Most important things first....we have our first STAR milker!!  We are pleased to announced that Jasper Pines SHH Trixie *M has earned her milk star with ADGA for butterfat.  Trixie's high test day percentage so far was 9.3% butterfat.  She reached the star minimum for butterfat around 60 days fresh. She will also star in protein after next test.  We anticipate that this will be the start of monthly ADGA milk star announcements (Muse is 1# of butterfat away and many more are barrelling towards the minimums!)

Tomorrow, we will attend the 25th Annual Michiana Goat Breeders Association show in Whitley County.  This will be our third year at this show, and it is always a blast!  If you are in the area of Columbia City, Indiana tomorrow, stop over and see us!  We will be exhibiting four senior does and four junior does at this ADGA two ring Jr/Sr doe show.

We now have a total of FOUR does bred for fall, with one more to breed. Twin Willows AM Betina D'Gatto was bred today to Parrish Farms AA Dionysus for late October babies.  So excited for this breeding!!

I apologize that I have slacked on posting blogs lately.  I've been busy remodeling a building that will house my new community training center business which will open in Downtown Logansport July 15th!  Rest assured that I have at least been keeping up the FOR SALE and BREEDING pages during my silence.  Stay tuned for updates from the show!

Yesterday was the busiest day I have had in a LONG LONG while. Not only did we have a local goat show to attend, I had a memorial dinner to go to in Illinois, and also a graduation/birthday party back in Logansport after that.  We managed to make it through the day (and to Illinois and back) and I have to say that it was a very successful day.

We took 15 does to the one-ring ADGA show in Cass County.  This was the second year for this particular show, and I would not have missed it for the world. Last year, Twin Willows TIO Ambrosia Ann earned her Junior leg and Best Junior Doe In Show, and I was hoping for something similarly epic for this year.  We were not disappointed.

Twin Willows TIO Bellissima took Grand Champion Junior Doe.

Twin Willows AM Betina D'Gatto took Reserve Grand Champion Junior Doe.

Twin Willows SB American Honey took Grand Champion Senior Doe.

I want to give a shout out and HUGE THANK YOU to my husband, Brandon Hopkins, for managing and transporting the goats, Jaelyn Digman and Shannon Jurdsy of WOW Caprines in Monticello, Indiana for showing our does in my absence.  Also to Teresa Montgomery, and her family for helping out with extra hands, and anyone else who helped us out.  It was SO hard to be away and miss all of the show, but everything was in good hands. We have ONLY ONE more show scheduled for the spring/summer and that will be at the Michiana show at the end of this month in Columbia City.  Hope to see you there!

Here at Twin Willows, we are very busy getting sixteen does ready for the Cass County Open Dairy Goat Show this Saturday at the Cass County Fairgrounds.  This is the second year for this show and last year Twin Willows TIO Ambrosia Ann took Grand Champion Junior and Junior Best in Show! Annie will be returning this year to see if she can earn the last leg of her ADGA Permanent Champion status.  I'm sure that just as last year, she will have some stiff competition! If you are free this Saturday, come on down and see what goat shows are all about! It will be a really fun show! 

Well....all of my bucks and does are going CRAZY!  It seems that all the does are in heat and you know what that means....the bucks go temporarily insane.

Today, we bred fifth freshener, Jasper Pines Precious to Helmstead Minis FF Scorch; second freshener Gypsy Moon CM Airess E'lan to Helmstead Minis FF Scorch; and first freshener Jasper Pines EP Majestic to Twin Willows AM Baron von Brio.  They will all be due on October 5th if they settle.

Only two more does to breed for fall for a total of FIVE. That means we have about 12 to breed this coming fall, including four fiirst fresheners, for Spring babies. That's just about to capacity, as our goal is to have no more than twenty breeding does.  And I thought this spring was rough...sheesh!

I am a couple days late posting this, but over the weekend Twin Willows Farm turned THREE YEARS OLD!!  It's been an amazing adventure and we are looking forward to many, many more years.  Thank you to all of our friends and family, and to our past, present and future customers for supporting our little family farm!  =)

The DHIR Production page has been updated with our April test results. Volumes were a little down because the test followed a cold snap, but we are still very proud of our girls!  Trixie is a mere 1# away from starring in butterfat.  Her percentage was 9.3% this month!  Compare that to a commercial gallon of whole cow milk which is only 4% butterfat! A couple of other girls are also doing very well and will easily star this lactation.  The best part about participating in the 305 day production program is that you can see how each doe stacks up against each other, and see how different feed affects the lab results.  It's so good to know where you are at and how we are doing as a producer.  If anyone has any questions about getting started on milk testing, please let me know and I would be more than happy to help!