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The herd name, Nubian Bubbies, was created by Kathy Larson and
Wendy Mickle in 1990. Our love of goats began when we purchased two 2-day old
Nubian kids - we quickly fell in love with Mik and Maude's long lopped ears
and sweet personalities. They stole our hearts and we were officially hooked
on goats from that day forward.
After several years, we purchased two bred
yearling Nubian does to begin producing goat milk. We thought seriously of
selling kids for 4-H, but after bottle feeding Sam (Sammy Camel Lips), Sadie
(Sadie Muffin) and Joey (Joey Opal Eater) (of course there's a story that
goes with each of these names!), there was no way to part with them. All of
our kids receive heat-treated colostrum at birth and they are bottle-fed
pasteurized goat milk as part of a disease prevention program against the
contraction of CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephilitis). The bottle feeding
process lasts two to three months and creates a wonderful bond between the
kids and their new surrogate moms (that's us!). It also makes for much calmer and friendlier does when brought into the milking parlor and handling them for vaccinations and checking their overall health.
Our herd now numbers fifty-two heads. We have two
handsome bucks; fifteen milking does, thirty bouncing kids and several others
that are strictly pets that we can't part with. Our current milking does
produce 16+ gallons per day. Connie also has four does that are sweet as can
be. We are currently leasing them for their milk production.
 Nubian Bubbies is a seasonal dairy, milking only
from February through November. Our girls provide us with an abundance of
milk and deserve time off to rejuvenate their bodies before being rebred to
begin freshening again in February and March. We also use this time to
reenergize ourselves for those sleepless nights and long days during kidding
as well as socializing again with family and friends.
Every goat on the farm including each kid
born, has a name, and responds to their name. It's getting a little harder as
the years go by to come up with a unique name for each kid, so this year we
enlisted the help of a 4-year old niece and 4-year old cousin. They were
helpful with names such as Clara, Dora, Fred and Eric!
Two other very important members of our goat
 family are our Great Pyrenees guard dogs, Molly and Toby. We
purchased them at the age of 12 weeks and they've lived with the goats ever
since. They've been tremendous protectors against the predators in our area,
such as coyote. They send out warning barks repeatedly throughout the night
to fend off any would-be threats. They're a very mellow breed and do well
with the goats. In the three years we've had them, we've had no predator
problems at all. We're looking to add two more to patrol the other half of
our pasture.
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