Dairy Goats
Our Mini Nubian Herd
Alongside our flock of free range chickens, Dare 2 Dream Farms is also home to a small herd of Mini Nubian dairy goats. Our goats provide us with raw milk and also assist with plant management, landscaping, and fertilizing the soil. Our "Lady Buck" or female herd lead is Emma, a fourth generation Mini Nubian. Emma is mother to our second doe, Sophie, who gave birth to our two Purebred Mini Nubian bucks named Cedric and Snape, both of whom are offered for stud services and are also available for purchase.
The health of our dairy herd is very important to us, so we regularly rotate their grazing and housing along with our chickens to support a clean, disease-free environment. We also test our goats annually for CAE, CL, and Johnes disease, for which our herd is negative. In addition to our biological security measures, we offer our herd free-choice mineral supplements that compliment nutrition they receive from free range grazing and organic feed.
As seasonal foragers, our goats enjoy a variety of pesticide- and herbicide-free nutrient rich food sources growing both wild and cultivated on the farm. Unlike sheep, cows, and other grazers who eat mainly grass or other low growing food sources, goats prefer to forage for a wide variety of plants including grasses, weeds, shrubs, and trees. The natural cravings of our herd shift with the seasons and, though we do provide our milking does with organic alfalfa and grain supplements, we are fortunate that the ecology of our farm is otherwise able to meet their needs in every season.
When the milk production of our goats starts increasing in the spring our goats can be seen nibbling on wild mustard, wild radish, and new grasses. Our herd sometimes even pitches in with gardening by trimming back berry cane rows, pruning low growing leafy shoots on fruit trees, and gobbling up any weeds emerging from our garden beds like dandelion, mallow, and prostrate knotweed. In late summer and early fall when our grass fields are in full swing and our girls are giving us the most milk, they love to spend all day grazing on a blend of alfalfa, red clover, barley, and oats as well as munching on the oak and willow trees that populate the borders of our grazing fields. In late fall and early winter the milk production of our does starts to slow down. When this happens we set our does loose in the garden again to clear out any leftover crops before we prepare our garden beds for spring.
With every season the appetites of our goats compliment the growing rhythms of our farm. They help us manage our land by clearing unwanted plants and fertilizing the soil for the next seasonal crops all while making us delicious milk for homemade cheese and other dairy treats! As very smart, curious, and playful animals, our goats are productive and entertaining members of our farm community.
Meet Our Milkers
Pictured Left: Dare 2 Dream Sophie; Right: Dare 2 Dream Emma
Stud Service Breeding Policies
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$50 stud fee, includes a 2nd attempt within 2 months of first service if first attempt is unsuccessful. All further attempts require additional fee.
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Current paperwork documenting health of the doe is required prior to service. Doe must be negative for CAE, CL, and Johnes.
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Doe must be in good health and in heat at time of stud service appointment.
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All stud services are driveway only; we do not board goats overnight and does are not allowed anywhere on farm property except for breeding pens.
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Any and all equipment, vehicles, and people accompanying the doe must adhere to Dare 2 Dream bio-security guidelines. Please notify us regarding any of the above prior to appointment date for relevant bio-security guidelines.
Contact Us
For Booking Info.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Mini Nubian?
Mini Nubians are a new, experimental breed of dairy goat that was created from a combination of Standard Nubian and Nigerian Dwarf goats. This blending of breeds highlights some of the best characteristics of each type within a new breed known as Mini Nubians. The result after a few generations of breeding is a goat that looks like a Nubian, one of the largest dairy goat breeds, but is about half the size. This means Mini Nubians consume about half the feed volume of a full-sized Nubian but typically provide about 3/4 the milk volume of a Nubian, making Mini Nubians more desirable for small-scale dairy herds. The smaller size of Mini Nubians also makes them much easier to handle and milk than their full-sized relatives, a characteristic that can be credited to their other relatives, Nigerian Dwarf goats. The genetic link to Nigerian Dwarf goats also means a higher butterfat content in Mini Nubian milk as opposed to full-sized nubians, resulting in a milk that is great for making cheese and other processed dairy products.
How much milk does a Mini Nubian produce daily? What is it good for?
Milk production in goats varies with the time of year and the quality of herd management, as well as varying from goat to goat. Production starts with kidding season in the spring and peaks in the summer before declining in fall and finding it's lowest point in the winter. A well-managed doe that is in her first year of milk typically produces anywhere between a quart to a half gallon of milk. A seasoned doe will typically produce more, usually peaking at three-fourths to a full gallon of milk daily.
Are Dare 2 Dream dairy products available for purchase?
The FDA banned the interstate sale of raw mlk for human consumption in 1924 and has increased reglation incrementally over the years. Currently, raw milk is permitted for sale within California if it comes from healthy animals and meets dairy health inspection requirements.
Does Dare 2 Dream Farms offer any classes on goats or cheesemaking?
We will begin offering classes on dairy goats starting in the spring of 2018, which will be targeted towards first-time goat owners starting their own small backyard dairy herds. These courses will be informational for those who are unsure if keeping goats is right for them and want to know what it may entail as well as for those who intend to start their own herds in the near future. We also have Mini Nubian dairy goats for sale and recommend these courses as a compliment to any goat purchases for first-time owners.
How many goats will Dare 2 Dream Farms have for sale in 2018?
We currently have 2 purebred Mini Nubian bucks available for purchase and are expecting 3-4 additional kids from one of our does who is scheduled to deliver in April 2018. Up to 2 of the doelings will become members of our herd and any remaining kids will be offered for sale.
How do I purchase a Mini Nubian from Dare 2 Dream Farms?
The 2 purebred bucks we currently have for sale are listed on our website. They are both developed enough to take home on the date of purchase and are old enough to begin limited stud services immediately.