Hello, and welcome to the new blog for Boulder Oaks Farm! I'd like to use my first post to introduce myself, and let you know what kind of topics you can expect to find here in the future.
My name is Melani, and I live in the high desert of the Kern River Valley in Kern County, California alongside my goats, sheep, alpaca, horses, cattle, and dogs. In the past, I've also raised rabbits, chickens, cavies, quail, and pigs. Most of the posts here will be centered around a topic I'm most passionate about: goats, and everything about them. I'll cover feeding, care, fencing, milking, breeding, showing, raising kids, health and vaccinations, and more! In addition, I'll keep you up to date on current events here at the farm, with both the goats and other livestock as well.
First, let me start off by telling a little more of my story and what brought me to where I am now. My introduction to livestock began just before my freshman year in high school, when I got involved with the FFA- Future Farmers of America. My first project was a pygmy goat, a little wether named Alexander the Great. I showed him and another pygmy doe through my high school years, and also added market lambs, chickens, and show rabbits to my repertoire. After graduation, I continued to breed and show rabbits in college, and also maintained a small flock of sheep. This is when I was first introduced to dairy goat ownership, with the addition of a 2 year old Toggenburg doe named Peaches in 2013, who is now retired, but still maintains her rank as Herd Queen. My 2nd dairy goat was a LaMancha-type doe, Lotus, who became the foundation of my current recorded grade and American LaMancha line.
After I moved back home in 2015, my enthusiasm for the dairy goats quickly grew, and I soon entered the world of American Dairy Goat Association registered goats, and all of the production programs that come along with that. After meeting Shirley Benson of Shadow-Hills Dairy Goats, the purebred LaMancha numbers in the herd quickly grew from the addition of quite a few of her gorgeous animals. My original herd name started out as S*dew, in conjunction with my rabbitry herdname of Sundew Rabbitry. It didn't take long for me to discover that Sundew had been the herd name of an influential LaMancha breeder in the past though, so this is the point when Boulder Oaks Farm was born, and all new kids born since then carry the Boulder Oaks prefix. Currently, I'm an ADGA Plus herd, and participate in shows, linear appraisal, DHIR milk testing, and DNA typing.
Other than the goats, I also have or have had various other animals over the last decade as well, including laying hens, meat chickens, cavies, alpacas, dairy and market sheep, beef and dairy cattle, horses, and pigs. Some of these have come and gone, but at the moment I still have sheep, horses, cattle, and an alpaca on the farm.
I hope the posts here can help those that are new to dairy goats, or the more experienced breeders who might be interested in learning more about the ADGA production programs.
You can expect new content at least once a week, so please subscribe to my blog if you'd like to be notified whenever a new post is published!