The American Dairy Goat Association

www.ADGA.org

 SOLDIER MOUNTAIN ALPINES

    ~Where form meets function~

Winter has finally arrived on the prairie! Jan 22, 2012

We are located on the high Camas Prairie in Central Idaho, at the base of Sawtooth National Forest.  We maintain a small herd of Alpine dairy goats that excel in both production and show.  We are on DHIR test, and also participate in linear appraisal.  Though we are not able to attend many shows, the herd has done very well in their limited outings.  We are also proud to have had several does make the Top Ten list for production.

2009 was a fabulous year for us, as we were able to attend our first ever ADGA National Show in Sacramento.  We took 10 animals, and much to our delight, our lowest placing was 16th!  Every animal made the cut, and quite a few made the Top Ten!  It's wonderful to get confirmation that our breeding program is on the right track.

We also had a wonderful Iinear appraisal session, with the highlight being our home-bred doe Maxine scoring an incredible 92 EEEE! 

Our herd has just tested negative yet again for CAE in 2011, and kids are bottle raised on heat-treated colostrum and pastuerized milk.  We routinely test the entire herd every winter.  Goats are fed alfalfa and grass hay raised on our own farm, free choice and we use a 16% dairy goat feed for the milkers.  CD/T, Lysigin, Pasturella vaccines, and worming are done on a regular basis.

Fall 2011-  Breeding season is in full swing here at Soldier Mountain.  Most of the older does have been bred, and many of the upcoming doelings as well.   We decided to "take a break" this year, and opted out of both linear appraisal and the fall fair season.  A stressful spring with some not-so-nice goat experiences put us on the edge of burn out, and sometimes a break is simply good for the soul.   We also decided to dry the girls off early, although Pensive was on track for a 5,000# lactation, and several others were at Top Ten levels.   I think the break has done us all good!  We will be back into the thick of it next year, although we will be much more selective of the events we attend and the time spent away from home.