Category Archives: goats

Nutmeg Classic 2025

May 13, 2025 Anna Leave a comment

On Saturday, Rob, Anna and Amanda attended the Connecticut Dairy Goat Association’s Nutmeg Classic ADGA show. It was a cool rainy kind of day and it poured for four days in the week leading up to the show making show prep a little difficult. Chili got a tick bite that swelled up and required treatment and everything was wet. But we persevered and loaded up 4 milkers, two dry yearlings and 4 baby doelings.

Amanda did showmanship and placed third in a large class. She is continuing to make progress on fitting her goat better and better. Amanda has been working hard on Porsche’s udder and back leg sensitivity and has started to be able to touch and move her rear legs. The judge touching the udder is still a work in progress. Amanda has used clicker training to reward Porsche for behaving and it is working.

There were two rings, and recorded grade goats were right before lamanchas in both. The judges were Ed Jodlowski in ring 1 and Will Pearson in ring 2.

Chili, our Recorded Grade, Lucky 4-leaf E Red Hot Chili, placed first in ring 1 and was Grand Champion and Best of breed. She was placed first for her mammary, her udder is definitely her strongest asset. It is glued on, very symmetric and milks down really well. In ring 2, Chili went Reserve. Unfortunately, though, grades didn’t have the numbers for sanctioning. Her clip job was a hack job as we didn’t think we would be able to bring her, but then her bug bite got better. Note to self, clip with a #4 or 5 next time and do it all at one time. Chili still knows how to shine.

We brought two 2 year old lamancha milkers. Sawfish AS Porsche, a 2 year old second freshener, and Sawfish QS Ferrari, a 2 year old FF Phaylene daughter. They both did well, Ferrari was third and Porsche sixth in ring 1 and Porsche went second, first udder in her class and then Reserve in ring 2 (she had filled more by this time). Ferrari was 4th in her class in ring 2. Ferrari was commended on her udder structure, nice fore udder and symmetry.

Carolina, our (forever pending) champion doe, Majenli LK Carolina, went into both rings as a champion challenger and placed second each time.

For juniors, we brought two dry yearlings, and four kids under 3 months. Kipu and Tiramisu, both Chili daughters, showed first in the recorded grade classes. Kipu was VERY naughty. In the line up in ring 2 she was so naughty Rob had to step in after she knocked Amanda to the ground. But, she won grand champion in both rings. Unfortunately not sanctioned due to low numbers, but she looked fantastic. Tiramisu was cold and unhappy being away from her friends, and was not walking well in the ring. She placed second to an older February kid. Note to self, maybe work with the kids a little bit before taking them to a show, and do not ignore the dry yearlings all winter.

In the junior lamancha classes we brought Sawfish Chrysi, Carolina’s dry yearling daughter from last year and Creme Brule, Apple Fritter, and Bon Bon. Bon Bon was the youngest at only 5 weeks old. Chrysi was very naughty as well and did not cooperate at all, constantly trying to free her head and jump. She placed third in the dry yearling class. No pictures of the littles because we were all in the ring with them. Apple Fritter placed first in ring 1 and C.B placed first in ring 2. Bon Bon was third and fourth respectively.

Overall, we were happy with the outcome of the show. I think we need to work on timing our udder show fill better and do more work with the wild and unruly ones. We came home with some ribbons and some home work to do.

goats

Kidding is DONE!

April 28, 2025 Anna Leave a comment

Last Tuesday our last goat to kid went into labor. It was Sawfish QS Bali. Bali is a really cute loudly colored black and white yearling doe. I found her a little warm and uncomfortable on Tuesday afternoon, pawing lightly and panting slightly, so I moved her into our kidding stall in the barn. I left to get a few things at Tractor Supply and a few other errands and told Amanda to keep an eye on her.

Before I got to TSC, I got a text that Bali had discharge. By the time I was checking out, there was a doe on the ground. When I got home (Tractor Supply is 4 miles away), Bali delivered another doe. Double pink! And quick nose n’ toes deliveries. I’ll take that any day from a yearling! Rob was also home (I did not just leave Amanda to handle Bali) and Q had come home from school just in time to deliver baby number 1. Baby number 1, the chocolate sundgau was named Chocolate Truffle and weighed 8 pounds. Baby number two is a broken black and tan doeling with the cutest head. She has been named Eclaire and weighed 7.8 pounds.

Bali did great and gave me 6 cups of colostrum. Sunday am she milked 10 cups. Her udder looks cute with teeny tiny teats though. They have been elongating each day. Bali has been upset about her babies being gone, but I think she is starting to get over it now and she is eating better than she did at first.

The kids are doing great. Due to the weather Saturday, they have stayed inside a little longer than most and are quite sociable at this point. A few of the kids are leaving this week, which will make room for Truffle and Eclaire to move to the baby barn permanently.

