Fairywood Dairy Goats

D'Artagnan's 2012 Lineup

2012-01-20T21:07:00.010-07:00

New babies are on their way!

Our fantastic buck, Fairywood CS D'Artagnan

(Flying Goat Cassanova *S x Bamboo Acres BP Mariposa)

has been bred to the following does for February 2012 babies!

Fairywood IM Ginger Snap
(Big Enuf SI Image of the Moon x Fairywood Angel Cake)

Above picture is last year - first freshening. Ginger had triplets, and gave us about 6-7 cups of milk a day.

Fairywood IM Stars over Paris

(Big Enuf SI Image of the Moon x Fairywood Dark Chocolate)

Paris is huge this year! Her dam has had triplets and quads every freshening, I'm wondering if Paris is getting ready to follow in her footsteps! Last year Paris had twins that had a very rough start. We lost one, and bottle fed the other for two weeks before putting him back with his mama. Paris did a fine job with him, but with such little use, her udder did not develop as we had hoped. Still, it was nice and soft and so easy to milk out. I can't wait to see what it does this time!

Fairywood IM Storm

(Big Enough SI Image of the Moon x Desertwinds SN Desert Hibiscus)

This little doe has milk in her genes and they really came through! She is just gorgeous, and was giving nearly a quart per milking on her first freshening! Her dam gives us an easy half gallon a day, and she throws the most gorgeous babies too. Storm was Grand Champion Nigerian at the Maricopa County Fair 4H show last year!

Fairywood IM Faline

(Big Enough SI Image of the Moon x Desertwinds SN Desert Hibiscus)

Faline is another Hibiscus daughter and is at least as pretty as Storm! She is a wildly colored buckskin pinto with moonspots, and is so refined and smooth with a long neck and body and really level topline. She only had one kid her first freshening, which did not live long, and I really think she was still too small. She started out as a very tiny doe and is still pretty small, though she is a nice mature size now. In spite of all that though, her first freshening udder was very proportional to her, and very nicely shaped and attached. I can't wait to see how she does this year! It looks like she won't kid until later in the spring - perhaps towards the end of March or April.

Fairywood IM Thumbelina

(Big Enough SI Image of the Moon x Prairie Wood Mocha Frapachino)

I need to get a picture of this tiny, feisty little doe! She was seriously tiny at birth, but full of life and spirit! She is a sturdy little thing, and though still very small, I'm hoping she'll do fine. I didn't breed her until she was well over a year old in hopes of better success. Her dam is classic Prairie Wood, with lots of milk in her lines, giving 6 or 7 cups of milk a day.

Fairywood IM Blackbird

(Big Enough SI Image of the Moon x Fairywood Dark Chocolate)

Full sister to Paris (above) Blackbird is solid black and so very pretty. She was kind of awkward looking as a doeling, and I wasn't particularly fond of her - neither was anyone else so she stayed here with us, and I am so glad! I was kind of worried about her teats, which are not perfectly shaped, but after kidding, oh my, this doe has the most buttery soft, easy to milk udder I have ever felt! Plus, she has turned out to be smooth and refined with a nice long neck, straight legs and back, and an overall very feminine look. She has the sweetest personality too, calm and quiet yet very affectionate - I have quite fallen in love with her!

Kids, kids, and more kids! Part 1...

2011-03-03T16:16:00.003-07:00

Although technically the end of the 2010 kidding season, Jack Frost is the oldest of our newest batch of kids. He was born December 30, on the first day of a serious cold front. His sweet frosted shoulders and time of birth made his name an obvious choice! He is so sweet and friendly! He is sired by our awesome buck Image, and out of Gidget.

The real 2011 kidding season started February 6 with these two gorgeous Blue Eyed kids out of Hibiscus and by our awesome blue-eyed buck D'Artagnan. Hibiscus is one of our best milkers - she easily gives close to a quart of milk every milking! The black and white kid is a buckling - Fairywood DA Twilight, and the light buckskin doe - Fairywood DA Dawn will be retained.

Two days later, Hibiscus' firstborn - Storm - gave birth to two blue eyed doelings! These babies are also sired by D'Artagnan and we are so pleased to see his long body and long legs and blue eyes coming through on all his babies! Both these girls will be available to go to thier new homes around Easter.

