Introductions

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Hi everyone! As you join the group, I hope you'll take a moment to introduce yourself here.

For those who don't know me, I've been raising Nigerians for seven years, and they are our main dairy source. They are almost our only dairy source. We make chevre, queso blanco, cheddar, mozzarella, yogurt, buttermilk, as well as ice cream and pudding. You can learn more about our goats on our website.

Before our oldest daughter went off to college, we also showed and were on DHI, which were both fun and educational, but also a lot of work! Now that she's gone, I don't have the time to do either one any longer, so I applaud those of you who stick with it.

I'm looking forward to sharing pictures, stories, and videos on here.

[Dianea Fay]

I am new to goats in last 2 years. Thanks for creating this site. My goats consist of myself and my 2 boys ages 31 and 24. both currently in college. Brandon the oldest likes to talk goats with anyone who will talk with him. We live in the Flint Hills in Kansas and are getting ready for breeding season. Brandon is too meet folks bring our new herdsire Visa Gold back today. He is so excited. We currently are milking 5 does and have not had problems getting rid of the milk. I like to make soap which if anyone has good recipe please send it. I am needing help there and want to learn to make lotion. One of our directors is going to do a class for us on lotion and soap so hope to get this done soon.
We look foreward to hearing from everyone on issues from breeding ,feeding and worming. We are new so need all the help you can give to give our mentors a rest from all of our questions.
Thanks and have great week
Dianea

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Most of what I learned about soapmaking comes from Miller's Soap. She has a LOT of recipes and good info, although nothing on goat milk. I've made her "Favorite Castile II" with goat milk instead of water and love it. You probably know this, but you just need to freeze the goat milk and add the lye to it when it's somewhat slushy or halfway frozen.

If you want to make up your own recipes, you can use the lye calculator on Majestic Mountain Sage. I've been using it for six years now with excellent results every time.

Deborah

Deborah

Dianea Fay said:

I am new to goats in last 2 years. Thanks for creating this site. My goats consist of myself and my 2 boys ages 31 and 24. both currently in college. Brandon the oldest likes to talk goats with anyone who will talk with him. We live in the Flint Hills in Kansas and are getting ready for breeding season. Brandon is too meet folks bring our new herdsire Visa Gold back today. He is so excited. We currently are milking 5 does and have not had problems getting rid of the milk. I like to make soap which if anyone has good recipe please send it. I am needing help there and want to learn to make lotion. One of our directors is going to do a class for us on lotion and soap so hope to get this done soon.
We look foreward to hearing from everyone on issues from breeding ,feeding and worming. We are new so need all the help you can give to give our mentors a rest from all of our questions.
Thanks and have great week
Dianea

[Dianea Fay]

Thanks I have a couple of soap books but they don't want to set up right and then not useable. As I have been self taught I might not have all the messes if I couple see it made once the right way.I use an inversion blender to mix somethime don't think I mix enough other too much. Have not tried to use the lye calculator too new at this. Can not wait for others to chime in on this subject.
Di

[Tammie DeHart]

We've had goats for the last 3 yrs so we're still fairly new to goats. We have 39 Nigerian Dwarfs,we also have chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits and quails. We live in Central La on 13 acres with 5 of it hardwood. Our two-legged family (living here at home) consist of My hubby, me and three sons ages 17,13, and 6. And we have 4 other children 3 more boys and one daughter( No not all mine two are step chilfdren) and 3 grandchildren who live further south. We've learned alot in these last three years about goat care but know we still got tons more to learn. I FINALLY HAVE THE WHOLE FAMILY DRINKING GOAT MILK !! SO hoping to learn how to make cheese and butter soon as I can get extra milk.

[Elyse Nicholson]

Hello fellow Nigerian Dwarf owners!

I go by WorkingGoats4 online. I am one of those stranger Nigerian owners. I do not milk my goats, nor have I ever bred them. So, let me introduce them to you. Let's start with my 4 year old does - who are all sisters. In 2005, I purchased two does (from Deborah I might add!). Fairy Tale (salt and pepper color - 3 year grand champion doe over pygmies!), and Goose Girl (Dark brown, white belt -- two year junior dairy doe champion. Now, these two were born of triplets. So in 2006, Deborah bred thier sister, Sleeping Beauty (looks like a twin to Goose, with less white), and my wether, Hansel (light brown, with a little buckskin tint - reserve champion Wether!) was born. In early 2008, I purchased Hansel. Later that year, Deborah decided to sell Beauty, so I purchased her as well.

So, if I don't breed them, what do I do with these goats?? They pull carts ---- yes those little goats can pull a cart. I started Fairy and Goose in 2007, then added Beauty this year. I have yet to have a triple team, due to not having a triple tounge for my cart. I'd love to get Hansel pulling, but he is stuburn, so it is taking longer.

So those are the goats of RDTEE farms! I'd post more, but my brower is having problems with this page, so I'll try later!

TTYS!
Working Goats4

[Melissa Senesac]

Greetings from Johnson, Vermont!

