D'Artagnan's 2012 Lineup

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...

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

Mariposa

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

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

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

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!!

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!

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

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.