Fallen Fence Farm is home to the Wether Or Not Nigerian Dwarves and Long Haired Mini Silky Fainters. We are located just south of Warrenton, Virginia and just north of Culpeper.
Everyone has a story on how they acquired their first goat. Here's mine!
It all started in early November of 2002 when a friend and I went with our horses to a Maryland B&B for a weekend of trail riding.
To our delight, the B&B owner had two of the cutest little miniature goats. These little creatures were snow white with bright blue eyes. They were so playful and loved to jump. At times, it looked like they were flying. I knew very little about goats, but I knew I had never seen any like these before. I had seen lots of Nubians , Pygmies, and a La Mancha or two, but never anything like these little things—Nigerian Dwarf goats. It was love at first sight .
As soon as I got home Sunday evening, I hopped on the internet to find out more about Nigerian Dwarf goats. Well before long, I came across the Virginia breeder’s list. I probably called about six breeders before I found one home and with babies! Lucky for me the breeder was also a horse owner and we chatted for hours. Somewhere in there, I arranged to go look at the triplet does that were just born on Halloween. Only one kid was being offered for sale—I didn’t care I wanted her sight unseen. Breezy Hill Dottie Lu became my very first goat. I couldn’t wait for her to turn eight weeks old so I could bring her home.
Everyone I talked to said “you can’t have just one goat-they need a companion”. So while I was waiting for Dottie to be weaned, I was in search of her playmate. I found the sweetest cou clair wether, whom I named Patch because of his patchwork markings, to be her pasture mate. Patch was six months old and ready to go, but Dottie wasn’t coming home for another seven weeks. So Patch got a buddy, another wether named George.
Although I bought Dottie as a registered doe, I had no plans for showing. At the time, I didn’t even know there were goat shows other than for 4-H kids. In May of 2003 , when Dottie was about seven months, she was entered in her first show at the request of the breeder I purchased her from. Since Dottie was still rather small and spoiled rotten she rode the three hours to the show in the front seat of the pickup with me.
There were two separate judged shows with about twenty entries in each. In the first show, Dottie stood fourth. In the second show, she took second place. You would have thought I won the Grand Championship. I was so proud of my little doeling and hooked on showing.
Two weeks later, I was off with Dottie, Patch, and George to the Harrisonburg, VA show. Dottie brought home the Blue Ribbon in both her classes. Patch and George were in the same class and they were the class. Patch won the first round and George won the second. I was hooked on goats and on the competition. I needed more goats so I could show them off. I soon added Tansy , Rae-Rae, and Safari to my herd. Now my girls are grandmothers and great-grandmothers.
Bucks-oh stinky bucks. Nope, I wanted no part of them. Now I have six Nigerian Dwarf bucks and four Miniature Silky Fainting bucks.
One goat gets you three. Three gets you a full herd before long. At last count I had over 30!
