Summer in Alabama

Summer in Sweet Home Alabama always comes with the bloom of Crepe Myrtles, my favorite summer flush of color.  Pinks, reds, purples, whites and shades in between.

It has been sooo HOT, 105 degrees, humidity off the charts.  Wow the weather has been rough here and over a lot of the USA.

The photo to the right is the enclosing of the west side of the barn.  This will protect our hay, which another 450 bales are to arrive next month and 18 large round bales for the cows, Joe and the sheep.

Left is the West side of the barn enclosed.  Just in time for the heat wave.

 Love my Crepe Myrtles...

 Our pasture is very lush this year.

 A close up of our beautiful Alabama grass.  This is Bahia Grass.

 I had sold my one Nubian Ariel and really missed her in the spring.  She would feed all the bottle babies and I could sell my Nigerian Milk at a premium price.  With her gone, I feed the premium milk to my bottle babies.  So, had to get a couple more to fill her shoes.  Welcome Honey and Roxanne.  These two lovely Nubian does are from Sand Rock Acres.  The Nigerian in the back ground, wanting to be involved is Oldesouth Diva Diamond, a UDiamond daughter.

 Little Roxanne is going to the show ring.  She is sired by CH Southern-Leisure Benedict, her dam is SGCH Sand Rock Acres Fannie Dae 10*M.  Should be some milk in this little angel... 

 Had to include a photo of best buddies, Oldesouth Marques Diamond and Gypsey Moon Hemingway.  Two young bucklings growing out and hoping mom gives them some sugar.

The two girls, Baby Back and Pork Chop are growing like crazy on the goat milk and yum yums mom brings them.  They are being free ranged in the pecan orchard and are so happy, clean and are having the best time ever.  They are grazing in this photo.  The good times will be over we think the end of August, depending if they reach about 200 pounds.

 Thought everyone might enjoy seeing my heifers.  This is one of my favorites, Molly.  She is beautiful and hopefully bred to the Angus Bull we had.  She is half Beef Master and very sweet.

 Guess who this is?  Yes, it is Molly as a baby calf.

 This heifer to the right is Cinnamon, another half Beef Master heifer I raised.

 This is Pepper to the right.

This is Pepper and Cinnamon as calves.

I do enjoy the cow girls...

Summer is close...

Summer is closing in, the temperatures have been HOT and HUMID.  Nothing new in the south.  Today it is raining, which we need and the grass will spring up like crazy.  Sold a couple of calves, one was out of Christi and she had horns.  Christi is heterozygous for horns and this is the one who got the horned gene.  He other two daughters are polled.  I hate horns and she had to go.  Even if we dehorned her, she would pass on the gene.  Her mother is an ugly cow who produces beautiful calves, so she stays for now...

Goats are doing well, the bucks are always in rut.  Got a lot of positive response with this photo below of the boys on face book.  One of the guys I went to high school with made the comment that these three looked like himself and his buddies in college...  He is a hoot...!

The trio of guy Bucks is from left to right, +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*D, +DAR, his son Oldesouth Shell Foop and the handsome CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S.  They have their tongues hanging out being nasty bucks.  Does are on the other side of the fence.

The boys are discussing a doe in not a gentlemanly manner I am sure.. (right)










Yes the boys are characters to say the least.  This time of the year does are bred for fall kidding.  The Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats breed all year around.  Many of the large breeds are seasonal and come into heat for fall to kid in the spring.  I have a few kidding in the fall, but plan to take a break and kid mostly in the spring so we can have the winter to rest.

Milk testing is going well and Brush Creek Liz is close to drying up.  She has made her stars on butter fat, not sure if she will make it on milk.  She is eight now and do not expect the world from a doe who like myself is past their prime.  As a brood doe she is PREMIUM though and hope she will have does next year for me.  Her son Lex is looking great, moon spots and all.

Scandal is still milking strong, since last September.  She will more then likely hit the 1000 pound mark and get her AR (advanced registry).  I have dried off several of my regular milkers due to time and not having enough of it.  If the does have earned their stars, lets focus on the ones who have yet to reach that status.  So do not dismay if you see one of my does with less milk this year then last.  She may have been dried off to make room for a daughter or others who have not earned their stars.  Email me if you have questions and are interested in reserving a kid.

Oldesouth Blue Amber is still milking strong and hope to take her to her AR as well.  Amber bred herself to CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S, because she broke out and honey mooned with him.  She fell in love with him, seeing him one time and smelling him on the ride back to Alabama.  I found her in his pen one morning when he was in isolation.  She stayed there until his blood work came back clean.  My experience has been they start drying off on their own a couple of months into the pregnancy.  Will see how far we can take her before she drys herself off.  She is pictured to the right winning a large 2 to 3 year old doe in milk class at Clemson, SC in May.






