CVDGA Fall Fuzzy Show in Ladysmith, Wisconsin on 9/24/11. I only brought 5 of my junior does as well as 4 of Kristin's juniors. Old Mountain Farm Parti Time was Grand Champion Junior Doe in both rings (1 leg), Shere Country OB Cool Breeze was Reserve Champion Junior Doe in one ring, and Kristin's peewee junior doe, Old Mountain Farm L Ana Grace, was Reserve Champion in the other ring. Judges were Loren Larson and Emily Thompson.
I don't get to many shows but my friend Kristin (Babel Brook Acres) and I managed to take a few animals to the CVDGA Summer Show held in Ladysmith, Wisconsin this past weekend (6/4/11). Our good friend Jean Jasinsky accompanied us also. It was a dual ring show judged by Tim Ness and Megan Lawrence.
Silveraurora SB Xplicit 'E90' attended her first sanctioned show as a milker and was 1st place 4 yr-old milker in both rings and then went on to take Grand Champion Sr. Doe, Best of Breed, and Best Udder in both rings, giving her two legs towards her champion status!!! Dancing Angels Masquerade stood right behind her as 2nd place 4 yr-old milker in one ring and she was 4th in the other ring.
Dancing Angels Little Voice was 1st place aged doe in both rings and then took Reserve Grand Champion Sr. Doe in both rings, right behind Xplicit!!
Shere Country EX Suzy Q was 1st place 3 yr-old milker in both rings. I can hardly wait to see what she does with another freshening under her belt! The judges were very complimentary of her wonderful attachments:)
Kristin's doe, Avian Acres SN Raven, a gorgeous 2 yr-old 2nd freshener with a most capacious udder, took 1st place 2-yr-old milker in both rings.
Shere Country SH Allium was Reserve Champion Junior Doe in Ring 1 (Tim Ness) and Shere Country OB Arpeggio was Reserve Champion Junior Doe in ring 2 (Megan Lawrence). Shere Country Cool Breeze was 3rd/6th Junior doe in the Sr. yearling class.
And last but not least, Shere Country MP Bali Ha'i was 1st place Junior Doe in ring 1 (Tim Ness), then proceeded to take Grand Champion Junior Doe in a nice large class, and then went on to take Best Junior Doe in Show over all the standard breeds!!! All this at just 3 months of age! I am just so proud of her:) After her win in ring 1 we pulled her and didn't show her in ring 2.
I was absolutely thrilled with the Linear Appraisal results of my herd this past July (2010). You can review my Linear Appraisal results, notes, and related information on its new page. This is a work in progress and I will continue to add to it. Check it out here: Linear Appraisal. Also, my New Year's Eve resolution is to make sure I get nice, updated photos of all my animals after they are clipped early next summer, including udder photos!
About Us
Thirteen years ago my dream to live in the country finally came true when my husband and I found the perfect little farm situated on 36 acres in Embarrass, Minnesota. We recently had the opportunity to add 38 more acres of adjoining land and are in the process of turning some of that overgrown acreage into additional pasture. Embarrass is known for its cold temperatures and claims the rights as the "coldest spot in the state". It is not unusual to see 30 to 45 degrees below zero many mornings before the sun comes up during the winter months. The unofficial low temperature set on February 2, 1996 was -64 degrees!
Despite the cold, we had successfully raised a small herd of hardy, healthy, and happy pygmies and dairy cross goats prior to getting hooked on the wonderful Nigerian Dwarf breed. To read about the history of the breed, click the following link. Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats
My goal is to breed healthy, hardy animals that are of correct conformation, good personality, and are excellent milkers that are easily milked by hand. I enjoy the time I spend with my does while hand milking. Nigerian Dwarf goats produce a surprising amount of milk for their small stature and the high butterfat makes them an excellent choice for families that want to make cheese. I am currently working on my cheese-making skills and have tried my hand at chevre and mozzarella. One of my favorite things to make with my goat's milk is yogurt. It is just wonderful! I also froze enough milk that I can make soap this winter too. If there were only more hours in the day ...
In addition to our growing herd of beloved goats, we also are home to a small herd of registered Limousin and Hereford cattle, 15 or so laying hens (Black Java's, one Black Maran, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, Wheaten Marans, Swedish Flower Hens, and 2 rather ancient Americana's), several Muscovy ducks, Australian Spotted Bantam ducks, Mini Overberg ducks, one zebra finch, three cats, five dogs (four pugs, one Shih-Tzu),and one Lionhead rabbit.
We are currently members of the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA), the American Goat Society (AGS), the American Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Association (ANDDA), and the Minnesota Dairy Goat Association (MDGA).
Our cattle are registered with NALF and you can see some photos of our herd on their own page (still under construction). Shere Country Ranch Limousin
To see other family and farm photos, click this link. Shere Family & Farm Photos
Health and Herd Management
** Whole herd tested negative for TB on 3/5/10 **
All of our goats are registered with the ADGA and most are registered with AGS also. Our kids are dam raised and bottle fed both. I dam raise all of my own kids unless circumstances dictate otherwise but am more than happy to bottle raise kids upon request if they are reserved in advance. All buck kids are disbudded at three to fours days old and doe kids are generally done at 10-14 days old. We strive to breed hardy, structurally correct, disease-free animals that thrive and produce well in our rather harsh northeastern Minnesota climate. Our goats are handled daily and are friendly and well-adjusted.
Our feeding program for our bucks consists of high quality locally grown grass hay, free choice goat minerals, free choice baking soda, dried beet pulp, and a 16% protein pelleted goat chow mix that contains a urinary acidifier to help reduce the formation of urinary calculi. Our water quality is excellent and in the colder months we bring our goats buckets of fresh warm (almost hot) water several times a day which they really love. In fact, even in the summer months they prefer warm water, although I still haven't convinced my husband of that! Our girls get the same diet with the addition of some alfalfa hay, a non-pelleted goat grain mix, and a small amount of Purina Animax (Purina's version of Calf Manna). A small amount of black oil sunflower seeds are given as a treat. I have recently added Thorvin Kelp to our nutritional program.
We are blessed to have very few parasites in our area so we are firm believers in treatment mainly based on fecal and blood tests. site. I just recently received a wonderful gift from my very supportive husband ... a microscope for doing my own fecals! I will continue to randomly check my results with my vet until I am more confident in my results. Although I prefer raising my herd as naturally as possible, I will use commercial wormers and antibiotics if necessary.
Our herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats (all goats over one year of age) is tested for CAE annually with all results being negative. We have only done random Johnes testing so far but plan on testing all of our goats for Johnes this year (2013) and will repeat as our vet recommends. We have never had CL or any sort of abscess in our herd. We have done annual whole herd TB testing in the past but will now test for that on an as needed basis. Our herd is registered with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health as part of the Federal Scrapie Eradication Program. Our Scrapie identification number is MN46368.
We received the results of our May 27, 2008 testing for CAE and all tests were negative. Tests were done using the more sensitive ELISA test. All of our goats one year of age and older were tested. We also had a whole herd TB test done at the same time and those results were also all negative. See the notes on the Latest News page regarding our current (2009/2010) testing schedule.
Our herd is very young but is founded with animals from healthy, productive herds that emphasize functional structure and correct mammary systems. We currently are not on milk test but hope to begin in the near future and have chosen our foundation animals with that goal in mind.