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A little intro & some of the basics.... but first, some pics of Narnia baby goats
Slide show pictures taken by Chet McKnight
Narnia Goat Farm is located in Sequim, WA on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. The delightful Nigerian Dwarf goats living at Narnia are purebred, registered with ADGA, and participate in performance programs.
The goats are bred and cared for by Jacki Marquart and husband Ben Smith.
Ben and his brother are 4th generation Holstein dairy operators. They also share a crop operation and grass-fed beef operation and they truck their own cows' milk to Darigold's cheese making plant in Chehalis, WA.
I'm Jacki. My educational and professional background are a mix of business and social work. I'm thankful that life led me down this fortunate path to do something full time that I feel fulfilled and passionate by/about.
Breeding Nigerians Dwarf goats using performance tools like the ADGA Linear Appraisal program, ADGA sanctioned dairy goat shows, Dairy Herd Improvement milk testing program, DNA and Casein type testing; allows us to measure progress each year as we breed for better production & conformation in daughters compared to their dams and other does across the country. Doing a good job at this has required quite a bit of regular homework to source the genetic traits that we want to incorporate in our herd. It also requires that we sell both adults and children each year so that we can devote our resources towards raising our retained breeding stock. < Cue the song "Letting Go" from the movie Frozen.> We use bucks who live on our farm. At this time, we have eight. Someone has a hard time letting go of goats. Okay, it's me. Ben is a professional farmer lol. I do know that goats are NOT monogamous and they don't each need their own mate. Make me an offer I can't refuse and I will sell you a buck. Otherwise, I only keep bucklings intact if there is a demand for specific ones or I need them for my own breeding purposes. We also use frozen semen from other breeder's bucks from around the country via the artificial insemination process. The use of reproductive technology is amazing and rewarding. It allows us to access a deeper and broader gene pool. We have used so many other tools to learn more about breeding goats and we have had the opportunity to be mentored by breeders who are very experienced. At some point I hope to make a resources tab. I also can't measure the volume of things that I have learned from people that I have met from Facebook groups related to dairy goats. There have even been ex cow dairy farmers who now breed and raise dairy goats to help Ben to learn how the process is similar but also the important ways that cows and goats are different.
If you are shopping for a well put together miniature dairy goat or even pets... we have those. Contrary to rumors about goats being willing to eat anything, they are ruminants like cows and have pretty specific dietary needs and preferences. They are more likely to become a lawn ornament than a lawn mower. They will eat weeds, misc. bushes, trees, bark and branches, wild rose bushes, crunchy dry leaves, strip berry vines, and many other bits of nature before they will eat the grass (usually.) I will always try to match browsers or buyers with the pedigree lines, show potential, milking abilities, personality traits or appearance traits that they are trying to find. If I don't have the right goat - I have lots of breeder friends that I can refer you to!
If you are new to goats, I have advice! It's good to figure out what personality types will work best for you before you shop. This is especially important with Nigerian Dwarf goats because their personality traits are plentiful. It's also good to figure out what you most want from having goats because that helps to shop for the right goats for your situation and makes it less likely that you will want to re home ones that are a bad fit for you. I'm definitely going to tell you what I think my goats assets and limitations are. I personally would rather the right goats and people end up together for a happy match whenever possible. Do you need a working milker who is independent and minds her own business? A playful hooligan of a pet? Breeding stock from a specific blood line? A show goat? I do hope that there is a goat or a family line in my herd that you will want to purchase or reserve a kid from because I will go insane if I keep them all. Whether you buy goats from me or someone else, I encourage you to spend some time finding ones that will be a plus in your day to day. "Stubborn as a goat" is a real thing. Some of ours are dam raised and some are bottle raised. Beginning in 2025, we will be bottle raising most litters. There are a few moms that are so darn sweet and maternal. I'm going to let them raise their kids because it makes me happy. But overall, I have become convinced that the bottle and bucket fed kids grow up to be less independent and easier to train to be led and clipped to a show tie line and to cooperate while being shown. They are more likely to tolerate being clipped from head to toe for pictures or for showing or to get appraised. In my experience, dam raised or bottle raised train to the milk stand about the same because they get fed on the stand.
Disease tested negative annually 2020 2021 2022 2023, and July 2024 for CAE, CL, Johnes, and anything that I randomly become worried about LOL. We test all goats over 9 months old in late summer before breeding begins. Test results are more reliable after the age of 1 and yield less false positives or false negatives. If you are purchasing a first freshener who was too young to be tested during our pre breeding round of tests and would like her or him to have a test for the above illnesses at our cost before bringing a goat home, we are willing to do that. Any additional testing like Q fever or tuberculosis etc will be at the buyer's expense. If a goat needs a veterinarian's CVI before traveling out of state that would be a buyer's expense as well. All costs for pick up or transportation are the buyers responsibility. If a goat is sick or injured when they are due to be picked up or transported, a new date will need to be selected. Moving is stressful on a goat's immune system. We typically give goats an injection of fortified multi B if they have to travel anywhere. For longer transport we give them Inforce 3 nasal spray to boost their immune systems for a week to 10 days. Unless a person requests something different in advance, all kids are disbudded, vaccinated with the CD&T toxoid and have their testicles banded at various points in the first 8 weeks. We vaccine booster our does 6 weeks prior to kidding and we administer a half of a dose by body weight of BoSe 2 weeks before kidding. Newborn kids are given .10 ml of BoSe after being born and fed as much colostrum as possible in the first 24 hours. Our kids are on coccidia prevention until they are 4 months old. Our bucks get their vaccination booster annually along with preparation 6 or more weeks before breeding season begins. They get BoSe at that time, some vitamins AD&E weekly and just a thorough health screening to make sure that they are producing healthy semen. All of our goats get their hooves trimmed monthly.
