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.