This year was filled with ups and downs and at times really made us wonder if we wanted to keep going! We had a rough kidding season and lost two does to kidding complications - a first for us in twenty plus years of raising goats. We lost both Faith and her two-year old daughter Flurry. Losing Faith was really a sucker punch and I still shed tears when I think about her -she did bless us with an adorable doe kid and she isn't too spoiled - yet!
We did very well at the May show in Boise - Cherry Butte AOA Fantasia was Jr. Champion in 3 rings and Pearl, our Lamancha Sable 2-year old was Champion Recorded Grade in one ring and Reserve in another.
Despite my totally destroying my right meniscus while having a heifer AI'd, I did manage to get does presented at appraisal in June. Pearl was our star - her final score, as a two- year old second freshener was 2-04 90VEEE - she was a preemie by about 7 days so was kind of a slower starter but boy is she picking up steam! The Sable does are very immature and need another freshening or two to catch up and we are o.k. with that. So far though it does not look like our area is scheduled for LA in 2026.
We traveled with our good friends Thunder-Ridge Dairy Goats to Grand Island, Nebraska in July for the ADGA National Show. In spite of getting caught on the highway in a HORRID hailstorm that did a lot of damage to both truck and trailer, then spending that night in the truck in the parking lot of a small fairgrounds in North Platte - under a severe thunderstorm watch, a penning goof-up that left us with four pens for eleven goats and NO tack space, high humidity and ferocious BITING flies - we had a really good time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones too.
August saw us back at the Western Idaho Fair. We had cooler weather than normal and that was so much more pleasant for both us and the animals. We took 11 does and all placed either first or second in their classes. We had both Champion and Rserve Junior Sables, and Reserve Champion Sr. Sable. Pearl was Champion Rec. Grade. Kickapoo-Valley Twinklberry was not only first place junior sable doe at the National Show - she was also Junior BDIS at the WIF!!
We bred seven does this fall (though one was flagging this afternoon - but it is too late for this year), pulled blood for annual CAE testing - Negative and have finished up milk test for the year. Now we will settle back and relax by just throwing hay and checking condition the next couple months til we start kidding mid-February.
Happy holidays from our herd to yours!