BEFORE GOATS, I did have a non goat life and my son was growing up.  Bicycling kept him clean and focused on positive pursuits in life....

I am not sure how many of you know my son Tim Babb.  He cycled for years as a Junior and was the Alabama Champion for two years.  Tim also competed in the Canadian Jr race which is a JR Tour of France.  I think it was the Tour de l'Abitibi in western Quebec, but will verify that with Tim.  The first time he competed he was one of the last, but finished the 950 mile plus race over 8 days.  The second time he competed he was in the top 50, which was great.  Had he started sooner, perhaps his JR cycling would have made the top 10.  Tim left cycling to go into the Air Force and has just recently gone back to cycling.

I am happy for him, but now he can buy his own equipment and pay his own way, which was not cheap by the way...  He did get some sponsors as a JR, maybe he will get more now...





Tim Babb on his bike May 2012.

May has jetted by...

We have been preparing for a load of hay to be delivered.  It came Memorial day when most of the guys were off for the holiday.  We were able to get it unloaded today.  It was HOT!!!  Usually the heat does not arrive until June.  But that mild winter we had is giving us a hot hot year.

 James is a young man who helps at the farm with the milking and taking care of livestock.  Great Help!

Philip stacking hay on top.

Great helpers and brothers, Philip and Evan.

This is Luke who has come to help hay for a few hours.

This is Levi and he has come to help unload as well.

 It was great to see it all unloaded and stacked so neatly.

The sheep were close by, checking out the excitement and seeing what was going on.  They are all happy and cool now that they have been shorn.  We did that a couple of weeks ago and finished the last 4 a couple of days ago.

Buck profile:

Photos to the left are The General and his son Foop.  Foop is white.  The buck pasture is a great place for the boys to mess around and do guy things...

 The three man guys are CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku, Oldesouth Shell Foop, and +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*S,+DAR

 Oldesouth Shell Foop is a General Son.

Three man guys...

The General, +*B Rosasharn MR General B +*S, +DAR.










That is enough for now folks.  Hope you enjoyed the photos.

May is here and we are moving along...

Everyone, it has been one fast month so far.  Went to the Clemson, SC shows, had a blast.  Won a large class of 2 to 3 year old milkers, some 2 and 3rds with Diamond's kids in juniors, but nothing to break the door down.  Competition the best in the nation, so be happy not to come up the rear...  Ha Ha.  Had a great time visiting with folks I had not seen in a year and my friend Patsy Demo came along to give everyone a good time with her humor.

Teena Bagwell of Gypsey Moon Nigerians in South Carolina finally let me take her buck CH Gypsy Moon Sudoku *S home.  I was thrilled beyond belief and she had him all clipped up like a movie star, WOW, he took my breath away...

He is sired by Rosasharn SS Sequoia +B,*S and his dam is Rosasharn SS Unique *4D AR.  Unfortunately Unique lost half her udder to mastitisis and was not shown.  I have seen her in person and she has a topline to die for, a beautiful doe with an unfortunate loss.  She has compensated and easily able to raise triplets on her half udder.  This doe is the brood doe everyone hopes for.  Her daughters and sons have excelled across the board.  His father Sequoia passed away at the age of 10 and this young buck has filled the gap for sure.  Best disposition in the world, easy to deal with and a handsome hunk.  His daughter Airianna was Reserve Champion Jr Doe at the ADGA nationals last year.  Several of his daughters have earned thier Grand Champion legs as juniors.

Another doe brought home with a slight side drive of 7 hours was the spectacular SGCH NC Promisedland Rain-Beau 2*M.  She is in milk and giving a half gallon a day, freshening last fall.  This doe is sweet as sugar and can hand milk her or machine, she is cool.  A dream goat and so thankful the Harrells let me bring her home.

We plan to milk her to her AGS stars when she freshens again.  She could make it this lactation, but I want to see what the BMW girl can really do from freshening on.

Check out our 2013 breeding schedule for does going to be bred to CH Sudoku*S so far and we are taking deposits.  We will be using Diamond's son Cognac and Marquie, The General and Sudoku mostly for our fall and spring 2013 breedings.

Get it Done...

We have been busy as ever, showing, milking and appraisals this weekend.  Yes, we are having a Special Session to get this done.  My does all freshened in Jan and feb and by Sept of this year, would not appraise worth a hoot.  The lovely doe to the left is LTE Pervskia.  Took her almost a year to get pregnant and finally kid to The General, but worth the wait.  Look how lovely she is!

