New Calves...

I like cows and all, but they are personally to large for me to handle, in comparison to a goats or sheep.  When a bull weighes 1800 pounds, what the hell do you do with him if he needs to be stiched up or something, or has a snotty nose... Yeah... 

We are looking into a recent USDA program to loan money for a cattle working facility with very low interest rate over 4 years.  Then can get a pro out here to build something to keep me from being killed and doing the Vet work on the cows and bull.  I will look into a gate to divert and put the sheep shoot as well.  Alright!  Like cows, just know they can kill you without even meaning to... 

 These are two of the new heifer calves, telling each other secrets...

 Christy with her new born calf, need followers to offer names for the new heifers.  What shall we name them.  They will be retained for breeding stock.  Email us some names at Oldesouthfarm@gmail.com, will go to my phone.

 They are half sisters, the two were born a few days apart.  It is really cool to see how the herd protects the young and everyone cares for the calves...

Even big Daddy, Brutus, looks out for his calves.  His expression says it all, "Got a Problem?"

He is a Beef master bull from Charlie Dunkin's Herd.  This bull's daddy is a high dollar bull.  Brutus is not perfect, but we are happy with him and he throws the polled gene, so I do not have to dehorn.  HIs calves have been nice and small as well.  Beyonce, our half Angus heifer should be able to calve easy by this big boy. Beyonce is beautiful and reminded me of Beyonce the singer...  Hate dehorning cattle, a barbaric and bloody mess.  Did it as a kid riding with an old Veterinarin who dehorned Dairy Cattle.  We would be covered with blood by the end of the day.  Breed polled cattle is my sugession!

Have more new lambs and will be taking pictures shortly to let everyone know what was born and what is for sale...  All our Cheviots are sired by Victor,  a Smokey Valley, tiny ram.  We will be retaining a ram lamb and a few ewe lambs by him, but he was bred to 9 ewes, so should have several to sell.  This is a tiny line of Cheviots, sought after for the type, stocky, fine boned with a nice fleece.  Stay tuned for more info.

We sent 3 ram lambs to be processed, 2 shetland and 1 icelandic.  The Shetlands are as tasty as the Icelandic, just not as large.  Shetland can take the heat better then the Icelandics, may be another option for folks who want mild flavored lamb and know they will live to be processed.

Spring wants to come...

The beautiful weather we have had for the last couple of weeks is a welcomed change from the unseasonably cold weather.  It has been up to 70s during the day and 40s at night.  Hopefully the nice weather will continue for a while.  Oldesouth Amber Blue and her son by Mr General are enjoying the pleasant weather...


Below is a photo of some Daffodils my neighbors had at their mail box.

Below are photos of UDiamond and her first freshening udder.  We have decided to name her two sons Oldesouth Cognac Diamond and Oldesouth Marquise Diamond.  UDiamond's first test she gave 3.3 pounds of milk.  She was a bit under the weather due to some digestive upsets.  We think she will easily give 4 pound her next test.  We will see.  She is a dream to milk and her udder is buttery soft and milks down like a glove.

We conducted our DHIR test this past weekend with a Verification Test.  A Verification test is where a certified DHIR technician comes to weigh and sample the individual does.  This individual also measures and records the heights of the does to make sure they are with in the ADGA standard.  There is a weighed premilk out and two more milkings which are weighed and sampled 12 hours apart, over a 24 hour period.  It makes for a long day.  Then the samples and paperwork is sent off to the lab and usually by the end of the week the results are emailed.

This service keeps track of the doe's lactation, recording weights, milk fat, protein and somatic cell count.  The somatic cell count is a measure of udder health.  My Nubian Ariel came back with a very high Somatic Cell Count (SCC) on her first test.  She showed no signs of mastitis, except she had backed off on production.  We treated her for mastitis and are awaiting this test to come back and see where she is.  Her production is back up and all seems well.

The SCC is a good way of catching sub clinical mastitis before it turns into full blown nasty mastitis.

The DHIR reports are really cool.  They also have projected production, which lets you know after a couple of tests, if your doe is on track or needs to be culled.  The doe can earn her milking star and SG (superior genetic) award if she meets minimum standards for the star and is in the upper 15% for the SG.  With the ADGA the doe can earn her star on production (amount of milk), milk fat, and or protein.  AGS the doe can earn her star on production or milk fat, but must make a certain % milk fat.

Why bother with all this you ask?  These are dairy goats and when one says this goat milks well, what does that mean?  Well, as to how much exactly and over how long?  The DHIR answers all those questions and is a great tool in measuring where your herd is and where one needs to improve.  Yes it is a lot of work, but we are dedicated to improving the breed and make a difference.  Getting on DHIR is confusing and complicated.  I think I will write an E Book on the subject and offer it to others who are interested in getting their herds on test.  It does not need to be so complicated and it is difficult to get help.  Let me ruminate on it for awhile...