Bali was bred to Apollo and their planned pedigree is as follows: https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002384545&DamNum=L002377682

Bali needs some calories, but is otherwise doing really well. I think the decision to breed her last fall was a good one.

So, now we have 6 doelings. Now we have to decide which 4 get to stay. Impossible task! If you’re interested in a doe kid, reach out. We are unlikely to decide until sometime in June, but if there is an awesome home available, we may be swayed earlier.

goats

Ferrari’s kids

April 21, 2025 Anna Leave a comment

On April 3, her due date, Ferrari went into labor. I separated her into a kidding stall and about an hour into active labor things stalled. I called Rob for him to come home, because I was alone, and I needed to intervene. She was pushing and not making progress. When I tried to feel what was going on, there was nothing presenting. I gave her some additional calcium and kept watching her until Rob came home. We went in, and found her first kid upside down with only one foot presenting. We put in a call to our vet after trying to locate a head, but managed to snare a head with the kid puller before she called back. There was a lot of blood and we were concerned. We pulled the first kid, a 9 pound doe kid. A second, 9 pound buck kid, soon followed on his own. Again lots of blood. Babies were ok, but we were unsure about Ferrari, she seemed in shock. A uterine tear was high on our list of possible outcomes. We brought the babies inside and got some colostrum milked off, unsure if Ferrari was going to make it. She was eating and drinking, but very sore and kind of quiet.

Ferrari passed her placenta and we threw the book at her with some TLC and antibiotics, and she seems to be recovering. She milked 8 pounds on her first milk test, two weeks fresh, and her udder looks nice. Still working on putting some weight back on her.

The babies were named Bon Bon (doe) and Fudge (buck kid). This breeding combines our Phaylene line with our Carolina line, crossing Phaylene’s daughter with Carolina’s son. We look forward to seeing Bon Bon mature in our show string this year. She looks a lot like her grandmother, wide in the chest and rump, but longer and with more angularity in her rear legs and a more uphill build. Fudge is a broken sundgau with white on his poll and he will join Porsche’s black son Macaroon in our grow out pen this year and we might even use him on a yearling this fall.

Here’s a link to the kids pedigree: https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002377681&DamNum=L002291974

With the nice weather, our other baby goats have been enjoying some time outside in the baby goat pen. Below is a video. Apple Fritter, Camellia’s daughter rules the roost. Wait for her to appear at the end of the video:

Next, and last to kid, is Bali. She is due this week. She was bred to Apollo. We are hoping for an easy delivery and a healthy mama and babies. Bali is carrying twins. Her yearling peanut gallery also wanted to be in the picture! Don’t worry, Bali was baby clipped after this picture. She turned into a yak this winter.

goats

Milk Test 2025 #1

April 18, 2025 Rob Leave a comment

This year we are participating in Milk Test with our goats. That means we will have days throughout the year where we record the weight of milk produced by each doe and send samples of their milk out for testing. The test includes % butterfat, % protein, somatic cell count, and other parameters. If the production is high enough over the documented time, the goats will earn milk stars. Prior to this, we have only participated in 1-day milk tests as part of the 4-H Big E goat program. Anna and Rob both got certified as testers and we are doing “Owner-Sampler” testing which means we do our own weighing and milk sampling. We will have a verification test at some point where another tester comes to our farm.

So, here are the results from today. The “DIM” column is days in milk.

Tesla is a first freshener but has been combating mastitis. We hope her numbers will continue to improve. Ferrari is really impressing us as a first freshener. Camellia had an aborted lactation last year, so we were pleased to see her full potential this year. Overall, we are quite happy with our first results.

goats

Chili and Carolina Kid

March 24, 2025 Anna Leave a comment

Chili started us off on the tail end of our main kidding frenzy last Sunday with triplets. She had two bucks, one black with red, and one black with tan, and one little chocolate doe. They weighed in at 8, 7, and 5.6 pounds. Chili looks great and her udder has increased in size this year, she is really putting in the pail!

Chili’s kids have been named Biscotti, Tiramisu(doe), and Cannoli.

Carolina went into labor on Monday evening and delivered a large 9 pound single doe. We were concerned she had slipped her pregnancy earlier this spring because she was not very large. I guess she was just hiding that one little doe in her big body (Carolina is 160 pounds plus). We named the doe Creme Brulee, or C.B. for short. C.B. is a light chamoisee color and will likely clip a little darker and look more brown. But she is adorable here in this baby coat.

The kids are now a week old and have been disbudded and are transitioning to the lambar buckets. It’s no secret that Tiramisu is “mine” and C.B. is Rob’s favorite. They will both be nice does.

