Tiny Colors Farm

Watch this space for new babies, new purchases, anything new to our herd!

 Tiny Colors Simplicity - congrats to the Allens on getting this cutie!

Updated 07/04/2009

I did it!  I took the giant leap into 2009 by getting on Twitter.  I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update but it will certainly be fun.  I will use Twitter to update any kid births, sales, deliveries, goats bred or shown, etc.  Be sure to check out my Twitter page right here on my website.  Be sure to Follow Me!

Not actually a surprise as we knew Piddlin' Acres PV Willa was going to kid, the surprise was how difficult the birth was.  Apparently she had one HUGE boy in there that not only was nearly impossible to deliver (but our brave Willa managed it with help from me and time) but also caused one of his two sisters to be so squished she was improperly developed.  Still we have one surviving girl that's stunning!  Congrats to the Allens on this girl (by Take Heart Blueberry Wine) and watch for her to sweep through show rings towards September and definitely through the 2010 show season!  Willa's udder is stunning as usual and this girl is a repeat breeding on another doeling over at the Allens' that has matured so nicely.  Now we're just planning our 2010 breeding schedule so be sure to check out what I have planned and make your reservations early.



I also have a few large-breed girls for sale and, in November, our Saanen buck as we can no longer provide him with enough unrelated girls to justify keeping him here (I'd be open to a trade for a meat buckling or another unrelated Saanen buckling) as well as a couple Nigerian bucklings, a Nigerian buck that has thrown such nice kids that we're keeping a daughter and a son of his and of course the right home could talk me out of a Nigerian doe or two if I still need to get my herd numbers down more.  Feel free to email me for a list of currently-available goats and prices as I'm in a bargaining mood this week.

Willa patiently waiting her due date, looking larger than ever (and she's always given us triplets before so let's hope for three or four nice girls in there!)

While I'm not-so-patiently waiting for our last Nigerian doe to give us babies (Piddlin' Acres PV Willa is due July 7th - 10th) I'm wrapping up sales on the rest of the Winter and Spring 2009 kids.  Currently we have two wether prospects and a possible buck prospect I'm keeping an eye on that are available as well as a doeling ready to go now (I was going to keep her but herd numbers can't be bent this year) and two more baby doelings that should be ready to go in about a month and are already very STUNNING, taking very much after their sire, Dragonfly Farms National Hero (ADGA #D1398575)  who is very conformationally stunning and passes that along to his kids.  I will say Hush-A-Bye is earning her name 'cause we're always having to tell her to "Hush!" but mostly she's just being friendly, not annoying or bothersome.  Her sister Whisper is still quite small but is very sturdy and has no trouble being the darling of the barnyard, eating up the attention like she deserves it.

As for those dreaded herd numbers, hubby and I have come to the conclusion that in a fire we could only safely evacuate and care for so many and that leaves us with about six more does to sell, mostly Saanen (as our buck is a full brother to two of them) and one or two Nigerian does that are proven breeders and milkers (Licorice and Lacy).  I hate to see the girls go but it isn't fair to keep them here if they'd be endangered during an evacuation.  I also think they'd do very well for someone looking to add some serious milk production to their herd as all these girls (with the exception of the dry yearling Saanen due to be bred this August) give us more than a decent amount and as a general rule behave like professionals on the milk stand.  Feel free to drop me an email if there's a goat you'd like more information on, such as to whom she'll be bred and when her kids will be due.

I also have to pare down the buck pen and am offering three fine boys for sale in the hopes that two will sell and hubby will relent on the third (grin).  Again, please contact me for more information on the boys for sale and to see who will be standing for driveway breedings this Fall.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone is having a safe, enjoyable and FUN show season - stay comfortable and love those goaties!

