For more than 20 years our family has been breeding, raising and showing registered
dairy goats. I obtained my first Toggenburg in 1980 when we lived in NE Texas.
Currently we are raising Alpines, Oberhaslis, Toggenburgs, and Nubians.
We are proud of our show quality goats because they exhibit strong dairy character
and continue to prove themselves worthy of praise and wins in the show ring every
year. We have a beautiful, healthy herd that produces for us an abundant supply of
milk.
The overflow of milk we have after feeding the kids has given us an opportunity to
enjoy making goat cheeses, kefir, goat milk fudge, goat milk ice cream, goat milk
yogurt and our luxury goat milk soap.
It is our continued goal to take the strong genetic traits we have and produce
quality show animals with a consistent performance from each generation we breed. It
is our normal practice to breed our goats in October of every year. Kids begin
arriving in March. We use CAE preventative methods. All kids are removed from
their dams at birth and hand-raised on heat-treated colostrums and pasteurized goat
milk. We always look forward to each new kid crop every spring.
We are thankful to those who have helped us achieve our goals along the way and to
those who have, in the past, purchased our animals. It is because of you that we
are able to be successful in all of our caprine dairy endeavors.
If you are interested in purchasing one of our dairy goats, please
contact us to discuss your options. It is our desire to help you reach the goals you have set for
your herd.
Special People who have
helped us along the way:
There are many special people who have helped us along the way in our journey with dairy goats. Each of these people has shown to me their heart for a love of goats and their fellow goat enthusiast. In our book, the goat world is a better place because of them all. I am openly grateful to GOD for HIS blessing of friends !!!
I must begin at the beginning by mentioning my dear friend,
B. J. Peters, whom I met in the late 1970’s. At the time, we both lived outside of the small town of Wolfe City, Texas. B.J. raised a herd of wonderful show quality Toggenburg dairy goats. I had no children then and I enjoyed the special blessing of having loads of free time to spend at the farm of my newfound friend who was willing to share her time and knowledge with me. She was my first mentor in learning about goats and she taught me much of what I know about dairy goats today. I am so grateful to her for helping me learn about and then obtain my first goats of beauty and worth. Sadly, these were the animals I lost in the dog attack that occurred shortly after I moved “back home” to Mississippi in 1987. Thank you so much B. J. for all you did for me “way back when”. I never dreamed “back then” how our meeting so many long years ago would influence my life’s journey. I see today, that GOD knew all about it.
In knowing B.J., I came to know
Pat Faucet who is instrumental in managing the dairy goat shows of the Pan American Livestock Exposition during the State Fair of Texas in Dallas each year. Pat is a joy to know and we always look forward to attending her shows in Dallas, Texas !! Because of Pat, I feel that I just might one day “grow up to be” the “traveling milk-tester” we talked so much about.
After living in Texas for almost 20 years and then moving back to Mississippi, I had a strong desire to establish a new group of friends that shared a common interest in goats. This was made possible when after some research I found the
Mississippi Goat Association and then met the folks that made up the core membership of that club. Over the years, I do not believe there was ever a single member that did not offer help and support to me and my family as we continued our path to raise our dairy goats. We love you all each one but, because of circumstances, there are a few of the folks that really stand out in my mind. I first met
Grace and Perry Voorhees and we appreciate them so much for being “the ones” that got Sarah involved in the Alpine breed. Then, I remember
Sandra and Ronald Collins as they have been so consistently loving and giving to Sarah over the years and are “the ones”
who helped Sarah with the first breeding of her Alpine doe, Parfait. This is where our history with the Alpine breed all began. I can not go on without mention of our dear friends
Patricia Blankenship and her husband, Mike, whose fun loving nature and good spirits are always a joy to be around. I admire
Lise and Greg Williams and their daughter, Jennifer so very much for their many years of active and tireless support to all of the youth goat events in our state. This is the heart of our future and the Williams family shows true dedication in guiding the children to success in their chosen area of interest.
Wandra and Raymond Evans have helped us in many ways. Folks all over the state turn to them for good advice and they are always there for us when we need help.
Raymond and Lise are THE Ones that established and continue a one day milk test for our group each year.
Denise and Todd
Willis, Debbie and Mark Huff, Rett Clark and
Lisa, Shelia Lee, Rob Cowen, Janet
Cooper, Nan Johnson. Cy and Brandi and Staci
Carter, Linda and Lindsey Brown, the Cecil family, Linda
Parsons, the Pettigrew family, the Joe King family
and many others – I thank you all so much!!! I want to tell all of our friends – old and new - how special you are to us.
Words could never express my love and gratitude to our dear friends,
Elise Clark and her daughter, Madeleine. They are the reason Sarah was able to become the owner of her first Oberhasli doe named “Kiki”. Elise was also the one who made it possible for Sarah to breed Kiki for her first Oberhasli twin kids. Over the years, Elise has been of great support to us and the dairy industry in Mississippi. Without her, Sarah would not have come to know and admire the Oberhasli breed as she does nor would she have the quality Oberhasli herd she enjoys owning today. Both of these friends gave an extra effort to teach and mentor Sarah into being the most consistent first place Showmanship winner in our neck of the woods. These were invaluable lessons given and we know that “thank you” seems too small of an expression to give for all they have done for us over the years. Needless to say, we do thank both Elise and Madeleine for all of their love and support and close friendship.
