May is here already!

Wow, what a year!  We have been to Florida and Tenn.  Our weather has been crazy and we have been wearing winter wools and shorts, all in the same week.

Our show at the Forever Goats Show the beginning of April was great.  We finished Sunra's Championship.  She freshened as a 5 year old with triplets.  Waiting for the perfect udder to come in and BOOM, it was there!  Love this doe, have been milking her for 3 years, waiting for the High and Tight udder to show me what she really has.  Sunra has a beautiful udder, but always needed more of it.  With triplets, it was there and wow!

While in Florida, I got a phone call Rain-Beau had kidded and two weeks later Blue Amber had kidded.  SGCH NC Promisedland Rain-Beau 3*M AR, 2*D AR is a once in a life time doe.  She is the sweetest doe on the planet, behind Sunra, who is the absolute sweetest doe, and she demands special attention.  Rain-Beau had a buck and doe kids, both retained, by my buck *B Farm Oldesouth Cherokee Paint *S, *DS.  Cherokee is a small buck, his dam has an excellent udder and he is long, sired by *B Lost Valley PG Superb *S.  Milk production on both sides, conformation and a bit of decrease in size for the kids.

In Florida, we received many firsts and other placings, the Grand Champion is what is important, followed by the Reserve Grand Champion and Best of Breed.. Etc.  Sunra won one Reserve and Two Grands, finishing her ADGA championship.  She also received two legs for AGS.  Upon closer examination, Sunra is one leg from AGS, her first leg was not dual sanctioned.  Oldesouth Sunshine won a Reserve Championship due to her lovely udder as a second freshener.

Our Buck Farm Oldesouth Blue Blanc Sabr, Sunshine's Brother won Grand Champion and two reserves.  This is his first leg toward his championship as a two year old.

Then we went to Tenn to a show in Lebanon, Music City Classic.  Excellent show, even though it was cold and rained the whole time.  Had to bundle up goats to keep them warm and comfortable.  Oldesouth Blue Amber 2*M, 2*D, 2+DAR won first place as a 3 year old and Farm Oldesouth Sunshine won her 2 year old class.  They did not make the Grand or Reserve, then Rain-Beau entered the ring as the Champion Challenge.  She won Best of Breed in both rings.


We brought the milking machine and milked Rain-Beau out, ready for the Best in Show.  We had to wait while a gal was milking, by hand one of the larger goats.  Rain-Beau strutted her stuff and was given Best in Show in both rings!!!  Wow, what a day.  Both judges told me to take her to nationals.  Nationals are in Minnesota...  Are you crazy!!!  Put in for the time off and we will see what happens.  This story may be short or perhaps will be history in the making....

I had a copy of the 2010 Nationals and actually watched it on video... Yeah...  Rain-Beau was there, over conditioned, but beautiful as a four year old.  She placed 5th out of 20,  a diamond in the rough.  We will see what plan faith has for us and go with the flow....

Spring is here, the Spring Shows are in full swing... Grab your bag and let's GO...!

Kidding has been on full speed since March.  Bottle babies all over the place, had to dam raise a few, to many to care for properly and work a full time job.  Love my bottle babies.  What have we been doing the last month or so...?  Sit for a spell and find out...

Photo to the right are the winnings at Forever Goat Show in Palmetto, Florida.


Reba daughter to the left.

We traveled to Dade City, Fl the 3rd week of March to a great goat show.  Competition tough, we won first in the Yearling milker Class, Oldesouth Diva Diamond and placed 2nd or 3rd in the other milker classes, nothing to break the door down over.  Jrs, Oldesouth Black Diamond won a large sr jr class, but nothing beyond.  Little Oldesouth Rain Deesse won seconds.  Our buck Oldesouth Blue Blanc Sabr won a class of under two bucks and two seconds, also competetive classes.

Two weeks later we headed to Palmetto, Fl with SunRa and Sunshine freshening as soon as we had gotten home from Dade City.  The milk was on.  The photo below is Oldesouth Blue Blanc Sabr who has a leg towards his championship with Grand Champion SR Buck and two reserve championships.