Tiramisu pedigree: https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002384545&DamNum=L002232082

C.B. pedigree:

https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002384570&DamNum=L002158268

We have two more goats due to kid this year. Next up is Ferrari with a due date of April 3. She is bred to Sawfish Crete, Carolina’s son, so expect some black and tan goats. Bali is our milking yearling this year, she is due at the end of April, carrying twins by Blue Farmhouse Apollo. Fingers crossed for at least one more doe to keep, but time will tell. Most of all we want easy nose n’ toes deliveries and healthy mamas and babies. And maybe some color babies from Bali…

goats

Are You Kidding Me?

March 16, 2025 Anna Leave a comment

This week we welcomed Camellia’s and Porsche’s kids into the world. Let’s just say, we should not play the lottery anytime soon. Our buck kid to doe kid ratio is currently 7 to 1.

Camellia (Camellia pedigree ) started filling up her udder for real on Tuesday and presented with a little bit of mucus discharge late on Tuesday evening. Anna spent most of the night checking on her and things did not progress in a normal fashion. She started having some bright red bleeding discharge early am, but no real contractions and we went in to check her and could feel a head but she was not completely dilated and we could not get in any further. With the abnormal signs we were seeing and the length of the labor, at 5 am we decided to call our vet out, as we were concerned about hurting her in the process of getting the kids out and felt the kids were probably in distress at this point. Camellia had aborted with CVV last year and had had a retained placenta, so we knew her delivery may not be textbook. We had given her some calcium and as we were waiting for the vet Camellia started to have some smaller contractions. Dr. Cara came and helped us deliver live triplets and one mummified fetus. We had US Camellia with potential quads, so that checks. Two bucklings and one doe kid. Camellia was bred to Carolina’s son Sawfish Crete (Crete pedigree). The kids were 9, 8 and 7 pounds, and their names are Churro, Apple Fritter and Peanut Brittle. Churro came out pretty distressed and weak, but breathing. Apple Fritter (doe) is a spunky little thing. And Peanut is catching up. Camellia is milking a gallon a day already and while a little sore, is recovering well. In hindsight, Camellia may have been slightly hypo calcemic and we should have given her calcium sooner. But we live and learn.

Porsche, Camellia’s daughter decided to have her babies on Thursday afternoon. I had a dentist appointment mid day and she was kind enough to wait for me to get home to kid. Rob and Amanda made it home from work and school just in time to welcome her two buck kids into the world. One is a broken black and tan, the other a solid black, both weighed in around 8 pounds. The have been named Smore’s and Macaroon (Rooney). Porsche (Porsche pedigree) was bred to Apollo (Apollo pedigree). Porsche is doing great after kidding.

We are happy to report all the kids are doing well, and we are grateful for that, however if someone knows how to summon the doe fairy, we would like for her to visit for Chili and Carolina, who are up next for kidding.

And, yes, there is certainly a certain color trend in our goats so far…

goats, kids

Kidding Around

March 10, 2025 Anna Leave a comment

Sawfish AS Tesla July 2024 as a dry yearling.

We officially started off kidding season for us last night with Sawfish AS Tesla (pedigree). Tesla was bred to Blue Farmhouse Eros (Eros pedigree). Tesla brought us triplet bucks, 9, 8.5 and 7 pounds. Number one and number two are carbon copies of Tesla, and number three was cream. Unfortunately number three was DOA, and appeared to have aspirated and we were unable to revive him despite our best efforts.

The naming theme this year is desserts, and I think one of these boys is going to be Biscotti. Until decisions are made it is “big boy” and number two. Big boy came out head first with one leg back, and Tesla needed just a little bit of assistance getting him out. She is a 2 YO FF, and looks good with an appetite this morning.

Quinn and Amanda enjoyed having baby goats again and the boys slept on Amanda’s bed for a bit. The first babies are always the ones to get a little spoiled. Maybe they will get to move out to their garage pen later this week since the weather is going to be nice and warm. For now they are enjoying being house goats.

Mother daughter pair Camellia and Porsche are due Friday, so stay tuned for updates. Camellia was US with 3 plus, Porsche is carrying twins. We bred Camellia to Carolina’s son from last year hoping to add a little length and a wider escutcheon and straighter teat placement to her strong frame. Porsche was bred to Apollo for a fun outcross (and Amanda would like some not black goats). Let’s think pink, especially since none of Amanda’s 4-H projects carried does last year!

Time to baby clip Camellia! Her udder is slowly filling, she usually goes on her due date.

goats, health

Sparrow Soaps

February 21, 2025 Rob 3 Comments

We have goats so surely we make goat milk soap, right? While Anna, Quinn, and Amanda have made soap a few times, making soap and selling it at a farmer’s market or online isn’t our passion. Especially when there are so many others out there that do it in higher volume and quality. One of those soap producers is Sparrow Soaps.