At long last, this morning May 27th, 2009, our lovely prize (as in we won her!) doe Screamer from Leah Odom's very nice herd gave us babies by DF Farms HD National Hero (aka; Nate)!  Nate is this year's AGS National Grand Champion buck and has some very fine kids already on the ground - check out his webpage.  She's a first-time mom and was not sure of what to do so we did lose one (she didn't clean it at all and it suffocated before I could get there) but the other two are nursing right now and she's slowly adjusting to being a mom and not just a traumatized doe.  All three are girls, the one that didn't make it was just as gorgeous as the two survivors and now that Mom has had a couple hours to adjust she's really liking the babies a lot more and actually paying attention to them and letting them nurse their fill.  The two larger doelings were / are bright, rich red and tons of white with a few dark brown spots that could be moonspots, the third doeling is a bit smaller than her sister(s) and is snow white with hints of reddish gold spots on her lower legs, the back of her neck and three round dots right along her spine from the flank to the tail.  She's going to be a bit small for a while, I think, but has a fabulous suckle and plenty of energy to chase down her mom and nurse for long periods of time so she should be just fine.  Mom is doing better now, having had a rest, a long warm drink and some alfalfa and grain to go with her bermuda.  I love her udder, very good shape, excellent msl and really well-attached.  I also like the soft, large teats and huge orifices (which, as we all know, is my pet peeve) and the babies are finding it incredibly easy to get their meals IF they can convince Mom to stand up for them.  I'm going to post fresh photos (and of Avalanche's boy, too) this afternoon or evening, once we're sure Mom is fine with having babies and will really want them back after we stand them outside the maternity 'cage' for their photo shoot.  I am already extremely impressed with their great feet and legs and how wide both of the girls are between their nice hocks.  I also am liking their tight elbows so far although I usually don't look at things like that until they're a few days old.  Most likely the girls will be offered for sale as we just don't show enough to do these nice bloodlines any justice. 

Things are going well this kidding season, buyers and babies coming together at just the right times, etc.  As of today (Monday May 11, 2009) we've got available; 3 Nigerian Dwarf wethers (one tri-color born 03/01/09, one black & white w/scant moonspots, born 03/18/09 and one golden with white born 05/07/09) and one mid-sized mixed-breed (sire is Nigerian, dam is half Nubian half Saanen and a FANTASTIC milker!) boy that can be sold with his mother who is offered for sale because she's such a people-friendly goat that I think she'd prefer a smaller herd where she can get more loving attention.  Everyone is growing well, the chicks are hatching, there are still some does getting closer to freshening and we look forward to attending some of the closer shows to cheer on our friends in the goat world.  At the other end of the yard we're also setting up our Fall breeding pens and look for some Frank babies in late September and early October!  If you want  more details about any of the for-sale babies mentioned above, don't hesitate to email me for pictures and updates.

After three years of twin boys, I had informed Avalanche I did NOT want to see twin boys again, I wanted to see GIRLS.  Well, she didn't give me twin boys - - she gave me A SINGLE BOY!  He's cute, super-solid and extremely well put together (photos to follow), born May 8, 2009, by Tiny Colors Take A Chance (Take Heart Blueberry Wine x Piddlin' Acres PV Willa) out of our nice Lost Valley KW Avalanche.  Her udder is fantastic as usual and so far she's been making him nurse on both sides like a good mom.  I think even she is surprised by having just the one.  If anyone knows how to get her to have a girl next time, I'd love the hint!

After the very colorful wether-prospect we got out of Rigby by Chance (Tiny Colors Take A Chance, Take Heart Blueberry Wine x Piddlin' Acres PV Willa) I shouldn't have been surprised when we got more color today, the 30th of April.  Cloverdale's IH Splash Of Chocolate gave us a pair of gorgeous twins, one black. white and roaned (with moonspots) girl that's "a power princess" as my son calls her and a stunning caramel, gold, white, roaned gold and moonspots long boy that's built very much like Willa only with that certain buck look about him.  These pics are from about five minutes old so of course there will be more in the next few days.  Both of these cuties are most likely going to be for sale but I haven't evaluated the boy fully yet and most likely he'll be sold as a wether because he already has that very lovey personality that makes a great wether. 

Our FF Snubian (saanen x nubian) doe Rigby quietly presented us with a wildly-colored half-Nigerian little boy on the 29th of April, too cute and very sweet but obviously a spoiled only child already.  Rigby has an excellent shape to her udder and her teats feel like butter already!  With just one kid and only a few hours of milk I can't yet tell how her capacity is but she's a good mom and lets her boy nurse until his little belly is full AND she's making him nurse on both sides so that's a good thing.  And he's sure cute, being a bright chamoise with tons of white including little white booties below his black stockings.  This little guy will be For Sale as a wether and will be a nice, medium-sized boy.   Sorry he's so folded - he's only about 2 hours old in this picture and I'll post a better one tomorrow or the day after or as soon as the weather warms up.
  Here's another one of him, showing that Nubian ancestry in his semi-roman nose and the little tip at the end of his semi-long ears!  He does show the color and power of his sire, Chance, and is equally sweet.

