We waited, and bought well
The goats are the newest thing on this farm, and we went about it the way we'd tell anyone else to — rather than buying whatever was available nearby, we waited until we could start with animals worth building on.
Our entire foundation herd came from Ferntree Hill Dairy Goats at Toolangi, here in Victoria. They have been breeding Nigerian Dwarfs since 2019, they work with 100% USA genetics — largely by AI with imported semen — and they select hard for the two things that matter most in a dairy goat: correct conformation, and large, well-attached udders that genuinely produce.
Those lines are sought after, and we know exactly how fortunate we are to have started with them. Every one of our does is DNA parent verified, and the full pedigree behind each animal is recorded on her own page.
What we won't do is pretend we have decades behind us. This is a brand new program. What we can tell you is precisely where our animals came from, precisely what sits behind them, and precisely what we're breeding toward — udders, temperament and correctness, in that order.
The next step is already planned. We intend to bring in a second buck from unrelated lines next year, because four does and one buck out of a single stud is a wonderful place to start and a narrow place to stay. Widening the genetic base early costs us very little now and saves us a great deal later. [Add who or where from once it's settled.]