February 9th, our big Nubian doe kidded with two adorable mini-nubian bucklings. They are sired by Image, and are so similar to thier brothers from last year. They are best friends and so funny to watch as they caper and play together! The brown, moonspotted buckling is already spoken for, but the black and white is available as either buck or wether.

This was our first week, by the end of the next week we had 15 kids born out of 7 does! It has been crazy, but so fun to see these sweet babies playing and bouncing around!

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Mariposa

2010-09-12T21:38:00.003-07:00

As you can see, little Elsa still loves her Mariposa! She has decided that she wants to milk her all by herself, so every night she goes out with me and milks while I sweep. She is doing a great job!

Here is a great picture of Mariposa taken when she was a junior doe - right after her first breeding. I still need to get a good udder picture of her. She just had her second freshening and
gave birth to these gorgeous little blue-eyed bucklings sired by our herd sire Image.

Fairywood IM Bonnie Prince Charlie (pending) is already sold! He will go to his new home as soon as he is weaned in October.

Here is Charlie from the back. He is going to make a fine herd sire for his new family!

Charlie's brother (nicknamed Gremlin) was tragically killed by visiting dogs. He was very curious, and had learned he could slip through the gap between fence and gate. Unfortunately, the dogs thought he was the perfect plaything and he couldn't outrun them. Elsa was devastated to lose him, and so was I. It is one of the hardest lessons about farm life - we can't always protect everyone however hard we try, and so sometimes we lose an animal. But we learn from our mistakes, make improvements, and hopefully reduce future risk. It is part of the circle of life. We must accept death, but there is always a new birth to remind us of the beauty and miracle of life.

D'Artagnan

2010-09-12T21:22:00.005-07:00

This is our young, new hersire, Fairywood CS D'Artagnan. He is sired by Flying Goat Cassanova *S and out of our lovely little doe Bamboo Acres BP Mariposa. We have bred all of our junior does to him and can't wait to see the results!

Image

2010-09-12T21:13:00.002-07:00

Here are current pictures of our herdsire, Big Enuf SI Image of the Moon. He is looking a little older and more "filled out", but he is healthy and happy and sweet! We love this guy and boy has he sired some gorgeous babies for us!

Merci's Quads

2010-03-20T21:00:00.003-07:00

Well, we knew she would at least have triplets again as she was huge!! And I did suspect quads. Sure enough, February 9th, Merci kidded with one solid black doeling, two black and white bucklings, and one chocolatey brown buckling with tiny white spots. They are just as amazing quality as last year's triplets, without the flashy coloring. All will be available for sale and should be weaned around Easter.

Mini Nubians are Soooo Cute!!

2010-03-20T20:38:00.003-07:00

Last fall, when faced with the problem of breeding our dear Nubian doe and no available Nubian bucks within easy reach, we decided to go ahead and try breeding her to our darling Image. Well...it worked! And, the kids are just the cutest things we have ever seen! February 11 KitKat kidded with triplets (last year, bred to a Nubian buck, she had a single buckling...) One very dark mahogany doeling, one black and white extremely outgoing and adorable buckling, and one brown with amazing moonspots and sweet personality buckling. We wil keep the doeling, but will probably sell the bucklings. They will be available as either bucks or wethered for pets.

Gidget Does it Again!

2010-03-20T20:27:00.003-07:00

February 1st Gidget gave us twin doelings again! This is the third time in a row for her, and since it is her 3rd freshening, she has only ever had twin does. This time they are both blue eyed as well, and just as beautiful as ever. Gidget and Image throw gorgeous dairy doelings! The little buckskin looks just like her mama and will be named Fairywood IM Saint Bridget, and the black with white spots will be Fairywood IM Snowdrop. Both of these babies are available for sale.

New Year Baby

2010-03-20T20:21:00.003-07:00

Mocha totally surprised us by giving birth to this sweet little guy on New Year's Day! We had thought she wasn't bred, and were about to re-breed her to Image, but apparantly she found a moment with our Jr. Buck (not jr. any more!) Fairywood IM John Muir...and this darling little buckling was the result. We were calling him "Early Bird", but it has been changed to "Lightning Bolt" by the neighbor boy who will soon be his new owner. Lightning Bolt will be wethered and go to his new home for Easter.