Our large-breed babies started arriving with a whisper today April 28th - darling Daisy (Alpine) very quietly gave us two gorgeous, big, solid white / cream BOYS by the young Saanen buck out of Jar-Jar.  Both boys are sturdy and oh, so sweet!  They'll both be good-sized and I'd be willing to bet the more power one of the two will be HUGE!  Unfortunately all Daisy has ever given us is twin boys every year and with her fantastic udder I am at wit's end with her.  Still, I think this next time around we'll try an Alpine buck and see if we can't convince her to give us production girls. 



Meanwhile we have two Nigerians due later next week and a third looking like she could go at any time (she's due tomorrow), plus two large-breed girls that look ready to go this week as well so we should be having plenty of babies for sale within the next week or three. 

Also of note; the original buyer of the two mini-mancha doelings that were born in February has backed out of the sale (was unwilling to provide them with a safe, fenced, roaming-dog-free yard) and so these two lovelies are once again For Sale and of course will be even less expensive now that this other woman has paid a portion of the purchase price, so don't hesitate to contact me about these girls or about any of the goats we have available.

Today is Wednesday, March 18th and we have several new babies!  After a morning out and about taking care of business I came home to two adorable sets of kids!  Lilly has once again given us her usual four gorgeous GIRLS, all black and white and three of the four already showing moonspots from their sire, Moonshadow.
 

Her penmate Drizzle has graced us with a very charming boy, black and white with roaning and those famous moonspots (this boy is ALSO by Moonshadow!) and a very sweet, loving personality - he was the first one into my lap and that was just the beginning of his snuggle-fest.  Both does are great moms and are sharing the duties for the evening. 

Added to Licorice's triplet does and the rest of the kids we've had here so far, we're running 13 doelings and 5 bucklings!  I've got all day tomorrow to take pictures so watch here and on the March Babies page for them, and I think all will be offered for sale to the right homes.

Today, March 12th, after looking like "this is it" for two weeks Licorice finally kidded right on time and gave us three huge, healthy, gorgeous girls!  All three are black with white and are by Tiny Colors SS Moonshadow.   They have such cute faces and are up and bouncing around already.  I'll get better pictures tomorrow and post them but for now I'm just thrilled they're here and I can get some sleep before the last three March does kid next week some time!  All three girls will most likely be offered for sale as I have too many of their relatives already (mom, grandmom, great-grandmom, dad, his parents, etc.) to justify keeping them here in my yard.  They all should be pretty good family milkers if they're anything like their dam and sire's dam, both have incredibly soft udder skin and good-sized teats and orifices.  I'll get a better look at these triplet doelings and post good photos on the For Sale page tomorrow!

I'm pleased to announce the arrival of five (so far) new kids at Tiny Colors Farm with more does due to kid in the next day or so.  And true to form, all of the girls have chosen to kid during daylight hours and not in inclement weather.  Lacy's two gorgeous mini-mancha doelings are joined by five new kids to play with, most of which are being offered For Sale simply because I have to watch my numbers and because some of these goats really should get into the show ring more than I will be able to manage for another few years yet.   I'll be working on adding photos today but for now, here's a best description of what we've had:

First, Storm (Cloverdale SS Stormalina, by Twin Creeks BW Storm Surge +*S out of Rosasharn's TL Esterlina) gave us gorgeous triplets on Sunday, March 1st by our young buck Tiny Colors SS Moonshadow (Desertwinds SN Sand Storm x McConnell's Ruffles, a nice daughter of Caesar's Villa CBS Raffle)- we got two girls and a very nice boy that may be available as a buck given what I've seen out of him so far.  Now to be fair, this doe is not the most snuggly of the goats we have and her previous kiddings (all twin boy sets) have resulted in kids that were less than friendly as well but THESE three are just in your lap every time you turn around and in fact the doe herself is a lot more comfortable with me this time around so maybe she's feeling outnumbered and wanting the help?  At any rate, the boy is a very nicely-put-together  and VERY laid-back bright buckskin with many little round moonspots scattered throughout both his tan half and his black half.  The next-born girl is a very pretty red-and-black buckskin with some white and a teensy bit of roaning in her cape area, very long in the body and with nice width already showing.  The third-born is also the most feisty of the three, first to nurse, first to try hopping onto and off of the alfalfa flake, first to come up to me and 'introduce herself' - a very pretty chamoise or buckskin with tons of white and some interesting coloring, having caramel, tan, black, mahogany and white in various spots on her body.  She's the smallest and the one built most like her grandsire Sand Storm, being very dairy and sharp throughout.  I believe she will be retained as we love her mother's udder and this doe is just as wide as her mother if not wider especially between her nice hocks.

