Southern Explosion Boer Goat Show

Three shows in two days at the T. Ed Garrison Complex in Pendleton, SC on May 8 and May 9 for Boers. Judges will be Anton Ward, John Taft III and Becky Sauder. Saturday morning will begin with an Open Youth Showmanship Event to be judged by Ted Clayton. For complete details, visit http://www.billysboermeatgoatfarm.com/ or call Gaylene Carson at 864.710.3703.

Langston University Goat Research

This is a good link to read from Langston University in Oklahoma on goat research. It contains Fact Sheets on: Grade A Dairy Goat Farm Requirements Low Cost 4-H Animal Projects Goat Housing Goat Hoof Trimming Castrating Meat Goat Production and Marketing Marketing Meat Goats and Consumer Demand for Goat Meat

3rd Annual Boer Goat Rawhide Ridge Farms Field Day

On February 20, 2010, Rawhide Ridge Farms in Cascade, Virginia will be having their 3rd Annual Field Day and Production Sale. See Curtis Boer Goats for more information on presenters and consignors.

North Carolina Meat Goat Association Spring Sale Prospect Show

The North Carolina Meat Goat Association will be holding a Spring Sale Prospect Show on January 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM in the Johnson County Livestock Arena in Smithfield, NC. Workshops will also be held at 10:00 AM in the arena. Fifty (50) light-weight wethers and does will be offered from consignors all over North Carolina for sale.

Sunshine

We've had a couple of nice days - - still cold, but sunny. We are cutting and splitting wood this week. Trying to get a handle on all the logs that we have down that need to be cleaned up before Spring time. The last of my Boer goats were picked up today. I had a herd dispersal this weekend and was lucky enough to sell all of them five individuals in 4 days. Thanks to everyone who purchased my breeding stock and to all who have purchased meat goats from us in the past. After the Boer's all left, we rearranged the dairy goats in all our pastures. One group of Nigerian Dwarf goats is not too sure what to think about Scout and Spook, our Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs. They previously guarded the Boers. The Nigerians have always been guarded by llamas so this is new to them. They are not too happy about being in a new pasture but they will adjust in a few days. Now, everyone has lots of space and I think they will enjoy it more when Spring comes. All the new Nigerian Dwarf babies had their pictures made and they on our website! I'm still waiting on a few stragglers to kid. "Chunky Monkey" is still holding on. Now she sits like a dog in her pen on her haunches instead of the usual lay down.

Burr! Not A Good Time To Kid

Early Monday morning, when it was approximately 18 degrees, a new nontraditional red Boer meat goat doe arrived.

Here she is minutes after birth with mom cleaning her up.

She was the third Boer goat to be born on Monday.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SCOUT, SPOOK AND SOME OF THE BOER GOATS AT BUFFALO CREEK FARM!

Boer Goat 2009 East Coast Thanksgiving Extravaganza

2009 EAST COAST THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA

SEMINAR, SALE AND ABGA BOER GOAT SHOW

Dixie Classic Fairgrounds in Winston-Salem, NC

November 27 & 28, 2009

(Click to see larger version of this flier.)

The Boer Goat Seminar that will be held on Friday, November 27, at 7:30PM will be presented by John Edwards (EGGS - Erath General Genetic Services). The free seminar will include topics on:

• An overview of the meat goat industry today
• Where the meat goat industry is heading into the future
• Breeding strategies
• Question and answer session

Work Days

With Thanksgiving coming upon us quick, we spent the weekend working outdoors. The weather was great with temperatures in the 50's and sunshine. Much of the day Saturday was spent cleaning up branches, dead trees and rotten stumps out of the area that we had the pines removed from. I was hoping that the snakes have gone into hibernation. We have seen many 5 and 6 footers come out of these woods in the summer months. Many trailer loads of sticks were hauled to the back of our farm to be burned in the next few days. We've had a good rain that began late yesterday afternoon and is continuing through today. No problem with getting some burning done this week. The Boer goats got quite a few cedar trees tossed into their pasture to eat. They will clean the needles off of them and we'll gather up "the skeletons" and burn them also. Sunday afternoon was spent getting leaves up. We managed to get half of the job done before the rain began at 3:30 PM. Hopefully, in the next few days we'll be able to finish it up. This will be the majority of the leaves gone with more to fall later. Today is a computer day and a telephone day. Lots of calls to make and receive and plenty of emails to respond to. When everyone is in because of bad weather, it seems they do their calling and emailing. Quite a few people have started to purchase guinea pigs for their children for Christmas. Have a pot of vegetable soup on the stove for dinner tonight.

Wood, Wood, Wood

Today is the second day of tree cutting. Frenette & Son took down the largest pine yesterday so now it is smooth sailing until they get to the other end of the woods near the rent house and driveway. They had a minor setback with the first tree when the top portion of it dropped to the ground, bounced and landed on our fence. It landed between two posts, so there wasn't much damage done. We are suppose to get around 2 inches of rain today, so their work will be cut short I'm afraid. Clearing up tomorrow and we're good for the rest of the week. This morning Frenette & Sons unloaded two dump truck loads of wood for us to get started on cutting and splitting. Yesterday we cleared out one wood shed and have everything ready for the split wood. The Boer goats were happy yesterday. They got to eat lots of pine needles off of limbs that dropped into their pasture before they were cleaned up. The men who were working liked to watch them clean up the needles.

Putting Out Round Bales of Hay

This morning early, we went to the Thomasville Flea Market in Thomasville, North Carolina looking for some silverplate flatware for my webnanny's business, Dinner Time Chimes. Her chimes were just showcased in the LA Times last week and she will be getting many hits on her website from that article. We didn't find any silverplate for her but did come home with a bag of small onions. I milked late, and the goats didn't appreciate it one bit. I'm now milking one of my Nigerian Dwarf goats along with two of my Nubians. She has never been milked before but is doing extremely well. Samantha walks to the milking stand on her own without balking but is having a little trouble standing once up on the stand. She wants to squat when you touch her udder . I placed a bucket under her chest for the previous two days and that prevented her from squatting. Today, she was milked without the bucket under her chest and only had to be fussed at a couple of times for stomping her back feet. Pretty good for the third day of milking. She is so short that I use my stainless steel strip cup as a milk pail when milking her. We put out some round bales today in some of our pastures, but not all. I try to make it until October before feeding hay; but, with all this dry weather, they need hay now. Tomorrow they are calling for rain so I wanted to get this done before the ground gets too wet (wishful thinking). While closing some of the gates after putting out the hay, I heard some babies crying. One of my purebred Boer goats had delivered twin bucks in the shed. The dogs were lying quietly outside the gate watching her from a distance. These two buck kids are from my last Boer buck that I had sold earlier this year. I have a solid red buck now and am anxious to see his offspring. Our Zebu heifer still has not delivered. She is actually due on September 4; but, first timers can go up to ten days early. I'm sure she's waiting for the cool, rainy weather tomorrow.