Many years ago back in the 70's, (EEEK! Am I really that old now??) I was involved with LaManchas and also milking. I have always loved goats! When we had completed building a very nice barn at our new farm and the stalls and heated dairy room were finished, it was time to fly up our goat herd foundation after more than a year of researching high production does and their progeny. Our herd members have been selected for their fine structure and dairy qualities, as we believe the ND is a true dual-purpose breed not only being beautiful but also excellent milk producers! Although smaller in stature than the larger dairy breeds, they carry good weight and wethers can be sold for meat purposes. And, when a 21" tall goat can put 3 quarts of milk on the table in just one day, you know you have a great milking goat! Compact in size, very colorful, and fun to be with, the ND is an excellent choice for both young and old alike. We have been blessed with some top milk producers! One of our girls, Patience, milked 6.8 pounds on test in ONE DAY! Yes, that's equal to 3 1/2 quarts of milk! She made the Top Ten list for one day tests for 2005 and 2006, tying for first place in 2006, and we are very proud of her. She is now a popular brood doe in our herd and favorite for 'character'.
Our feeding regime keeps changing as we find that certain feeds aren't working for our girls. First, we are very copper deficient here. We are also Selenium deficient. Test results for copper in hay and grain products grown up here often show only 4ppm. In the winter we need extra A, D, and E because of the lack of daylight hours for direct sun on the girls. We've tried a number of manufactured 'over the counter' goods and they haven't met our needs. Kids were fine when they were 8 weeks old and then later showed deficiencies. Milk production went down. Somatic cell counts went up. It simply wasn't working.
We are also opposed to giving shots and boluses just because there are nutritional deficiencies that occur in locally produced products. We also believe that since we drink our own raw milk, that means trying to avoid, as much as possible, chemical wormers and additives. Really, if we wanted hormones, antibiotics, and additional chemicals in our diet we'd go buy a gallon of milk at the store - it would be much easier! We have worked closely with 2 nutrionalists to have a custom mineral/vitamin mix made that better meets our goat's needs. Custom mixes seem to be the answer and along with liver biopsies we'll get there. Last year's custom mix worked better - this years should be even better yet! Since we raise our hay via organic methods, we also try to incorporate sustainable agriculture methods for our goats too. With that, and being a commercial farm with resale licenses, we will be using Fertrells and Redmond products, some of which will be custom formulated. We also use roasted non-GMO soybeans in our feed ration along with kelp. We feel it's better to feed all of the vitamins and minerals IN their feed rather than having to top dress, inject, or bolus those ingredients if possible.
Our milking records reflect the fact that we milk WITHOUT a dairy ration, WITHOUT alfalfa as their main source of hay (the kids get some imported alfalfa daily), and going to milking only once a day at about 2 to 4 months into lactation. This of course 'hurts' our chances for making Top Ten status for 305 day DHI testing, but then again milking once a day is a joy! It cuts production volume by 1/3 to 1/2 of what it would be, but there are only 2 of us drinking and using the milk for making fabulous cheeses, so we find that milking 10-15 does once a day allows us to do other things like hoof trimmings, cleaning stalls, and running a farm. So, you won't find us in the Top Ten for 305 day milk production, but you will find our 2nd and 3rd freshening girls giving some outstanding amounts for their first 3-4 months, and we retain does that want to keep milking just once a day too. As our milk parlor is in the works, we'll be able to go back to twice a day milking on some of our girls with the help of a dual-claw milking machine as well as my hand milking. The septic and leach field are in now! Next is the dairy room expansion project.
All of our goats are registered with the American Goat Society as well as the American Dairy Goat Association, and all of our milking does are on milk test. We milk by hand and have an intimate relationship with each and every one of them. The Nigerian Dwarf has been accepted into the American Dairy Goat Association so we also compete in the show ring with the 'big goats' (and we own big goats too!). Since we freshen all year 'round, we also have kids running around here to entertain us too. We update our pages often and we hope that you enjoy visiting with us and our herd often too!
Silveraurora's Nigerian Dwarf Goats, Nubians, and Saanens are lovingly owned by Suzanne Nevada and Rick Williams, situated in Wasilla, Alaska on 120 acres about an hour and a half from Anchorage in the Matanuska Valley, an area known for it's beautiful farms, soaring mountains, and abundant wildlife. We practice organic growing methods and have clean tested water from a deep well. Be sure to click on our Farm Link below to see our progress.