This morning, Tuesday March 3rd, Anabelle (Tiny Colors SK Anabelle by Take Heart Skedaddle out of Desertwinds Mirage who has a gorgeous udder) quietly gave us a very nice and very LARGE set of twins; firstborn is a beautiful boy, mostly white with black markings on his face, legs and a couple on his body, may have moonspots from his sire Moonshadow, and is built like a long tank.  His sister is black all over, teensy bits of white trying to peek out and covered in milk chocolate moonspots all over her entire body.  She appears to be smaller and much more feminine than her brother but is still larger than any of the three Storm triplets, very refined but built on a very long, wide frame.  And her natural stance is gorgeous, just what I would want my does to stand like for the show ring so hopefully she'll get a chance to strut her stuff for someone!

Adding to the numbers there have been MANY new kids at Nerat Acres! - 42 kids in the past couple weeks over there, 12 girls and 30 boys!  Most are sold but on the For Sale page I'll add a few photos of the four does and three or four bucklings she has available.  At least, until the last five of her March does give birth and then she's taking a break until after my next large bunch, due late April and early May.

If anyone is interested in any of the babies listed above or on the For Sale page, feel free to email me and let me know when you'd like to see the kids or have more photos sent directly to you!

Well our kidding season has started out with some ups and some downs; two days ago our FF Sassy surprised us by kidding more than a week earlier than expected, three surprisingly earless premies that didn't make it through the night but were gorgeous nonetheless.  For some reason, this doe found a way to "get busy" with Ace, our Mini-Mancha buck instead of the buck she'd been in the second breeding pen with.  Before I had a chance to research that, a second Nigerian - Lacy - gave us a beautiful pair of striking doelings, ALSO EARLESS!  Now, both of these girls were in with a Nigerian buck in a pen adjacent to where Ace had been with his three or four Mini-Mancha girls so either there's a passage between pens that I don't know about or, well, let's just say I'll be putting plywood up along that common fence!.  Sassy is giving us a surprising amount of milk for an older (nearly 3) FF and showed amazing mothering skills.  She's currently learning how to grace the milkstand twice a day and is behaving like an old pro already.  Lacy is her usual great mothering self and I can't wait to put her back into the milking rotation as well.  Both of the Lacy X Ace girls will be for sale and will be eligible for registration with TMGR as F1 Mini-Manchas.  We haven't decided on names yet as they were born exactly as Barack Obama was taking his oath of office so might deserve patriotic names but they struck me as "Lucy" and "Ethel" at first glance.  Lucy is the one with the blue eyes.
   pictures taken at 45 min old

Not much to add, a few does have sold and we've got no wethers left until early 2009.  Other than that, we still have a few large-breed and a couple Nigerian does for sale with everyone exposed to a buck and most likely bred already.  I am taking reservations for Spring 2009 kids and will hopefully have my schedule page updated by the end of this weekend, once I double-check my paperwork as I recover my computer from a glitch that took me out of making entries for a few weeks.  My thanks to all the folks who have purchased does from us or have come by and spent some time with our goats getting to know them and making their choices for next year's kids.  Remember to drop me an email if you have any questions or want to see which does are bred to what bucks!  On the meat goat side, we were unable to find a boer or meat buck that we could conveniently get to that also had the proper health assurances AND had room for our girls so we've bred all of our meat girls to a very nice Saanen buckling (except the three smallest / youngest Boers / Boer-X doelings, who will be bred for meat next August as they are too young and too small right now).  I will get to see how our girls freshen and will also have some meat or milk (or pack or brush-clearing) goats available at weaning, some time in late May / early June.  If you want any kids to have horns left ON this Spring, please let us know by the time the kids are 10 days old at the latest so we can make sure they don't get disbudded.  Most of our meat does are polled but our buck is not so that will be a luck-of-the-draw situation as to whether or not you get horns.

updated 10/04/2008 - I updated the For Sale page, the Nigerian Buck page and am updating the Senior Doe and Junior Doe pages as you read this!