I will continue to add to this section as I update and build this website.
The goats are bred and cared for by Jacki Marquart and husband Ben Smith.
Ben and his brother are 4th generation Holstein dairy operators. They also share a crop operation and grass-fed beef operation and they truck their own cows' milk to Darigold's cheese making plant in Chehalis, WA.
I'm Jacki. My educational and professional background are a mix of business and social work. I'm thankful that life led me down this fortunate path to do something full time that I feel fulfilled and passionate by/about.
Breeding Nigerians Dwarf goats using performance tools like the ADGA Linear Appraisal program, ADGA sanctioned dairy goat shows, Dairy Herd Improvement milk testing program, DNA and Casein type testing; allows us to measure progress each year as we breed for better production & conformation in daughters compared to their dams and other does across the country. Doing a good job at this has required quite a bit of regular homework to source the genetic traits that we want to incorporate in our herd. It also requires that we sell both adults and children each year so that we can devote our resources towards raising our retained breeding stock. < Cue the song "Letting Go" from the movie Frozen.> We use bucks who live on our farm. At this time, we have eight. Someone has a hard time letting go of goats. Okay, it's me. Ben is a professional farmer lol. I do know that goats are NOT monogamous and they don't each need their own mate. Make me an offer I can't refuse and I will sell you a buck. Otherwise, I only keep bucklings intact if there is a demand for specific ones or I need them for my own breeding purposes. We also use frozen semen from other breeder's bucks from around the country via the artificial insemination process. The use of reproductive technology is amazing and rewarding. It allows us to access a deeper and broader gene pool. We have used so many other tools to learn more about breeding goats and we have had the opportunity to be mentored by breeders who are very experienced. At some point I hope to make a resources tab. I also can't measure the volume of things that I have learned from people that I have met from Facebook groups related to dairy goats. There have even been ex cow dairy farmers who now breed and raise dairy goats to help Ben to learn how the process is similar but also the important ways that cows and goats are different.
If you are shopping for a well put together miniature dairy goat or even pets... we have those. Contrary to rumors about goats being willing to eat anything, they are ruminants like cows and have pretty specific dietary needs and preferences. They are more likely to become a lawn ornament than a lawn mower. They will eat weeds, misc. bushes, trees, bark and branches, wild rose bushes, crunchy dry leaves, strip berry vines, and many other bits of nature before they will eat the grass (usually.) I will always try to match browsers or buyers with the pedigree lines, show potential, milking abilities, personality traits or appearance traits that they are trying to find. If I don't have the right goat - I have lots of breeder friends that I can refer you to!
If you are new to goats, I have advice! It's good to figure out what personality types will work best for you before you shop. This is especially important with Nigerian Dwarf goats because their personality traits are plentiful. It's also good to figure out what you most want from having goats because that helps to shop for the right goats for your situation and makes it less likely that you will want to re home ones that are a bad fit for you. I'm definitely going to tell you what I think my goats assets and limitations are. I personally would rather the right goats and people end up together for a happy match whenever possible. Do you need a working milker who is independent and minds her own business? A playful hooligan of a pet? Breeding stock from a specific blood line? A show goat? I do hope that there is a goat or a family line in my herd that you will want to purchase or reserve a kid from because I will go insane if I keep them all. Whether you buy goats from me or someone else, I encourage you to spend some time finding ones that will be a plus in your day to day. "Stubborn as a goat" is a real thing. Some of ours are dam raised and some are bottle raised. Beginning in 2025, we will be bottle raising most litters. There are a few moms that are so darn sweet and maternal. I'm going to let them raise their kids because it makes me happy. But overall, I have become convinced that the bottle and bucket fed kids grow up to be less independent and easier to train to be led and clipped to a show tie line and to cooperate while being shown. They are more likely to tolerate being clipped from head to toe for pictures or for showing or to get appraised. In my experience, dam raised or bottle raised train to the milk stand about the same because they get fed on the stand.
Disease tested negative annually 2020 2021 2022 2023, and July 2024 for CAE, CL, Johnes, and anything that I randomly become worried about LOL. We test all goats over 9 months old in late summer before breeding begins. Test results are more reliable after the age of 1 and yield less false positives or false negatives. If you are purchasing a first freshener who was too young to be tested during our pre breeding round of tests and would like her or him to have a test for the above illnesses at our cost before bringing a goat home, we are willing to do that. Any additional testing like Q fever or tuberculosis etc will be at the buyer's expense. If a goat needs a veterinarian's CVI before traveling out of state that would be a buyer's expense as well. All costs for pick up or transportation are the buyers responsibility. If a goat is sick or injured when they are due to be picked up or transported, a new date will need to be selected. Moving is stressful on a goat's immune system. We typically give goats an injection of fortified multi B if they have to travel anywhere. For longer transport we give them Inforce 3 nasal spray to boost their immune systems for a week to 10 days. Unless a person requests something different in advance, all kids are disbudded, vaccinated with the CD&T toxoid and have their testicles banded at various points in the first 8 weeks. We vaccine booster our does 6 weeks prior to kidding and we administer a half of a dose by body weight of BoSe 2 weeks before kidding. Newborn kids are given .10 ml of BoSe after being born and fed as much colostrum as possible in the first 24 hours. Our kids are on coccidia prevention until they are 4 months old. Our bucks get their vaccination booster annually along with preparation 6 or more weeks before breeding season begins. They get BoSe at that time, some vitamins AD&E weekly and just a thorough health screening to make sure that they are producing healthy semen. All of our goats get their hooves trimmed monthly.
I will continue to add to this section as I update and build this website.
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