Raw Goat Yogurt

2009-09-23T07:48:00.004-07:00

That's right. Raw. Made from milk fresh from the udder.
I did some research and am soooo happy with the results! This is the best yogurt I have ever made, probably the best yogurt I have ever tasted! Just as good as the yogurt in Europe, which I thought was divine...

Here's my method:
1. Milk goat
2. Strain milk
3. Put about a quart of still-warm milk into a jar low enough to fit in the Yogotherm
4. Stir in 3-4 spoonfuls (the kind we eat cereal with) of Straus Family Creamery Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt (I buy it at Sprouts or Trader Joe's) then close the jar.
5. Put jar in Yogotherm bucket and add HOT water to surround it.
6. Put the lids on the Yogotherm.
7. Move it to a corner of the counter where it won't be disturbed.
8. Leave it alone for 10 hours

After 10 hours it is so thick and creamy with just that perfect tangy flavor. I don't have to add any thickeners at all. This may be because Princess and Gidget have been lactating for several months so the butterfat content is high enough.

Delicious!!!

Pumping by hand?

2009-09-23T07:34:00.003-07:00

When I first started milking Princess, it was a disaster! She did not want me under there, and would just lay right down on my arms and the milk bucket. NOTHING would convince her to stand up and let me milk! And believe me, I tried everything! We even tried hoisting her up in a sling, but no good. Why bother? Well, my Lucy can only digest the raw goat milk, so if she wants milk, I have to milk...and my only goats in milk right now are Princess and Gidget. That's right, my two wildest goats, lol! Now, Gidget is really, really shy. So shy that after two months of milking, she still runs away from me. But once she's on the stand she is one of the most well-behaved goats I have ever milked! Her udder is nice and smooth and easy to milk. But Princess...what was I going to do? I needed her milk! Suddenly I was hit with a stroke of inspiration. I still have a breast pump (non-electric) which I barely used....would it work with goats? Yes!! It took some fiddling to get it in just the right spot, and definitely needed the extra-suction valve, but once I got going it worked like a charm. Princess stood quietly while I pumped away, she even stopped squatting. It was really slow, only one teat at a time, so it took almost 10 minutes to milk her out, but well worth it. And after about two weeks, we were able to transition to hand milking in to the pail again. She still thinks about laying down on me every now and then, but a few gentle bumps up and she's standing straight again. Yay!

Gidget's Second Freshening

2009-05-28T14:04:00.003-07:00

Gidget finally had her babies, 2 weeks ago! I have really not been on top of the blogs lately, but I'll try to do better...

She had them alone again. She's my wildest goat, can't stand humans at all, but her babies are always sooo friendly!
I have to say, I have been so tempted to sell this girl so many times. But after seeing her this second freshening I am really impressed. Her udder has come in even nicer than last time, and she is nice and smooth and sharp. Plus, her babies this time, sired by Image, are just awesome!

This is little Hyacinth. She's a buckskin like her mom with one little moonspot there on her front shoulder. I had a hard time getting a picture that shows how gorgeous she is, so you will just have to take my word for it until we can get an official posed picture. She is remarkably upright with a super level topline, sharp little shoulders and wide escutcheon.

Bluebell is the blue eyed sister, and I would honestly be hard pressed to say which one is nicer. They are very similar in type! That's what I am loving about Image - his babies are very consistant in thier quality.

And, after all, Gidget is a beautiful little goat. I don't know if I dare try to milk her, LOL! But she will pass on some lovely dairy character to her daughters.

Goat Birth

2009-04-29T21:01:00.007-07:00

____Warning!!___These are graphic pictures of a goat giving birth!

Our little blue-eyed Bamboo Acres BP Princess Cruz had her first kidding Tuesday April 28th. She was very cooperative with the photo taking, so we thought we would share...

11:17 a.m.

"Hey! I'm having my babies today!"

The morning started out with lots of crying and laying down, getting back up, pawing...

11:37 a.m.

" I really think I need to push!"

11:41 a.m.

"Look! Isn't that the bubble?"

No, sweetie! It's just goo...we've still got a ways to go...

11:50 a.m.

"Whew! This is taking a long time. I think I need some comforting! Ahhh....Thanks Elsa!"

1:12 p.m.

"Ok, now it's serious! That is the bubble!!"

1:12 p.m.

The bubble bursts - the water breaks...