Michelle Lyon and Danielle Payne own Sparrow Soaps and have used Michelle’s herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats to supply the milk used in their soap. Unfortunately, Michelle has been facing some substantial health issues over the past year and caring for the goats has become too much for her current situation. Anna and I have been following Michelle’s posts about her health and knew things weren’t going well. When we heard she was looking for places for her goats to live, we reached out to Michelle and Danielle with an idea that turned out to solve their problem.

We decided to establish a goat milk herd share at Sawyer Family Farm and through that relationship, Sparrow Soaps will be able to keep making their products! This new relationship allowed Michelle to sell her remaining goats but continue to have the business she loves and is passionate about. We are excited to be able to help them continue their journey! Check out their website to get some great personal care products.

goats, kids

Big E 2024

October 2, 2024 Rob Leave a comment

Thursday 9/26 through Sunday 9/29 was our annual pilgrimage to Springfield, MA with a herd of goats. On Thursday afternoon, Quinn and Amanda checked in at the Big E with 9 goats for the 4-H portion of the event which includes milk test, showmanship, fitting, breed competitions and more. Rob was a chaperone for CT young men and stayed in the dorms at the Big E with all the kids. This was Quinn’s final event in 4-H based on aging out.

Friday morning was the showmanship competition which focuses on things such as goat knowledge, correct handling of the goat, and understanding of the scorecards. After lunch, the kids went in the ring again for a fitting competition that focused exclusively on the preparation of the animal. There were a total of 53 youth present this year from the 5 of 6 New England States (none from VT) which is an increase from recent years. Quinn placed 3rd of 12 in showmanship and was in the bottom half for fitting. Amanda was 2nd of 14 in showmanship and also in the bottom half for fitting. Clearly our kids prefer the knowledge portion over the time required to do well in fitting.

On Saturday, the goats were shown in breed classes. Unfortunately, there was only 1 other junior Lamancha present (Carolina’s kid from last year) so there wasn’t much competition. That said, the goats looked great. Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene took Champion Senior doe, CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina took Best of Breed, and Sawfish AS Tesla took Champion Junior Doe. This trip to the Big E was Phaylene’s final show as she is being retired at the age of 9. The real win of the day was when CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina was chosen as Best Senior Doe in Show out of the ~75 seniors.

At the awards ceremony, Quinn was presented with the Ruby Morris 4-H Scholarship for $2000 towards college.

Quinn receiving the Ruby Morris scholarship

Once awards wrapped up, some of the youth left while new herds came in for the Open Show on Sunday. We received Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili’s awards for winning Recorded Grade Best of Breed twice at the Nutmeg show from May. Chili approved of the mugs.

The Open show was quick and fun. Luck 4-Leaf Red Hot Chili took second in her class of 2yo Recorded Grades. We are hoping she continues to mature as we expect and think she will be a competitive 3yo.
Fox’s Pride had some very nice 2yo does in milk that took Champion and Reserve, and Carolina was second to CH Argonne’s Khaos in Best of breed.

In in the Junior Show, Sawfish QS Mina swept the competition as the youngest junior doe to earn herself a restricted leg towards her championship as Junior Lamancha Champion.

Quinn showing Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili

At the final awards ceremony, Amanda received the Lamancha Premier Breeder plate based on the number of points her does acquired throughout the day!

goats

Brooklyn Fair 2024

August 25, 2024 Rob Leave a comment

We took the Sawfish goat herd to the Brooklyn Fair today and had a great day. Our friend Terrell Lavoie is the superintendent and we love supporting our friends. Things started off with Showmanship: Amanda took 1st in Intermediate with Sawfish AS Porsche, Quinn took 1st in Senior with Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene, and Rob took 1st in Open with CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina. Quinn took Best Overall Showman (limited to youth) and won a nice blanket, with Amanda Reserve champion.

Lamanchas were a popular breed at Brooklyn. Sawfish AS Porsche was 1st under 2yo milker, CH (pending) Majenli LK Carolina was was first 3-5yo , and Bitterblue’s LSD Phaylene was 1st aged milker (we didn’t have a 2-3yo entry). Carolina took Best of Breed and Senior Doe in Show (winning us a second blanket). Lucky 4-Leaf E Red Hot Chili took 1st in 2-3yo milker Recorded Grade and Best of Breed for Recorded Grade.

In Juniors, Sawfish Chrysi took 1st in 4-8mo Jr Lamancha, Sawfish AS Tesla took 1st in dry yearlings, and Tesla was Champion Junior Lamancha. Sawfish Kipu was 1st 4-8mo Jr Recorded Grade and Champion Junior Recorded Grade. We had 4 daughter/dam combos with us and 3 placed in the top 6 of 16. We were 1st in Best 3 and 2nd for Git of Sire and Produce of Dam.

Overall, we were very pleased with the our placings and look forward to the next show on our schedule at Blandford.