My mom, Beverly Bousson is pictured below with her friend.  They live near the Palmetto Show and came to visit and enjoy the day feeding bottle babies, we took Sunra's kids and Sunshine's kids, a total of seven with us.

 

 

 

 

 

My cousin Michelle came to help as well and we enjoyed good food, good company and a great day!

 

Winner of the day was SG NC Promisedland SIA Sunra 3*M AR, 4*D, +DAR.  She won two Grand Championship SR does in milk and one Reserve, finishing her SGCH in ADGA.  She also won two AGS legs and are checking into seeing if she had earned an AGS leg when she won the ADGA leg for her to be a MCH as well.  Stay tuned for the final conformation.  (Below left)

 

 

Below right is Oldesouth Sunshine who won a Reserve Championship.

 



 

Our weekend was long and we will end this adventure with some kids.  We are breeding to improve the Nigerian Dwarf breed and slowly but surely hope to prove it.

 

 

 



 

 

Let the Kidding begin...

Kidding season has begun here at Oldesouth Farm.  Our first fresheners are looking good and Oldesouth SR Cuppachino is pictured below.  She turned a year old January 8th and she kidded 2-08-13.  She is on DHIR and gave 2.7 pounds her first test.  Give her time, she will grow and so will her milk.  What a lovely udder she has.  She had twins, a buckling who is cream and white and a black doe.  The Doeling will be retained and the buckling will be offered FOR SALE.  The sire is *B Oldesouth ZV Marquese *S, a UDiamond son.

 

 

Oldesouth Diva Diamond had two nice bucklings sired by Oldesouth Blue Blanc Sabr.  Diva has a high, beautifully attached udder, but her teat placement and susp lig could be better.  I think it will correct and constant milking will improve the over all udder.  Her two bucklings went to their new homes as wethers and are spoiled rotten, like their mother and grand mother.  Diva's two bucklings below.

Our goats are all pregnant and today AnnaLynn blessed us with twin blue eyed does sired by +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*S, +DAR.  She was busy eatting her afterbirth when I wanted to take photos of her and her daughters.  Yeah...  Ick.  Decided to wait for another day.

This doe is Oldesouth Babette 1*M, *D, +DAR.  She is bred to *B Oldesouth Cognac Diamond *S, *DS.  She is a sister to Oldesouth Blue Alexa and we are deciding to sell her or not.  We have been waiting for her to give us some daughters.  The last two years she has had bucklings.  Perhaps this will be her doe year.  Lovely doe above.

 

 This is the cute and sassy Oldesouth CD Spit Fire.  She is sired by *B Oldesouth Cognac Diamond *S,*DS, her dam is Oldesouth Sequoia Baby.

 

 

Below are photos of Oldesouth SD Deesse, daughter of our lovely SGCH NC Promisedland Rain-Beau 2*M AR, 3*D AR and the sire is CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S. 

 

 

Our last photos are saying goodbye to our Jack Russel Terrior, "Grizzly II".  He was hit and killed by a car 2-2-2013.  RIP little buddy...

 

 

 

 

Where did January go?

We are looking forward to this year and will be attending twice as many shows this year as last.  January has gone by in a blink of an eye and our kidding begins in February.  We have four does milking who are worth DHIR and so we slowed down, but did not take the break we had hoped for.

 

Beyonce and the four calves for 2012/2013.

 

We have four calves on the ground by the Angus Bull we rented last year.  Three bulls and a heifer.  One bull calf will be raised up to breed back to the herd next year.  We also plan on raising up four pigs this year and will get them in April when the milk is in full flow.  Then at six months, they will be heading to Reed's for freezer camp.  They will be free ranged in the Pecan Orchard and fed goat milk and supplemental feed.  The price per pound live will be in the $1.50 to $1.75 depending on the current feed prices.  Feed prices have been off the chart for 2012, will see what it is for 2013.  We will be raising up a couple of steer calves as well.  They will be grass fed and grain fed.  It will be 2014 before they are ready, but will take reservations and can do 3 if the interest is there.  Contact us if you are interested.  I like the grass and grain fed, more tender and of course, no hormones or antibiotics will come near our beef.  I hope to prime one out for myself and will split it.  Prime means the steer will be fed to the Prime grade which is premium.  These are half to three quarter Angus calves, so they will be excellent eating.