In my research for the best nutritional choices I could make for my herd of dairy goats, I came to know
Wythe and Marian Quarles of Springbriar Farm in North Carolina. I began using the Springbriar feed products and saw an amazing difference in the condition and overall health and look of our entire herd. This was very exciting and we have never stopped using these products to this day. Along the way, we were able to purchase some of their Springbriar Farm Toggenburg does and bucks. They are beautiful additions to our herd and have proved themselves worthy of wins in the ring many times. Thank you so much to both Wythe and Marian for allowing us to own some of your beautiful Toggenburgs and for your continued help in the area of nutrition for our goats.
Passage of time soon brought us to come to know
Tommy Garrison who is the owner of the Cotoico herd in Texas. As some of you reading this may know, it was with great sadness that Tommy dispersed his herd in 2005. We feel a kindred bond with Tommy as our friend and for giving us his help over the years to obtain our purebred Oberhasli bucks and some of our American Oberhasli does. Thank you too, Tommy, you are a valued friend.
Through Tommy, we were given the chance to meet
Penny Mayfield of the Penjac herd also located in Texas. We love you too, Penny!!
In 2003, while attending the Mid-South Fair in Memphis, Tennessee, we met and visited with
Terri and Matthew Dziadkowiec of the Delta-RHO herd located in Tennessee. Our pens were located near each other so we had a chance to talk and look at their lovely Alpine doe show string. How we admired the body style and gorgeous udders seen on his does!! In 2004, Sarah was given the opportunity to purchase an Alpine buck from them. Sarah named him Monarch. She also was able to get a little doe, named Monoi from them as well. Terri and Matthew have both been so very supportive of Sarah. We got to be with them again in Memphis at the Fair show in 2004 and they helped her more than they will ever know by showing some of her goats for her. Thank you so much, Terri and Matthew for your continued spirit of caring and for helping us over the years. We really value your friendship so much!
I want to express our gratitude to
Mike Metzger who is the owner of the New Era herd for meeting us in Louisville, Kentucky in 2003 to pick up Pepsi, who is Sarah’s only purebred Oberhasli doe. How grand it was to meet him in person and to see his beautiful show goats. We feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to obtain this little doe from him. Thank you so much,
Mike!!
Sarah and I went to Brenham, Texas in 2004, to pick up our new Oberhasli herd buck from our friend,
Tommy Garrison. While there, we were introduced to Don and Donna Moore
of Moore’s Meadow. We were able to speak to them about our interest in obtaining some Nubians to add to our herd. As things would go, we were making a trip to Abilene, Texas later that summer. We had the opportunity then to visit with the Moore’s and pick up three of these Nubians from them. What a treasure they are for us to own.
Thanks again, Don and Donna for your help in starting our Nubian herd.
We would also like to tell our friend,
Gil Rogers thank you for introducing us to the Moore’s while in Brenham. Gil was preparing his doe Giselle for the ring. I was admiring her from a distance until I could stand it no longer and walked over to praise her beauty and introduce myself to her owner. Gil and Sarah and I became fast friends and though the meeting and conversation was brief, we continued to be in contact with each other. Gil had two bucks that were of interest to Sarah so we made the choice to add them both to our herd for future use. Pharaoh is the son of the doe I fell in love with in Brenham so I am hoping to see her duplicated here at Southern Touch Farm.
Just before Christmas in 2004, we had a surprise visit to our home from
Ida and Andy Purcella of All American Artificial Insemination who live in Coquille, Oregon. We held a mini semen collection and off they went to Georgia. On their way back to Oregon from Georgia, they stayed with us again and gave Sarah some invaluable help in learning how to be successful with her AI program. Under their expert tutelage, Sarah successfully bred by AI her Oberhasli doe, Kiki to Tonka Tails Rae of Stonehenge. I don’t remember when we had so much excitement around here as those AI kids hit the ground. What a pleasure it is to call Andy and Ida our friends. We thank you both for all of your extremely beneficial knowledge being shared with Sarah.
Finally, in 2005, we were able once again to have the chance to obtain more of
Donna and Don Moore’s excellent stock. We purchased a beauty of a Toggenburg buck kid named Famous. Then in the late spring we had the privilege of getting an Alpine buck named Valor that is a son of the infamous Ruffian. When we were at the Moore’s to pick up Valor, Sarah was very excited to see she would also be able to get two Alpine does named Kalini and Delight. What a great addition these two little bucks and does will be for our herd and how grateful we are to the Moore’s, once again, for allowing us to be proud owners of some of their show winning stock!!!
It is my privilege to say “thank you” to each one of you friends and acquaintances that have helped and encouraged us along the way. We are eternally grateful for your support, friendship and love.
