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Hobbycroft Dairy Goats started in 1967 when we moved to a farm in Ortonville, Michigan with all the larger breeds and some grades. In 1972 we moved to central Illinois and have been in Shelbyville, Illinois since 1974. After the (human) kids graduated and got married, we quit raising them for several years and raised DayLilies instead (hence the url of hobbycroftgardens.com). In 2008, we decided to try again. Because we were getting older we decided to look at the Nigerian Dwarfs and got our first ones in 2009. We have found them to be easier to handle than the larger dairy goats and their butterfat is much higher making their milk delicious to drink! We have also found them to be very sociable animals. Our herd’s bloodlines are from Lost Valley, Fairlea Farms, Olson Acres, Jasper Pine and Buttin’ Heads.
In 2012, my husband passed away and since then the herd has been a partnership with my daughters (Betsy Wicker & Sue Nugent). While my son, David, has no interest in the goats, he does help out occasionally with the picture taking as seen below with this beautiful pictures he did of my granddaughter, Ashley and her spoiled goat Penelope and of our foundation senior herd sire SG Lost Valley C Egypt +*B +*S farther down the page.
Photo courtesy of David Hobby (Dober Man)
We feed both Chaffhaye and alfalfa hay. We love the Chaffhaye for many reasons. First, because the waste is almost zero! Secondly, it is easier for them to digest. Thirdly, it is much easier to handle and can be kept outside if needed. It also does not go bad for quite a long time (2 years we are told, though it never lasts that long around here!). The grain we feed is a goat grain developed by the Amish in Arthur, IL at Stutzman's Feeds.
We are now an approved Chaffhaye distributor. To find out more about Chaffhaye click on the logo below.
We test annually (and sometimes more than annually when we can afford it) with WADDL (Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory) for CAE and Johnes. We also test all doe kids from litters with mixed sex of quads or more for freemartin at UC Davis.
We are an ADGA Plus herd. In June 2015 we did our first Linear Appraisal and in May 2016 began on DHIR milk testing. We normally attend 2 or 3 ADGA and/or AGS shows each year.
We are an ADGA Plus herd!
AGS - American Goat Society
