Welcome to Rubystar Nubians & Guernseys
The herd queen and trail boss, Kalakala
I maintain a small group of registered purebred Nubians and an American Guernsey doe on a few acres in Western Washington, 30 minutes (minus traffic) south of Seattle. As I am a college student, I am not able to participate in as many of the ADGA events as I would like, but I have DHIR records for my milking does, have participated in Linear Appraisal and attempt to attend at least one ADGA sanctioned show per year.
I test my girls annually for CAE, and am willing to test any goat I sell for any disease at the buyer's request and expense. Since 2007 my herd is comprised of only CAE negative animals. I have had two recently CL-tested kids, and both were negative. I do feed my kids raw milk, but only from my recently tested CAE-negative dams.
I believe in using the goat's natural instincts and behavior in order to tame and handle each animal. I have found that day One of a goat's life is the optimal time for imprinting the babies, and the first week for developing the kid's opinion of people. I try to take the goats out on off leash walks as often as possible between late fall and early spring, allowing them to get exercise, broaden their diet and develop their natural behaviors. Buyers frequently comment on how easy my goats are to handle.
I'll take deposits on buck kids, but I like to comb through the doelings first, since my girls can be stingy with doe babies, and then will list anybody extra in the summer. I'm planning to keep one Nubian doeling, and a Guernsey, if Garnet cooperates with me.
I'm also an avid collector of goat history-related literature and a goat history buff in general. I'm accumulating a variety of old magazines (Dairy Goat Journal, United Caprine News, etc), with my oldest magazine being 1950's vintage. I'm presently on the lookout for the book Nubian History; if you know of anyone who has a goat collection and is getting rid of it, I'd love to get a copy. I'm also known to pick up older Nubian semen, and have every intention of using some on my little herd eventually.
I test my girls annually for CAE, and am willing to test any goat I sell for any disease at the buyer's request and expense. Since 2007 my herd is comprised of only CAE negative animals. I have had two recently CL-tested kids, and both were negative. I do feed my kids raw milk, but only from my recently tested CAE-negative dams.
I believe in using the goat's natural instincts and behavior in order to tame and handle each animal. I have found that day One of a goat's life is the optimal time for imprinting the babies, and the first week for developing the kid's opinion of people. I try to take the goats out on off leash walks as often as possible between late fall and early spring, allowing them to get exercise, broaden their diet and develop their natural behaviors. Buyers frequently comment on how easy my goats are to handle.
I'll take deposits on buck kids, but I like to comb through the doelings first, since my girls can be stingy with doe babies, and then will list anybody extra in the summer. I'm planning to keep one Nubian doeling, and a Guernsey, if Garnet cooperates with me.
I'm also an avid collector of goat history-related literature and a goat history buff in general. I'm accumulating a variety of old magazines (Dairy Goat Journal, United Caprine News, etc), with my oldest magazine being 1950's vintage. I'm presently on the lookout for the book Nubian History; if you know of anyone who has a goat collection and is getting rid of it, I'd love to get a copy. I'm also known to pick up older Nubian semen, and have every intention of using some on my little herd eventually.
