Chapter 2 of the story of Wynott Farm and the goat acquisition. (For chapter one, read here.)
Having found a cornerstone to our foundation in Esther of Sol Orr Farm in 2011, we began our search for a buck for breeding. We wanted to breed our Mini Nubian goats with great quality and with temperaments that would make the kids be great pets or companion animals as well as excellent specimens of the breed in appearance and milk production. Our research up to this point also showed us that it was equally important to evaluate potential contributing herds for diseases common to goats such as C.A.E, C.L. and Johnes disease because these diseases, once in your herd, can be devastating.
Our friend Marybeth Bellah, owner of Monte Bella Mini Nubians, was a great example of a breeder who took care to test her herd for the worst of the goat diseases and then cared for her small herd as pets as well as providers of wonderful milk. She had had a darling, very friendly, black-spotted buckling (baby boy goat) who was born in the spring of 2011 and named Pogo.We decided that Pogo would make a perfect addition to our growing herd. He was a second generation buck. This means that both of his parents were Mini Nubians, not pure bred Nubians or Nigerian Dwarfs, but that at least one of his parents were the offspring of an original cross of the breeds. He had a wonderful temperament, a lovely top line, and drop ears (although they were not fully pendulous as later generations can be). He made some very nice improvements to our herd.
Head shot of Bob and Pogo
Soon after we brought Pogo home to our herd, we realized that we needed to continue to build on the quality of our goats. As mentioned in a previous post, we found homes for our starter goats and began our breeding program.
We spent lots of time with them as Pogo and Esther grew. We enjoyed “walks” in the field or woods where our companion goats could enjoy the browse near their enclosure, and soon we realized that we would need to separate them until we were ready for fall breeding.
We were quite pleased with the first cross of Pogo and Esther, which produced Celeste. Because she was raised on our farm, she was handled a lot, and although she was raised by Esther and not a bottle, she was very friendly and never ran from us or shied from our touch. What a welcome change from those first goats. Instead of two of us fighting for a few cups of milk coaxed from the teat of a cranky, kicky goat, one of us could milk Esther with a very simple procedure. Milking became a time of quiet, calm with our beloved animals.
About this time we decided that it was time to look for another doe. We found a wonderful, well-respected breeder of Mini Nubians in Wisconsin named Eliya Elmquist, owner of Green Gables Mini Nubians. We got on her waiting list for doelings (girl goat kids) and waited until the spring for our next addition. Journey came home to our farm in May of 2012 after a very eventful trip from Wisconsin. . .
Stay tuned for that story in Chapter 3 next week . . .
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[…] After our decision to obtain a doe from Green Gables Mini Nubians in Wisconsin, we anxiously awaited the spring 2012 due date. As we waited, we were contacted by a number of other people on the East Coast who wondered if we could transport a their new mini nubian goats back from Wisconsin. These people would meet us at various locations on our way back to Virginia and pick up their goats from us. […]