1:13 p.m.
Here it comes! Two little hooves and the tiny nose (see that little pink tongue?) But the legs are out a little too far so the shoulders are trying to come out with the head...and it doesn't fit! Poor Princess was crying for help so at this point I pushed the little hooves back a bit and helped ease the head out.

1:14 p.m.

The head makes it out...

1:15 p.m.

The first kid is born! A little black and brown doeling....

But wait! What is this?

1:16 p.m.

Another is right on the tail of the first!

1:17 p.m.
And number 2 is born! Wow! Two kids in two minutes. It's the fastest I've ever seen. The second kid is a black and white doeling.

1:24 p.m.
Nine minutes old and the first baby is already trying to stand. Her rear half is still covered in the amniotic sac, but she's not waiting for anything! She did get right up on all fours...and dropped back down again!

1:29 p.m.

Doeling one rests after her first big stand, mom is licking off number two.

1:52 p.m.

"Aren't my babies smart! Only 37 minutes old and they are both standing up and looking for the udder!"

Yes, Princess. They are lovely babies and you did a fine job with your first kidding!

County Fair Goat Show

2009-04-22T23:07:00.003-07:00

Yay! It was a successful year at the Maricopa County Fair! We entered 10 Nigerian Dwarf goats, and ended up placing in the top 3 in every class. Four of our Nigerians won blue ribbons, Fairywood IM Storm was the reserve Junior Champion, Fairywood Angel Cake was the reserve Senior Champion, Fairywood Dark Chocolate was the Senior Champion and the Champion Nigerian Doe!!

Here is the champion class with 3 of the 4 being our goats. Jill, Lucy, and Jesse did such a great job showing the goats! Thanks kids!

The little champion was very happy to be back with her babies after the show!

Ready for the County Fair

2009-04-16T17:07:00.002-07:00

Oh my gosh! Did I really just shave 11 goats?

Here they are all clean and tidy.

Ok, Mom! Let's go!

This is our sixth year showing our animals at the Maricopa County Fair. We started out with market lambs and pigmy goats, one year Jill even raised a pig! But for the past couple of years we have just shown dairy goats (and poultry, we always have a few chickens entered!) We love dairy goats, especially the Nigerian Dwarfs. The county fair show is really fun for the kids - I think because there are so many other kids there, and the rides, and the judges are usually very nice and helpful.

So come cheer us on tomorrow afternoon as we show our goats! We have most of the Nigerians there, it will be fun to see what the judge thinks of them!

A Lifetime of Goats

2009-02-08T23:17:00.002-07:00

Real quick, 'cause it's way past bedtime....but my mom just sent me this picture and I have to share! Yep, that's me, probably about 4 years old with our Alpine doe, Nanny. (I know, real original name XD Did she have another name, mom?) So as you can see, my love for goats was developed very young. I love goats!

Ladybug's New Home

2009-01-28T09:35:00.005-07:00

I couldn't resist posting this great picture of Ladybug!! (Mariposa's sister, Gidget's daughter) She was an "only goat" for a few days at her new home, and since she couldn't sleep in the house with her human kid friends, she roosted with the hens! She actually slept up there for a couple of nights! We are glad she has some goat friends now too, but as her new owner asks, does she think she's a goat, a human, or a chicken?

Merci's Spotted Triplets!!!

2009-01-27T21:37:00.006-07:00

Here they are! Out of Fairywood Dark Chocolate and by Big Enuf SI Image of the Moon. Moonspotted doeling, moonspotted buckling, pinto buckling. And aren't they gorgeous!! We are so thrilled with these kids! They are everything we could have hoped for and more. I know they are brand new, but every one of them is put together just beautifully with nice wide escutcheons and really straight legs and toplines.

Here's the little pinto buckling. Isn't he adorable! He was hard to photograph as he is constantly moving!

And the moonspotted buckling. Also adorable! You can see his lovely stance in the picture at the top. He's the baby in the middle.

Here is our little moonspotted doe. She is just breathtaking! Tons of moonspots and beautiful dairy type too. Wow! Look at that escutcheon below!! She already knows she's a show goat!

The bucklings will both be for sale, but we are keeping the doeling, of course! How could we ever part with her?