The first two does to kid this year will be Oldesouth Diva Diamond, daughter of UDiamond and Oldesouth SR Cuppachino, daughter of Oldesouth Blue Amber 2*M, 2*D. They are my best yearling does so far and bagged up.  Udiamond will kid in Feb, bred to Sudoku.  Her daughter looks just like her.  We will have several first fresheners who are yearlings and their kids will be reasonably priced until the dams make their milking awards.  It is a great opportunity to get some great milking genetics at a decent price.  Check out our breeding schedule at: 
http://www.oldesouth.citymax.com/breedingschedule.html

The winter has not been terribly cold here in Alabama, but we have had a lot of rain.  Have had to bed with a lot of pine shavings to keep the girls dry and especially the milkers.  Dry goats are healthy, happy goats.  Quality hay is not easy to find, so we are saving the hay to feed and not bedding with it like in past years.  The pine shavings have been doing well for us and we will continue to use them.

We are on DHIR again for 2013 and look forward to seeing how the yearlings do and our regular herd.  The General daughters are heading into their third freshening, so production should be great.  Most of the first fresheners are sired by NC Promisedland Zyvox *S and *B Lost Valley PG Superb *S.  Great milking genetic potential waiting to be realized.

We are working on a show schedule and deciding which shows to attend this year.  Since I work full time, we need to plan ahead and put in for the time off.  I love show secretaries who put out the show info early so folks like myself can plan ahead.  I have missed shows due to slow schedulers which we would have enjoyed attending.  Show secretaries, please get the info out early so everyone can plan which shows to attend.  There are a lot of shows this year and I am thrilled.  Can not wait to see what the first fresheners will bring to the table in both milk and conformation.

Want to share with folks a gadget I have for putting out the large bales of hay for the cows.  We do not own a tractor yet and this hay spear on a trailer does the job perfectly.  I have borrowed this from a friend and hope to purchase it in the future.  I like to hook it to my small truck, just easier to maneuver.  One just backs it into the bale and give a bit of gas to drive the spear into the bale.

Once speared, you crank the hydraulic jack and jack it up.

 Hungry cow girls and calves waiting at the gate for you.

When you get to where you want to drop it, cut the strings and remove them.  Then all it takes is turning the knob to let the jack down and the bale to ease down.  Drive forward and the bale is delivered.



 

You really need a hay ring or the cow girls will waste a good 20% of the hay by stomping and pooping on it.  Get one light enough to move around with one person able to roll it up and around.

Flip the ring up like so and roll it on over to your bale of hay.

Roll it to the new bale and then push it over onto the bale.

Ring is on the bale and the cows put their head through it to eat and can not icky up the bale.  When they eat the bale down, the ring is light enough to move around and clean up the bale.

Baby Calf says, "Hi", have a great evening and we wish you a Great 2013.

Merry Christmas all on this Blessed Day.

 

Today is Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is a rain filled day with severe weather coming in this afternoon and evening.  All will be good, we are Blessed by the birth of Jesus and not worried if he takes us home today or another day.

We are Thankful for a great year as it draws to an end.  Our goats are all pregnant, some fussy and some happy.  Udiamond is huge and Oldesouth Blue Alexa is even larger.  Sunra and Scandal are big bellied and want a bit of bellie rubbing.  Udiamond's daughters will probably kid before their dam, lovely Diva already blessed by the mammary fairy.

Very pregnant mom's with the promise of birth for the future are out in their pastures, sometimes grumpy, mostly being goats.  It is exciting to think and contemplate what the future has in store for these yet to be born, god's little creatures, so precious and wondrous.  I love the kidding season and the wonder of new life.  Each kid holds a promise for the future and wonderful milk, cheese and the great personalities which come from these favorite goats.

Our goal and dream of breeding small goats that milk is coming into the light more each year.  It takes the will and work to accomplish anything worth while.  We have focused exclusively for the last 3 years on production, 2013 will be the fourth year and 3rd year on DHIR.  We are going Standard Test for 2013 so we will be able to be included in the top 10 production lists for ADGA and AGS.  We will submit results to the NDGA as well, but the one day tests seem to be their priority.  Perhaps that will change in the future. 