The SILVERAURORA name reflects the Aurora Borealis that we often see here in Alaska in the winter times - not always colorful like photos you may have seen, it usually starts out as a silvery shimmer in the sky and intensifies from there, thus the name Silveraurora. We started our breeding program for AKC Australian Cattle Dogs back in 1997 and since have raised, shown, and won many championships in the show ring as well as many herding titles in the herding arena. Our puppies have been placed all over the US, Canada, and Europe, but we usually only have one litter per year. I am also a herding instructor and we own a herding facility here - but we never! herd with our goats. :-) We operate a 120 acre farm and it's my preferred occupation to take care of all the animals full time. If you decide to phone us, don't be surprised if I'm no where near the phone! Just leave a message and we'll call you back when we're back in the house again. Even with our cold winters, it's more fun to be outside than in!
NEWS NEWS NEWS!!!
We have finished 3 champions here at Silveraurora with our very limited number of show opportunities. A number of others have 1 or 2 legs towards their championships also. We are thankful for the goats that we have purchsed, grateful to their breeders for doing such a fine job, and thank those that own our goats for showing them and putting them on milk test when possible.
MCH CH Twin Creek's WB Sebastian Bach*S finished his ADGA championship for his dual championship status at the Alaska State Fair ADGA show. Not only that, but he remains UNDEFEATED in the show ring, taking his third Best Buck In Show. He has an LA score of 90 - Excellent! Sebastian now has his Plus status with a number of daughters attaining their dairy stars and AR's in both registries.
We now also have another AGS champion Senior doe - ARMCH Sandy Hills Hollow KF Sayil 2*M 3*D finished her AGS championship at the Alaska State Fair ADGA show August 2006. She also took Best Udder in Breed, her 2nd BU award, and has an LA score of 90 - Excellent.
Silveraurora JT Tsunami took Grand Champion Senior Doe at the Alaska State Fair AGS show in 2007 amd now resides in another herd. Silveraurora JC Vanilla took Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Senior doe at the 2 day ADGA July shows in 2007. Many other does and junior does have done well in the ring with championship legs won in 2008 and 2009, along with several Best in Show wins too!
Silveraurora SB Xtinker went to her first shows at the Alaska State Fair in 2008 and was awarded Grand Champion Junior Doe for the Nigerian Dwarves under Judge Rusty Repp. In the 2nd ring, Silveraurora TH Xbean, Vanilla's daughter by our boy Thunder, not only took the Grand, but then went on to win Best Junior Doe in Show under Judge Daniel Considine! Congratulations to Heather Fair, her new owner. Silveraurora TH Xenya, a buck sired by our Jobi Thunder that we sold as a kid has now completed his ADGA and AGS dual championship for his herd owner! His dam was Butterscotch, the first ND kid born here on our farm. We have his littermate brother here in our herd, waiting in the wings.
Silveraurora is proud to announce the following awards we received for our 2005 Top Ten One Day Test milk production!!
QSF DTI Patience*D*M AR(both registries)
#2 High Score
#2 High Milk - 6.6 pounds!!
ARMCH Twin Creek's PM Scarlet*D*M AR(both registries)
#6 High Score
#7 High Milk
#8 High Butterfat
QSF DTI Faith*D*M AR (both registries)
#9 High Score
#10 High Milk
#11 (4 way tie) High Protein
Gay-Mor Mick's Poison Locket*D*M AR (both registries)
#7 High Butterfat
Herzinger's Bella Luna *D (AR pending both registries)
#4 High Butterfat
We also went home with the Lowest Somatic Cell Count on 305 day test with a 1.0 Linear Format.
Many more milk awards are posted on the girl's webpage too.
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We just want to say a word about our girls and their milk weights/production records. For more than 2 years now we have gone over to once a day milking. As we fine-tune our farm expansion, I hope to return to twice a day milking and help show how good our milkers really are. As it is, we have a number of girls who will gladly milk the full 10 months with an average of nearly 3 pounds of milk a day with a total lactation of 800 pounds or more. This has given me the opportunity to realize who my really solid milkers are.....those who will keep milking reliably and not drop off down to nothing by 6 or 7 months. For some families, milking only once a day is preferred. As our breeding program improves, we are pleased with the results we are seeing both in the show ring and the milk pail!
Above is one of our lovely does, ARMCH Twin Creek's PM Scarlet*D *M AR both registries.