What do we do with all that milk?  We drink it and our family enjoys fresh Formage Chevre cheese, Brie, Camembert and others.  We also make a lot of our signature "Blue's Goat Milk Soap and Lotion" which is sold seasonally in the fall and winter.  We will have some for May this year as well and it is sold locally at Mark's Mart in Selma and Dallas County Seafood and Produce.  We have been asked to expand our sales, but we do not have the time to make more.  We have all the sales we can handle.  We make it in between the farm and our full time employment.

We will be at the Goat and Sheep Expo March 19 in Wetumpka again this year.  I have whipped up some Sheep Milk Soap to sell.  So, come by and check it out.  We will bringing some sheep and of course baby goats to sell as well.

Spring is near when the first lambs begin to arrive...

The first lamb is a Mini Cheviot ram lamb out of 54 Tina.  These lambs are all sired by Victor, a Smokey Valley Ram from Washington state.  He is very tiny and we are pleased with the nice lamb.

Mom thinks enough is enough and leaves quickly to enjoy the sunshine and the new grass with her son.












Below are photos of Mr Paul on his tractor reworking some cattle areas.  He put down some cloth and gravel to get his steers out of the mud.  His helper is Daniel, who enjoys the farm and driving the Mule.

With the warmer weather, it is time to get farm chores done and do repairs, etc, before the hot weather sets it.


Below is a picture of  Oldesouth Blue Amber with her blue eyed son.  He is for sale.  Kids love their moms and goats are very personable.

Milking the girls...

 We are milking the girls twice a day and I have to show photos of Oldesouth Blue Alexa.  She has a lovely udder and teat placement.  She is very small, under 19 inches and milking around 3 pounds of milk a day.  This is her second freshening.


I want to thank ITok for fixing our blog so we can upload photos once more.  They are a computer company you contract with to take care of your computer.

The picture to the right is another view of Alex's udder. We breed for milk and conformation.  This is an example of what we are shooting for.  The Nigerian Dwarf is a small dairy goat.  Her sister Babette is a taller doe and should be freshening the end of Feb, first part of March.  Both these girls are very nice and Babette being larger, out milks her sister.




We are hip deep in kidding and UDiamond has kidded twin bucks.  She kidded the 28th at 1230 am.  I paid for it at work the next day...  boy was I tired.  I have some pictures, but waiting for better shots a couple of weeks fresh.  We are bottle feeding the kids so we can measure her milk and keep her udder perfect for the show ring.  Both boys are spoken for, will make fantastic herd sires.  UDiamond needs to prove herself in the milk production so the boys will be stared.  Her udder and fore udder are looking fantastic and we hope everything holds together to get her into the show ring.



I am working on individual pages for our does.  I have some done, but want to get them all done before bringing them live to the website.

Above is one more photo of Alexa's lovely udder with 12 hours of milk.

 We have bad news about our Blue.  Her cancer (squamous cell) had come back after treatment and she raised her kids.  We are sad to announce her passing due to the cancer.  She was humanely euthanized.  She had a rectal lesion which had spread to the lymph nodes.  Blue was my first goat and the Cover Girl to our Goat Milk Products.  We miss her and retained two of her daughters, AnnaLynn and her last daughter Blue Ice.

Our last farewell to our beloved Blue pictured about with her last set of triplets...



Cold Start to 2011

The weather has been very cold (17 to 25 degrees at night) and we have weaned the kids off of the current milkers.  Now we are milking twice daily with our machine.  DHIR is going well, testing monthly.  We have purchased several heated water tubs to keep the girls drinking water to produce milk.
The blog still will not upload pictures.

UDiamond is bagged up nicely and we are waiting for her to kid.  Next time, we will hand breed her so we will know exactly when she will kid. 

The first freshening yearling daughter of Mr General is being milked twice daily now.  She is small, but producing more then expected.  We will be doing our Jan test shortly and will have an idea of how much.  Her name is Princess and she is taking to the stand very well.  We are going to milk her for several months to really stimulate the udder, then dry her up and let her grow out some more before breeding her back for next year. 

It looks like our Linear Appraisals will be in May this year.  That will be good.  Last year they were scheduled for Fall which was not real convenient (shearing sheep and going to fall shows) and most of my does were dry.  This is a tool we use to evaluate conformation for herd improvement.  After all, we are breeding to improve the Nigerians and The Linear Appraisal is a trained person from ADGA who comes and using the ADGA score card, evaluates your herd.  This is a tool to improve conformation.

Our cows, Christy and Beauty have both calved.  Chisty had a brown Heifer and Beauty, not sure yet.  Could not get close enough to really see if the calf is male or female.  The calf is jet black like her mom.  Good thing she waited until it warmed up a bit before calving.

We have several yearlings sired by Mr General who will be freshening this month or early next month. 

Happy New Year Everyone!!

We reflect on the past year and give thanks for all the good times and good people we have had the opportunity to meet.  2011 will be another beginning to improve our milking herd of Nigerians even more.  The milk test will let us know how we are doing.