One day milk tests are a 1/305 of what a doe can or can not do.  A Dairy Goat needs to milk the distance to be a true milk goat in my opinion.  A Dairy making cheese and a living off their goat's milk does not want a goat that milks 6 pounds on one day, then dries up by the time they are 4 months into their lactation.  They need to milk over the long haul and that is where the DHIR tested goats show their worth and superiority.

We have been breeding Nigerians for eight years and just received our annual CAE and Johnes testing results.  We are officially our EIGHTH year of a CAE and Johnes FREE HERD!

This is Fred Demo Showing Oldesouth FLA Amber Blue 1*M,*D, +DAR.  She won first place at the Montgomery Fair in a large class of over 4 year old does.

To the right is our add in the United Caprine News.  The website is www.unitedcaprinenews.com.  We are advertising our herd more and highly recommend the interesting articles and latest news the Caprine news has to offer.  It is an all breed Dairy Goat News Publication.  Check it out.















What did we do for Christmas???   My son bought me a 12 gauge shot gun for Christmas.  Yes, I wanted one.  We had to take it out to the farm, into the Pecan Orchard to test it out.

 The aim is very good on this thing... Blew those grapefruit and cans of cheap decaf cola to pieces.

 Tried a Buck Slug, yeah...  Feel it alright... (Ouch!)

Now I am behind the camera...  Oh yeah, caught that can of decaf pop explode....  My son Tim is trying out the 12 gauge...

This took several shots, but caught the smoke of the gun and the shell being ejected after the shot... kinda cool.  Look out pop cans and citrus, we are on the hunt.

 Tim is setting up targets to shoot on this fallen Pecan Tree.  What do you do with that Citrus fruit you purchase for the holidays and never eat...  Great target practice.

Final photo of Tim and his Glock Pistol.  We had a great time being safe and testing the fire arms.  We did this on Christmas Eve before the bad weather was scheduled to roll in for Christmas Day.

Be Safe Everyone this Holiday Season and we at Oldesouth Farm send you BEST WISHES and a Better NEW YEAR!

 

 

November is a month of Gratitude and The Peanut Festival

We love November, an extension of October with a bit of a nip in the air.  November is a month to reflect and give Thanks.  November is Gratitude month.  We are Thankful for all the wonderful folks we have met and for the goats we are Blessed with.  We are grateful for our family and our health.

The Peanut Festival was great.  Everyone got along and we had fun.  We won some, lost some, that is how it is. We are working to improve the Nigerian Breed and step up to the next level with grace, dignity and a passion for excellence.

We give Thanks to God and his son Jesus for the Best Year yet in our goats and farming.  Our DHIR, LA and proving what we breed and strive for is in the show ring.

The Peanut Festival in Dothan had over 60 Nigerian Dwarf Entries.  We won First place in Two to Three year old milkers, Oldesouth Blue Amber 2*M, pending 2*D, 2+DAR.  Amber also won Grand Champion Sr Doe and her first leg toward her championship. 

Oldesouth Sunshine won 2nd under a really lovely first freshener from Desert Nanny.  Will have to research that little darling, because she was quit an eye catcher.  SG NC Promisedland SIA SunRa 3*M, 4*D, +DLT won first place in the 5 year and over class being almost 11 months in milk.  We also won BEST DAIRY HERD which is more competitive each year.


SG NC Promisedland SIA Sunra 3*M, 4*D, +DAR and Clint in the show ring, Peanut Festival, Nov 2012.
















The Spectacular SGCH NC Promisedland Rain-Beau 2*M AR, 3*D AR won BEST OF BREED and BEST UDDER.  SHE IS STILL IN STANDARD and had not grown any since Montgomery...  Imagine that...  (Below)

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We have heard of the loss of Keith Harrell yesterday, who along with his wife Marie bred Rain-Beau and Sunra.  We are deeply touched and sadden by Marie's loss.  We are deeply grateful and blessed by being privileged to be entrusted with both Rain-Beau and Sunra.  Our deepest sympathies to the Harrell family.  God Bless you all.