Cupcake’s ultrasound
Part of the wait is finally over! Late yesterday afternoon our local veterinarian visited with an ultrasound machine, and we had every doe checked for kids. We have never had preg checks done on our farm before, so this was an excellent learning experience.
We now have all of our planned does bred to kid in 2015! This year we will have three does scheduled to kid, as listed in the table below. This year we will not be selling any doelings, as we are still building up our herd numbers. We will, however, be selling any bucklings that are born. All goats will be registered with the Canadian Goat Society. Please contact for pricing. Continue reading
Clover in 3rd place in the Toggenburg Dry Yearling Class. It was very close between her and the 2nd place doe.
This year we entered the Goat Association of Nova Scotia’s Summer Classic Open Doe Show for a second time. The show took place on August 21, 2013 at the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition in Bible Hill, and was judged by James Bennett. This particular show was an official Canadian Goat Society (CGS) Sanctioned show. Sam decided she would again take her first and most favourite goat, Rocky Mount Loot Spirit (Spirit) as a milking doe entry, and her new dry yearling, Tip Top Cocoa Cream (Clover). This was just the second time that the Summer Young name was going to be hung from the rails of Sam’s goat pen at a show. The day before the show she spent all day bathing the goats and touching up their coats with pocket clippers. Sam did her best work for this show because she knew it was the biggest one she was competing in this year and that there was a lot of difficult competition. Goat breeders from all over Nova Scotia and New Brunswick came to this show every year, making it a very diverse show with lots of different breeds of goats.
Sam and Clover in the 4-H Dry Yearling Class
This summer was our first time entering livestock in the ever-growing Halifax County Exhibition. Sam was scheduled to show on the first day of competitions, Wednesday, August 14, in the 4-H show. This exhibition is the qualifying show for all the 4-H clubs in the county of Halifax-East Hants, meaning that every project that placed well here got to go on and compete at the Nova Scotia Provincial 4-H show at the end of September. Knowing this, Sam tried her hardest to win a first or second place in all of her classes with the Summer Young goats.
Dancer and Trinity hiding around the corner of the doe house.
Well, long story short, we bought two more goats. This goat thing is turning into a serious addiction.
On July 27, 2013, an ad for three purebred Toggenburg kids appeared on the Nova Scotia Kijiji website. Sam saw it and immediately began begging her mother to buy just one goat for her. Continue reading
Last week Sam applied to register the herd name “Summer Young”, and as of today, July 12, she is an official breeder with the Canadian Goat Society! The hardest part of the whole process was picking three other alternative name choices if Summer Young was not available. The names “Grass Valley”, “Gidgets” and “Little Country” were all submitted as second, third and fourth choices. Thankfully, Sam’s first choice was approved! The tattoo letters SYT were also chosen. This stands for “Summer Young Toggenburgs” (in case it was not obvious!).
Sam exhibiting Rocky Mount Loot Spirit in the senior goat showmanship class at the Shu-Mil 4-H Achievement Day.
On July 9, 2013, Sam attended her first 4-H Achievement Day at the Recreational Hall in Milford. The idea of an Achievement Day is to allow 4-H members to have a “practice show” against their fellow club members. The name of Sam’s local 4-H club is Shu-Mil, so only Shu-Mil 4-H’ers showed up. At Achievement Day, every project that is completed by a member is on display for family, friends and other members to view. Everyone who completes their project is awarded a first place ribbon. If a member completes their project work (including judging of sample projects, public speaking or demonstrations and club involvement), they are awarded a gold achievement award.
Pennybrook Farm 