The photo to the right is Perovskia udder from the side and oh yes, she is on DHIR.  Probably not a world record holder for milk, but doing well for a seven year old doe.

This is Perovskia's udder from the rear, not to bad for a middle aged goat!  I clipped her up to see what she looked like and was going to take her to Florida, but tatoos faded and did not have time to retatoo.  Beautiful doe and beautiful kids.  We have decided to retain them for now and see how they grow out.

 This young doe is Alexa's daughter sired by Superb.  She is a lovely young lady and will clip her up and see what she looks like shortly.

 This doe is Blue's last daughter, Oldesouth Blue Ice.  She is striking with the black coat and blue eyes.  She is sired by *B Oldesouth Black Panther *S, bred back to Mr General.  She should be bagging up pretty soon.  A lovely doe.

Faith is pictured to the right, Sugar Moon Faith.  Nice topline and growing into her body, which is a mile long.  She is a mix of Cou Clair and Tog coloring, which is interesting.  She comes from Vermont from SGCH all around. She will be shown this year and bred this fall to a Diamond son.

This pixie faced little gal is out of LTE Silene 1*M, *D, *DAR E90, sired by Oldesouth Shell Foop, a General son.  She is very pregnant, bred back to the General.  We hope to show her as a first freshener or a yearling, depending on when she kids.

Enough for now, need to go milk the girls...

March is gone, April is wonderful!

The weather has been spectacular this past week.  March went by to fast and a couple of weekends ago, we were in Dade City, Fla at the Pasco County Fair Grounds.  We showed our Nigerian Dwarf Goats, 3 shows in two days.

My cousin Michelle lives near the show and stopped by to help show and see what this goat showing stuff was all about.  She enjoyed herself and I enjoyed seeing her and my Aunt Lauraine came up to say hi as well.  Fortunately UDiamond was showing like the Diva she is and won two Grand Champion SR Doe awards and even won Best of Breed over a lovely Champion Challenge doe in the third show.  UDiamond is a GCH (the grand comes from her having her milking stars).  Now the only thing she has left to earn is her SG (superior genetics award, which is a combination of milk production and linear appraisal) and her AR (advanced registry for milk production). 

To the right is UDiamond enjoying the lush spring pasture in Alabama. She is milked out and ready to fill up again, giving us the wonderful Nigerian Milk we so love!

The Diamond babies are growing up beautifully!  The buck is to the far right, Oldesouth ZV Marquise Diamond, The black doe is Oldesouth Black Diamond, and the red doe up front is Oldesouth Diva Diamond.  These kids are sired by NC Promisedland S Zyvox *S and we see a great future for them.  They have straight toplines, are wide and have their mother's class about them, the DIVA factor!  I prefer to bottle the special kids and milk mom from the beginning.  Udiamond milks so much milk, the babies would not be able to handle it and the excess can break down the udder.  So we pull the babies and make sure mom's udder is taken care of and the kids are tame, healthy and mom's darlings.  Mom has her girlish figure with no worries of ligament breakdown.

The Photo to the right are some of our milking does.  Post milking, I let them graze the wonderful spring grass and rye I planted last fall.  The does shaved have been or are being prepared for the show ring.  We will be having our Linear Appraisals done shortly and hope to have everyone shaved in preparation for that.  Life moves along quickly and the girls are doing so well this year.

This body belongs to Oldesouth Babette 1*M,+Dar.  She has been a bit of a handful, but is taming down nicely.  I want to show her once she will lead without having a total BF.  She does like her Animal Crackers.  She really does clean up quite well and looks even better then her sister Oldesouth Blue Alexa 1*M, *D, +DAR.  She is a larger doe, more capacity and I really like her.  We will see how she does in her Diva training and see if she will go to a show or two.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank everyone, our Clients, who have purchased a buck or a doe from us this year.  Sales has been off the charts and all the effort to milk test and the shows has proved the value of our stock.  Thank you everyone and if you have a question, I am here for you.  I personally take pride in my stock and wish everyone the best.

I want to give everyone a heart felt sincere wish of a Special Easter Weekend.  Remember Jesus and his suffering for our salvation.  It is a special time and we are grateful we could spend it with you and our Lord Jesus.

Have a Happy Easter all and God Bless you...

Busy Busy....

This month has been a whorl wind.  Kidding, bottle babies, milking, milk testing, and the beginning of lambing.  Most will lamb in March and April, but a few decided to be early birds, with a lovely set of ewe twins being born on Valentines Day.  Sunshine is the proud mother.