Also New!  Our youngest son has decided he wants to breed meat babies, so we've added two Boer and another Boer x Nubian doeling to our 2007 Nubian x Boer doe, Cinder, and will be looking for a nice Boer buck to breed them to later this Autumn for Spring 2009 meat kids and the thick, creamy milk that meat goats often produce.  I did get to see the udder on the Boer doe (dam of Cloud and Storm) and it was rather nice so I have high hopes for this new slice of the market. 

I think that with the price of meat these days added to the growing concern people have over the chemicals being used to 'grow' their commercially-available meat there will be quite a few people looking for a home-grown, healthy alternative and goats fit that bill as they're quite a bit smaller than a cow and still produce a nice amount of meat for a family's needs.  I know there's a good chance we'll start keeping a wether or two each year for our own freezer in addition to the cow, lambs and pigs we're currently growing for butcher.  If you are interested in a Boer cross baby for meat or for their incredibly thick, creamy milk be sure to let me know so I don't pre-sell everything we produce directly to the local butcher. 

Ian has named his girls Cinder (pale tan and white Nubian x Boer out of the Urban Acres herd, born Oct 31, 2007, during the wildfires we had locally), Cloud and Storm (Boer sisters, about six weeks old now and growing very typically meaty in size and shape as well as typical Boer coloration with their white bodies and face markings and dark heads / necks) and of course little Wind, a Nubian/Alpine x Boer that looks like a very heavy, meaty black Nubian with cute puppy-dog ears that is polled!  She's about six months old now and will also be bred in November along with Cinder.

First, I apologize for not updating this sooner but with all those babies (49!) we were a bit overwhelmed.  We're ready now to start weaning the little dears off and settle in with the ones that are staying so I thought I'd take a moment to update just a bit.  Most of our kids have found new homes and will be leaving this weekend or next and I'm extremely excited to see what this next generation of Tiny Colors goats are going to do in the show ring as several of them are going to show homes. 

I also want to brag a bit about Willa, who has given us some very pretty babies this year and who was classified by Alice Hall when she went up to the Norco show back in May.  Yay for Willa - she was not at ALL happy about the drive and the move with two kids AND not thrilled to be apart from them (and to have a yearling sneaking nurses off her didn't help) and she STILL managed to garner a score of 89.8 - YAY!  Thanks so much to Alice Hall and Alice Allen who brought this together and now we know just how fantastic our girl is.  With a bit more udder and a few more weeks past freshening (to get over that well-nursed look she had that day) I think she'd score even higher because the only reason she didn't score over 90 was her conditioning on that day.  I can't wait to get some of the other girls classified.  I know Willa and her daughters are being campaigned well this summer and are doing fantastic in the show ring, as is her granddaughter.  I look forward to seeing those young doelings at the Del Mar / San Diego County Fair in a couple weeks.

I still have a couple very sweet wethers available as well as a doeling or two that I thought I'd keep but now am running up against a hay bill and need to sell.  Actually, these would have been the doelings I'd have shown, so I'm leaning towards show homes for them - not that they must go to show homes but I'd prefer it because I think they are suited to it and have the temperament to enjoy it.

Our Fall breeding pen is being set up now and everyone is 'chomping at the bit' to get at it (grin) so watch for kids in about five and a half months out of our yearling does.  We won't have very many bred but we are breeding them all for show babies that lean more towards dairy character, most likely using Sand Storm and his son, MoonShadow.  The boys can't wait and whenever they see me moving the girls around out there they really start to preen, strutting around showing off their stuff to make sure we know just how pretty their babies will be.

Avalanche, Fawn and Rigby also have become quite the little travelers, going to elementary classes as goat ambassadors.  Today it was Mrs. B's class (she owns two of our little babies herself) and the kids were fantastic!  I think Avalanche really likes young kids as she let each and every one of them come up and milk her just enough so they could see what it was like, and they all got to pet her, feed her cheerios off the palm of their hands and just generally get to know how sweet goats could be.  If you are interested in having goats visit your class just drop me an email and we'll see about making it happen!

That's the update for now - more after the SD Co. Fair!  Enjoy Summer and the show season!