We are on the edge of our seats waiting for UDiamond to kid.  We call her Diamond and she is a Diva. She is a Uni Daughter sired by Galaxy.  She will be two in February and she is bagged up and ready to kid by Mr General.  Her udder is really nice already and she is such a beautiful doe.  This breeding is bringing together Eclipse, Tiger and Uni.  Mr General is line bred on Eclipse and has produced very consistent wide rears and beautiful toplines.  Diamond is already perfect and really is spectacular when she is clipped up with her golden, glistening coat.  We just need to verify her greatness in the milk pail.  She knows she is special and struts her stuff like the queen she is.  She is a sweet heart and loves her mom...

Mr General's first daughters as yearlings will be kidding in 2011.  Galloway is bagging up (BOB and Jr Doe), Brat's daughter by Mr General, Rosa, and several others.  Pay Off is just starting to bag up by Mr General son, Mr Marine.  One daughter out of Silver by Mr General has kidded, but she is very small  (snow granddaughter) and her udder is good, but not spectacular.  She kidded before a year old and was a triplet.  She had a single doe who is so fat she can hardly walk.  I plan on milking her a bit to see how much she is producing, but will wait until next year to see what she can really do in the milk pail.  The baby doe is beautiful and we will grow her out a bit to see how she matures.  Both the mom and baby are very friendly and the baby pesky.  It is neat how some goats are just friendly and seek out attention, while others prefer to stay at a distance and just watch you...

Have a Great New Year and be safe!!!

Christmas Wishes to All...

It is Christmas Eve and we are working to milk the girls and get everyone ready for the Christmas Holiday.  We want to thank all our Clients and Customers for a wonderful 2010.  We could not have accomplished our goals without your support.  Thank You Everyone!!
We plan to work even harder for 2011 and bring you more GOATS THAT MILK and sheep and goat products of outstanding quality.



Since our Blogger does not seem to give a darn about the picture upload not working, we are not sure what to do.  We may just do a monthly newsletter to let folks know what is happening.  We have so many folks who enjoy our blog, but if we can no longer up load pictures...  It is of little value.  Especally since I love to photograph everything and let folks see through my eyes...


We appreciate you all and want to wish you a Merry Christmas and an even better New Year for 2011!!
Thank you,Terry Babb
Oldesouth Farm

Heading into the Holidays...

Time moves to fast for me...  Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas Season is upon us.  Our weather went from warm to cold again and we are checking for snotty noses on our young kids.  Extra bedding and full bellies keep the babies warm.



We are preparing to go on DHIR (Dairy Herd Improvement Registry) Test and working out the many details.  Once we get going, things will sort themselves out.  We have been milking with the Capralite Machine, which has been wonderful, once a day, until the kids are weaned.  We will milk twice a day once the kids are weaned.  We are milking 8 does now, until several others freshen.  We have several kids who are half bottle babies.  What does that mean??  We are milking mom in the morning and if she has triplets, we need to bottle them to keep the kids from attacking mom and biting teats while they fight for a teat.  We have a couple of kids who have just decided they want some bottle too and show up for a snack.  This tames the kids, but gives us the flexibity to not have to bottle them while at work.  The kids have mom during the day, until moms are locked up at night for morning milking.


The fresh Nigerian milk is wonderful and the cheese even better.  The yield of cheese, with the Nigerians, compared to the Nubian is almost double.  Nigerians have more milk fat and protein.  The smaller teats of the Nigerian makes it difficult to hand milk.  My hands are large and shot from hand milking.  My Nubian Ariel is hand milked because she has large teats and it takes just a few minutes to milk her.  We will be the FIRST and ONLY Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Herd on DHI test in Alabama! 


As our does freshen, we will milk them and decide who to keep and who to move on.  These does will be used to milking both with a machine and by hand.  We do have a waiting list for milk stand trained goats.  If you are interested in a home milker, let us know and we will add you to the list.  These will not be record breaking producers, but will give enough milk for the average family.  Some may even end up quite nice down the road if one continues to milk them.  The more you milk your goats, the more milk they will produce.  The less you milk, the less they produce.  It looks like the blogger photo insertion is not working, so we will cut this short and add photos at another time.  I have some great shots of Oldesouth Blue Alexa's second freshening udder.  It is really nice and she is milking over a pound and a half once a day.  She may just qualify for her star this year.  We will wait and see.  The cold weather has the girls giving less milk.  They milk the best at about 50 to 70 degrees.  I think this will ease up once the girls get used to the colder weather. 



We are going to move in another large storage shed type building to make into a milking Parlor and clean up area.  It will be heated and cooled and have hot & cold running water.  It will be a joy to milk, no matter the weather.  It will not be Grade A or anything, but comfortable for us and the girls.  We won't have the water dripping on our heads either.  When we have frost on the metal buildings, as soon as the sun comes up and it begins to thaw, it is like a rain forest dripping on us.  It is absolutely miserable...  Enough for now...