Our lovely Mini Long tail with her 2012 ewe lamb sired by Victor.  They are picture perfect. (left)

 Our 2012 bottle baby, SunRize.  Her mom Sunshine has lost half her udder and we have supplemented this little girl.  She is so cute and tame, running up to you to see if you have a bottle.  Her mom is compensating well so I do not anticipate having to supplement her very long.  We are down to once a day and she does not look like she has missed to many meals.  The Nigerian Goat milk is richer then the sheep milk.  Her sister is no where as robust as this little girl is.

 This is one of Sunshine's daughters with her set of twin ewe lambs.  She is baby sitting another lamb as well.

Spot and her second set of twin ewe lambs born the beginning of March.

Our magnificent Smokey Valley Victor, a mini Cheviot Ram.  He has his original tail.  See how long and full it is.  We have to watch him to make sure he does not get fly strike, but so far, there have been no problems with his long tail.  We dock our Mini Cheviot lambs here at Oldesouth.

 Beautiful Cou Clair, moon spotted doe sired by NC Promisedland S Zyvox.  She will be hanging around Oldesouth Farm for awhile and grown out to see her potential.  She is line bred on Ceasar's Villa Sharpie *S

This fello is going to Ill. to be a herd sire.  Sired by NC Promisedland S Zyvox *S, his dam is our lovely Oldesouth Galloway 2*M,*D, +DAR.  This is *B Oldesouth ZV Bandit *S.

This is Angel's Son who is on the web site For Sale.  He is a fancy boy, sired by Superb.

Sugar Moon Faith, a beautiful young doe flown in from Vermont last fall.  We will be clipping her up this weekend for next weekend's shows in Dade City, Fla. Do you think she is long enough?








Had to include a photo of Oldesouth Shell Foop.  He is a General son out of LTE Olde Butter.  He is long and our top PEE PEE boy.  A beautiful buck.  We have a doe he sired who is due to kid in April or late March.  Her dam is LTE Silene 1*M, *D,*DAR, LA 90 EEEE.  His daughter's name is Oldesouth Sunshine.  We showed her a bit as a Jr and she is bagging up, bred to The General.  A yearling doe we are excited about for our future first fresheners.





A couple of weeks age we attended the Alabama Cattleman's Association annual steak dinner, which was fabulous!  Nick at The Golden Ranch can really grill up an awesome steak!!  Anyway, I was going to sell off three beef heifers, but after the dinner and projections for the next several years, I think we will hang on to them for awhile.  Beef prices are rising, export to Japan is up and momma cows down 60% from several years ago due to drought, etc..

 Our newest heifer calves born in December.  Their sire was Brutus, a beef master and he produced 100% heifers.

Yes this is Beyonce and her calf Destiny, also a heifer.  Beyonce is a first freshener and sure has a beautiful fat calf.








Just had an Angus Bull delivered.  We are leasing him to breed our cows and see if we decide to purchase him.  Leasing  may be the way to go for our small herd.  I like the cattle to rotate pastures with my goats and sheep.  We have a lot of grass that would other wise have to be bush hogged.  The cows can convert it to beef.  Plus they fertilize the pastures and their parasites do not cross over to the sheep and goats.  We will have to take the mule and knock down the piles and rake them out to cover the entire pasture.  Goats go first, then cows, then sheep, then rest.  Goats do not like the cow pies, but sheep do not seem to mind.

With the wonderful weather, all that rye grass I planted last fall is going to town.  We may be able to get by on what round bales we have left for the cows.  We just moved the Billy Boys to another pasture and set the cows into the Billy pasture to eat that beautiful Rye grass.  Billy Boys did not seem to eat much of it and prefer the coastal hay.  Cows were happy to take over the mowing task.

We have a bunch of kids and some older brood does going to new homes this weekend.  Time goes to fast for me, but we do manage to get everything done.  Just hired a new fello to help with the milking and animal care.  The girls like David and that means a lot.

The photo to the right is our latest Livestock Guardian dog Maximus.  We picked him up last weekend in Mississippi.  We plan on breeding him to our Suzie who is the best LGD ever and getting some Anatolian/PYE crosses.  He is not well socialized to humans.  I want a dog I can work on or with and this boy was raised with goats and cows with little human contact.  He is coming along very well.  He is a beautiful pup.


This beautiful warm weather we have had has me wanting to dig in the garden.  With two years of goat and sheep poop composted, I think we will have a great garden this year.  I hope to have a group garden with my farm help and some locals so everyone can pitch in and benefit from the lush growing space I can provide with the compost and a handy solar electric fence to keep out sheep, goats, cows, horses, etc.  I do not need much for myself, but know several folks who would love to grow a garden to feed us all and more.  Will keep everyone posted.