Our Story
Eager to find a place with some land, we moved to Cockatoo in March 2014 with our two daughters and a third child on the way. After our son was born, amid the craziness of life with a young family, we decided to begin our dream of hobby farming. Onto our almost 10 acres we promptly built new fencing and added some chickens and a pony. About two years later we had to move out while we rebuilt our home after the 2016 storms. We returned and began adding more animals to the farm. Two pet rabbits, another pony, a horse, pigs and then in 2019 our first goats, Devin and Delta. A passion for the Nigerian Dwarf breed soon developed. We now run a small herd and raise kids every year. Each goat is part of our family, their care and happiness our priority. These affectionate, lovable goats bring us so much joy, we hope others can experience these amazing animals.
Our Approach
Sustainability
Taking care of our land is important to us and we manage our farm with regenerative farming principles in mind. Rotational cross grazing, manure spreading, resting pastures and planting nitrogen fixing crops help to improve our soil. These practices ensure our animals thrive and are free from disease.
Husbandry
Our goats are treated with care and respect. Routine maintenance includes annual blood tests for CAE and Johne’s disease, twice yearly vaccinations, FECs to monitor worms, external parasite treatment when required and regular hoof trimming.
Feeding
We feed our goats pellets, oaten/lucerne chaff mix and unlimited good quality grass hay in addition to fresh pasture and forage. For optimal health we also provide loose mineral mix and blocks specifically for goats.
Breeding
We use a combination of natural breeding and artificial insemination to meet our breeding goals. We recently undertook an AI course in April 2022, which resulted in the successful insemination of 2 does with imported US semen. We can’t wait to see the improvements from this year’s kids.
Classification
Dedicated to improving the Nigerian Dwarf breed here in Australia, we completed a classification course in July 2022 to learn more about dairy traits and the classification process. Our lactating does will be classified by Holstein Australia each year, the results of which will aid us in our breeding program.
