HISTORY (1976-2013):
Munchin Hill Farm began raising dairy goats in 1976. The few milkers we owned at the time would always just love to lay down on this one little hill which was more like a small pile of dirt covered with a few blades of grass and weeds. This little mound jokingly became known as "Munchin'Hill" because on that's where the girls would contentedly chew their cuds all day long. In German, the word "munchin" means to eat or snack upon. Hence our not-at-all sophistocated herd name was born.
Our family has had some really blessed years in the past with high placings at the seven National Shows we have been able to attend (1988, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010). We generally breed for the very dairy, long-bone pattered type of French Alpine which excels in high elegant front ends and above average production. Even though our herd had tested CAE negative prior to departure for the National Show in 1997, our entire show string exhibited symptoms of CAE within months of returning home. We were totally devastated and actually had planned on never showing again. But things changed. We first had to sadly ship our entire show string and every doe that had been housed with them to the auction barn. We simply did not have the facilities to maintain two separate herds when we made the move from New York State to West Virginia. South of the Mason-Dixon line we began developing our second herd almost "from scratch".
While this new herd has been totally CAE negative since 2000, we will continue to test each individual mature doe through WSU/WVU ELISA testing every year. We usually retain only eight milkers each year. These does must all be competitive at the national level, being good sized and having good strong and dairy bone. Our stock is more than fairly priced for its quality.
At our new location in the beautiful rolling hills of the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, there is fierce Alpine competition from Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The area is quite an Alpine stronghold. This makes any high placings and wins that much sweeter!
Our herd is raised on as natural/organic a diet as is possible. This includes high quality alfalfa hay or grass hay, non GMO grains, redmond salt and generous quantities of very pricey organic kelp which contains all the minerals (selenium and copper included) our goats require. We no longer vaccinate nor administer BOSE. We do use mostly natural wormers and herbal remedies. Antibiotics are administered only as a last resort.
We highly recommend you contact Kat Druvdahl at Fir Meadow Herbs for treating your herd with herbal remedies the way the good Lord intended. Her website is: http://www.firmeadowllc.com
2003: Leaving the dark ages, we purchased our first computer. Thanks to the encouragement of Ben Masemore we gradually designed and built our own website. Pat became addicted to emailing and googling everything she could find about dairy goats on other breeders' websites.
2004: Our herd competed in eight regional shows in 2004, and the does taken to the 2004 Nationals all made the cut in classes that sometimes exceeded 70 does! This was Kickoff's best year ever. She completed her championship under Steve Richter at the Virginia State DGA show, placing over Rushkin's dam.
2005: Our girls travelled to six shows, two of which were double-ring events. Both Angela and Annie completed their championships, while Peek-a-boo, Bridget(Biscuit's dam) and River(Alias's sire) all obtained official legs.
2006: At the National Show, all seven of the does we brought (2 kids and 5 milkers), made the cut and garnered high placings in huge classes some of which had more than seventy does entered!!! Most of the does placed in the "top ten". Peek-a-boo took 1st place and 1st udder in the 3 yr. old class. We also attended 5 regional shows where Peek-a-boo completed her championship.
2007: We discovered the old hay shed on our property to be totally infested with termites! As a result, we invested in the construction of our lovely new hay barn. Due to the drought and consequent shortage of quality hay, we sold two of our permanent champions. Only six milkers and seven doe kids were retained. Hopefully 2008 will be a better year for forage. On a bright note, Klassic looked unbeatable this season and earned her championship status by placing 3xGCH, 3xBOB and 2xBIS at the only three shows we were able to attend this season.
2008: Our herd was appraised once again and the new scores are now listed. We have retained a Rushkin son (Alamo), the Peek-a-boo triplet does and one of Klassic's quad does (Yes, quad DOES!!! First time in Munchin Hill history!) We have campaigned our 2 yr olds at only four local shows where both does acquired legs toward their championships! Christen and I attended the Nationals in Kentucky with six of our milkers.
All made the cut and most placed in the top ten. Peek-a-boo was 3rd and 3rd udder in the 5-6 yr old class with hair-splitting placings. We enjoyed visiting with you for that wonderful week. Thanks to Jeff for his
willingness to take on the chores at the home front!
2009: Our sad news is that we lost CH Munchin'Hill Power Klassic after a horrible kidding. It was also a year with a number of injuries affecting our show string. Our better news is that 2009 was more relaxing with no National Show being in our schedule. Since we sold almost all of our doe kids in 2008, we retained six of them this year. There were five shows on our calendar for the season. One was in Virginia; one in West Virginia; three were in Maryland. Allegheny completed her championship, her sister A La Carte obtained her second milking leg and our two-year old Aria earned her first championship leg! God is good!
2010: Three of the four milkers we brought to the Nationals all placed in the top five while our two-year- old took eighth in a very strong class! The herd was once again appraised. With the loss of two of our top does: CH Allegheny and CH Peek-a-boo, plus the sale of several others, we were left with only five Senior does by the end of the season. In addition to the National Show, we attended only three other shows. Munchin'Hill A La Carte completed her championship. Munchin'Hill Portia was GCH and BOB acquiring her first GCH leg..
2011: We attended four regional shows in 2011, coming home with championship legs on both Portia and Avalanche, BOB wins with Avalanche, Portia and A La Carte and then BIS wins with Avalanche, Portia and A La Carte. Appraisal was also on the docket. One new exceptional junior herdsire has been added to our herd.
2012: Our herd once again tested negative for CAE this Winter. 2012 was a relatively quiet year for us as we did not schedule appraisal nor attend the National Show. Surprisingly we were able to compete at five shows where our ladies brought home 3 GCH, 3 ResGCH and 1 BIS wins. Both Portia and Avalanche are now be finished champions. We are excited about our doe kid crop, our first fresheners and two junior herd sires.
2013: We are planning on being a host herd for appraisal this year in June. Healthy herds are welcome to join us for a wonderful time together! For health purposes we switched our herd to non GMO feed..
ORDERING INFORMATION:
If you wish to reserve any kids or milkers, then a $100 deposit per kid/milker is required ( quickly refunded only if the kid born is of the wrong sex). There will be no refund of deposits on cancelled orders. Please make checks payable to: Jeffrey Adels. If you desire your kid shipped, then health papers ($50) and transportation to the airport ($50) are required. Crates (size 300 or 400) need to be provided by the buyer. Kids are flown out of BWI Airport in Baltimore, MD., at about two to three weeks of age. Shipping kids usually means leaving the farm in the wee hours of the morning due to the horrendous traffic in and around Baltimore. All monies must be paid in full before shipping. Money orders or bank checks are preferred. Personal checks will only be accepted if enough time (usually two weeks) is allowed for the check to clear the bank before shipping. We have, to date, always honored the sale of pre-ordered kids, but do reserve the right to retain kids that may have been reserved since we retain four or five doe kids each year.
Listed prices are for pre-ordered kids picked up or shipped prior to one month of age. Boarding fees will be charged after that time. We suggest you place a deposit on any buck kid(s) in which you may be interested since all unordered buck kids usually go to market soon after birth.
Please remember that there are no guarantees when working with genetics. Sometimes the genes "click" and sometimes they don't. That is the challenge that faces all of us as breeders. We can tell you the sire's and dam's strengths as well as what can be improved. So do not hesitate to ask anything. There is no guarantee on how the udders will develop on any of the kids that are purchased. We do guarantee the health of the kid on day-of-sale but not after it leaves our farm. All buck kids are guaranteed fertile if managed correctly. If any are veterinarian certified as infertile, then the buck kid will be replaced.
Thank you for your interest in our small herd. God bless! |
