Winter has come to quickly...

It is already December. It seems the weather has just cooled off and now Christmas is upon us. Several of my clients have asked that I do a Blog to keep everyone up to date. So here goes...





We are a small family farm in Selma, Alabama. We raise Registered Nigerian Dwarf goats and a few Registered Boer 100% Full Bloods. I am experimenting with some sheep and have 3 Mini Cheviots and will be getting a pair of Icelandic sheep in January. I love my dairy goats and have not made up my mind about the Boer's. More about that later...





I enjoy hand spinning wool and hope to make some rugs out of the Cheviot fleece. I have a friend who weaves and she will get most of the fleece. The Icelandics have a wonderful double fleece which is really soft and are sheared twice a year. They are medium sized and easy to handle. The Cheviots are small and real easy to handle. We have purchased stock raised in the south, so climate issues should be a minimum.





We have finished up fall kidding with one more Nigerian, Bratt (have two t's in her name because she is really bratty). But, don't think she will kid until January. Have a couple of Nubians bred to my Boer Buck Cane due in January as well.





Have been working on the Christmas Goat milk soap and lotion season and getting enough Lotion and Cream made up for the Christmas orders which are starting to come in strong. We made soap back in September and October for Christmas. They need to cure for 4 to 6 weeks before sold. They are like fine wine and the longer they age, the harder and more mild they become. My son, who is in the Air force, always stocks up on soap and will not use anything else.





We have finally closed on 40 acres of prime farm land and are beginning to make arrangements to move our farm. This has been a long process. We were able to purchase a perfect square hay field on the outskirts of Selma. It is a beautiful sandy loam hay field with a stand of pecan trees along one side. The process of fencing, digging a well and building barns and pens has been a long and ongoing project. We hope to start moving by April 2008.





Thanksgiving weekend was spent on a trip to Portland, Tenn to pick up my dog Terra. She is a 18 mo old Border Collie I raised from a pup. She was up there for a couple of months for formal Herd Dog Training. She worked beautifully for the trainer and is starting to work for me. We have been practicing on the 3 Cheviots. Today she did spectacular. I was very proud of her. She follows her voice directions and then I sort of let her figure out where she needs to be to move the sheep. Since the dog is much smarter then I, I try to interfere as little as possible as we move from point a to point b. I still have to steady her often, so as not to crowd the sheep to much and upset them. Now, I need to go to a trainer to get my skills in line.





The bottle babies are eating me out of house and home. Have 5 Nigerians on the bottle and have switched to cow's milk. My does are all dry except for Butter and may milk her after I wean her kids. The Rock, my Boer bottle baby is weaned, thank goodness, he was inhaling almost a gallon a day. Even my frozen goat milk is history. I love bottle babies, but prefer to have one or two at a time and not 5, but that is how it goes...