My husband and I just bought our first goats this summer! We've been working towards self-sufficiency, so these little gals are just the beginning of our dairy-endeavors! We are very much at the beginning of EVERYTHING as we just bought our house this past February. Since then we've bought a dozen laying hens, a dozen broilers (who we are going to butcher ourselves in a couple weeks), started a garden, purchased our two Nigerians: Chutney and May (who we are going to have bred later this fall/winter), and I hope to start bee-keeping next spring. I really would love to make homesteading my full-time job, selling goats, milk, soap, honey, eggs, produce, etc- someday. For now we both work full-time jobs in the area and we squeeze in as much goat/chicken/dog time as possible in the mornings, evenings, and weekends.

Somehow I found Antiquity Oaks on the same website where I blog, and ever since I feel like I've been finding you everywhere! Thanks for all the great tips and anecdotes!

[Anna Cummings]

Hi. We got two pregnant NDG in Feb. They have since given birth and we now how 5 does. We were milking the mamas for a few months, but recently gave up in the hopes that it will be easier the next time around. Right now I am trying to figure out the best way to get my does pregnant. My computer is out of commission, so I can't post pics right now.
My older boys (11 & 7), my mother, and I are the main caretakers of the goats.

[Stephanie Gibson]

Hi! My husband and I got our first Nigerians in February of this year. We are very new to goats. I have learned more about goats in the last year than I ever thought I would. It has been a great year with our goats. We were going to start with 2 does and a buck from a family friend in April. Then my hubby found a small herd for sale in Kentucky. We bought 4 does and a buck in February. Then in April we got the 3 that were suppose to be our first. A week later I got a lovely little buckling (6 weeks old) and a wether. Then in July we got our first babies born here! The first doe, Priss kidded with 3 does and Mandy kidded with one. Of the 4 does we kept 3. So here we are with 10 does, 4 bucks, and a wether! I am picking up another buck this week.

[Bil Morrill]

I'll do a quick introduction. It's quick because we don't have our goats yet. We are putting a deposit on 2-3 doelings for the Spring. This will be our first introduction to goats.

We currently raise alpacas (we have 23 on property), chickens, turkeys & quail. We are getting the goats for milk. We are all excited to get our goats in April!!

Looking forward to learning from everyone.

Thanks!

Bil

[Mary Colman]

Hello there everyone. I have been on this site for a little while but I realized i hadn't introduced myself. We are a small hobby farm in NC in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mts. We started raising Nigerians almost 2 yrs ago. We have been breeding but so far this year, we have had 3 sets of twin boys!! Looking forward to spring kidding with our fingers crossed. This past summer we started making cheese, mostly just chevre so far but we love it and its addicting to add it to so many dishes, I love it on my salad. We have found out how wonderful it freezes as well.
Two months ago we started making soaps, and its been about 3 batches a week ever since. I love to make soap now and am enjoying working with essential oils and fragrances. My favorite recipe is the goat milk, oatmeal and honey type recipe, I love the soap and it is so kind and nourishing for my sensitive skin. I think that If I don't get some does in the spring I will have to buy one or two more does that I can breed. So I look forward to alot of discussions and the forum. Mary Colman..Pinnacle Hills Goat Farm

[Dessie's Dwarfs]

Well, where to start. I have always loved goats. When I was a kid, we had a whether(I guess) my folks called him
Charmin' Billy. He was as onery as us girls; he had to be as we teased him all the time by pulling his tail and running when he butted us. Fed him chewing tobacco to worm him. He would leap from the upmost part of the hay as anyone walked into the barn, startling even the people that were looking for him. Then I was about 13 and my folks let me buy 3 goats. But when we moved, I had to take them to auction. When I was 20 years old, I got married and got another goat. He/she seemed to have parts for both sexes. He was so mean, he bruised our very petite and ladylike next door neighbor so we gave him away.

About 27 years later (4 years ago) my folks suggested getting a goat for my daughter to play with. I had only recently discovered the smaller goats and decided that was what I wanted for her. I considered pygmies for much cheaper, the ones I saw locally could barely be caught with grain. So I started researching online. I ran onto Linda Worley's website and was about to drive 4 hours to her place when she recommended I call Kim Belyeu's Jubilee Farm @ http://www.belyeus.com/index.htm living in Checotah; Debbie Phelps ( http://www.debpnigerians.com/ ) and Anita Gitlan living in Stilwell. (she has since moved to Iowa but her website is the same http://www.shilohmtnfarm.com/). I bought goats from all three ladies and thus started my herd about 4 years ago. 2 years ago, I bought my first buck from Phil Moss ( http://www.tyny.com/ ). The buck is out of Linda Worley's (http://goodmeasurefarm.com/ ) herd.

That is all I bought of the prolific things, an even dozen graces our farm which we call Dessie's Dwarfs; named for my daughter whose fault it is that I am hopelessly hooked. I am not in this for money and now we (Dessie and I) have way too many pets counting our 3 dogs. My husband has one cat that I brought home and the cat claimed my husband. Now don't get me wrong, I think he likes GMF Ft. Boise. He has nicknamed him Billy Bob because of his nastiness; from his stringy pee riden beard and his horney grunting noises, all the way to the tip of his tail which he proudly keeps curled over his back most of the time.

I hesitate before taking fuzzy pics as I dont believe it does a nice goat justice. My camera was broke this summer, so I dont have any recent pics. However; I'll try to get some and soon, I promise :-).