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Welcome to our sweet little farm we call Sweet Gum
Minis. We named our little farm after the many huge sweet gum trees we
have around our property. They are very tall and shade our pasture in
the hot summer and shed their leaves in the winter to allow the sun to
warm the barn and pastures. I really enjoy the trees and what they
offer. We raise miniature goats so hence the "Minis" on then end. All of
the kids born here will take SGM as our herdname.
My name is Ashley and I'm the main goat-person in our
family. My husband Steve, our 6 year old daughter
Hannah and 3 year old son Matthew make up the Capps family at Sweet Gum
Minis. We purchased our first two goats in the spring of 2005 for brush
control. We had purchased two "bred" Pygmy mix does and one did prove to
be pregnant. The birth and breeding aspect appealed to me so we
purchased our first buck. He was a polled unregistered Nigerian. In the
spring of 2006 we purchased our first registered doe and slowly moved
over to an all registered herd.
I chose Nigerians originally due to their flashy
colors. I didn't know much about dairy goats at the time but was very
willing to learn. When we purchased our first couple of Nigerians I
immediately fell in love with the breed and knew we would always have
Nigerians. We have dabbled a little in a few other breeds but that has
only strengthened our love for Nigerians. We are meant to be a
mini-breed farm and that mini breed has to be Nigerians!
I, Ashley, have always been an animal advocate/fanatic.
I grew up around a lot of animals, but no livestock. I did, however,
volunteer at a friends horse stable just to be around the horses. I have
volunteered with the Kitten Action Team, cat and kitten rescue and
fostering. And then we volunteered and fostered with Greyhounds & Love
for retired racing Greyhounds. I am too much of a softy always adopting
some of my fosters so we don't foster much anymore. I never thought
about goats until we purchased this land and had a kudzu and brush
problem. We were told repeatedly that goats were the way to go to
control brush. Who would have known that it would spiral out of control
like it did. ;o)
When we purchased our first Nigerians we started with
nice looking goats but quickly learned what our goals were going to be
and have since added animals that will help us achieve our goals. We are
striving to produce very correct dairy animals with high wide well
attached udders that are easy to milk. I actually never thought about
milking in the beginning but have found a real joy in milking. You learn
quickly by milking what you like and don't. That makes selection and
lines easier to maintain.
I cannot wait to see what our kids can do in our herd
and in other's herds. I am proud of the animals we own and animals we're
producing. Look from great things in the future! Thanks for reading!
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