Fairywood IM Sugar Cookie

2009-01-11T20:33:00.003-07:00

Here's a cute picture I took of Sugar Cookie the other day. She is such a sprightly little goat! Very friendly and curious. She slips through the gate of the "post-partum" pen right out in to the pasture with the big goats where she jumps and skips about until she's ready to nurse again. Then she slips back through to her mama. Angel was very disturbed by this at first, but now she just watches carefully and bleats softly to remind her baby where she is. We are loving this baby!

Bamboo Acres BP Mariposa

2009-01-07T19:52:00.004-07:00

This is a not so great picture I took today of Mariposa. She is such a pretty little goat, but didn't appreciate being clipped to the fence! I'm afraid the background is too noisy, but that's what it is right now... Mariposa is out of our blue-eyed doe Bamboo Acres LK Surfin Gidget. Her sire is Prairie Wood Banzai Pipeline. Both parents have strong champion Prairie Wood lines. Mariposa is the first blue-eyed goat born here, and she is Elsa's special goat! We are hoping to breed her to Glenda Smith's buck, "Zorro" this spring, and should have some lovely little blue-eyed babies in the fall.

Angel's New Baby

2009-01-06T16:50:00.001-07:00

On Friday January 2nd Fairywood Angel Cake gave birth to Fairywood Sugar Cookie - a tiny little doeling! Her sire is our own buck, Image. This is our 3rd baby by Image, and so far we are quite happy! We are expecting Angel's sister Merci to have her kids any day now, hopefully soon as little Cookie is very playful and would love some little cousins to frolick with.

Gidget's first kids

2009-01-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

These are Gidgets first kids, twin does born May 25, 2008. They will be registered as Bamboo Acres BP Mariposa and Bamboo Acres BP Ladybug. Ladybug is sold and we are keeping blue-eyed Mariposa (she's the one standing).

Princess & Gidget

2009-01-03T22:32:00.001-07:00

After our success at the county fair in 2008, Jill and I got very excited about developing a nice little herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. We began searching for a good buck, and came across these two lovely blue-eyed does. Both have strong breeding, and Gidget (the chamoisee) was bred to Princess's sire for May babies. These two does have amazingly wide escutcheons and are refined and elegant.

Fairywood Dark Chocolate

2009-01-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Known as "Merci", Fairywood Dark Chocolate is another of the triplets from Mocha's first freshening.

Fairywood Angel Cake

2009-01-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

Fairywood Angel Cake 8 months old

Winning Champion Nigerian Dwarf Doe at the Maricopa County Fair. April 2008

Angel Cake is from Mocha's first freshening. Her sire is Martin's Rockin' Elvis.

Mocha's Bucklings

2009-01-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

On October 6, 2008 Mocha gave birth to twin bucklings. They are by Glenda Smith's buck, Shabby Chic Tequila Shooter.

Fairywood Max

Fairywood Moritz

We intend to wether these two little boys as we really don't want another buck right now, but they are really cute! We left them with their cute little horns, and in another month or so they will move across the street to live with our dear neighbors. What sweet little pasture pets they will be!

Prairie Wood Mocha Frapachino

2009-01-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Mocha's first freshening, August 23, 2007. Triplet Does!

About a month after weaning her first babies.

We think some very beautiful dairy goats have come from Prairie Wood Ranch in New Mexico. Our very first Nigerian Dwarf, Mocha, is one of those. We purchased her in April of 2005 from a darling FFA girl at the Maricopa County Fair. Mocha was just a young 7 month old doeling at the time, but had won Reserve Champion Junior Doe for the show. She was the only Nigerian, and won this up against all the big dairy breeds. We were so thrilled to bring her home and begin our adventure with Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats!

Image's Inheritance

2009-01-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is Image's Granddam, PGCH Enchanted Hill Moonflower *D.

This is the udder of Image's Dam, GMF Dark of the Moon 2*D.

Both of these does are owned by Good Measure Farm in Oklahoma.

Big Enuf SI Image of the Moon

2009-01-03T20:36:00.001-07:00

I guess a good place to start this blog is with our buck. We just bought him May of '08 from Dotty Clark of DC Miniatures here in AZ. We were so excited about this cute little guy! He is so sweet and friendly, and we have been very happy with his kids so far. His breeding is of respectable quality, we are hoping he will pass on the beautiful udders of his dam and granddam. And just look at those moon spots!