I may grump about the cold, ice, snow, wind, chiggers, and the almost constant wind, but to live this lifestyle in Washington State would be nearly impossible for many reasons. The goats are my link to sanity, and a life I only dreamed about while living in the rat-race of Seattle so many years. As they say, "You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl". Oh, how right they are.
Each time my telephone rings and there is a person on the other end who wants to learn about goats, is looking for a particular breed of goat, or wanting to know where to best market his or her goats, my brain kicks out any other thoughts or plans. I am off and running to help. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call to locate what that person has requested. Other times, hours are spent on the computer to hook folks up for whatever their request. Many times, I have to wait for people to either call me back or e-mail me. "Tis not an easy job, but each time I match people up, I tell myself "One down and how many more to go?"
Over the last two years, goat producers/farmers/ranchers have contacted me to help them sell their goats or help them find a producer who has the goats they are looking for. Many times I never hear back from them once they have connected or sold their goats, but a few have made my effort worthwhile. How many times do we just take what we do for granted or other people take us for granted?
The first time I helped a gentleman in northwest Missouri sell his goats, he called me late in the evening. He had seen my name in regards to some PR work I had done for the Kansas Meat Goat Association. He had 200 head of "brush goats" as he called them for sale. He had lost his pasture lease and needed to sell them. After taking his name, phone number, and e-mail address, I got busy on the computer and within two days, he had sold all his goats at a very good price. People came as far away as Oklahoma to buy this gentleman's goats. I had jokingly told him my "service commission" was 10%. His wife told me that her husband never paid that kind of commission to anyone for his goats. She asked for my address and I gave it to her. Case closed or so I thought. Time went by-3 months to be exact. One day I went to the mail box and found an envelope with this man's name on it. I figured it was just a Christmas card as it was the week before Christmas. There indeed was a Christmas Card, but also a "Thank You" gift. It wasn't the 10% I had joked about, but enough to show his appreciation for my help-according to the note enclosed.
Try matching up people who live half way across the US from each other. Finding FB NZ KIKO goats anywhere between Kansas and Colorado is a real challenge. Such a call came in January of this year. Off to search the internet and wait for phone calls to come. Happen it did. A producer in Georgia had just what the buyer in Colorado was looking for- 3 FB NZ Does and a buck. What a weather shock to bring those goats from the warm, humid environment of Georgia to the cold and freezing weather in Colorado in January; but they made the trip in the back of a little Toyota Pick-up truck with a canopy on it from Georgia to Colorado. The only "Thank You" came from the buyer, and in a way I never expected or dreamed of.
Paul and I had talked back and forth once he returned home with his new found "treasures" to see how the goats were doing after that long trip. According to Paul, they survived the trip better than he did. We both had a laugh at that. Paul mentioned he would be doing egg flushes from these gals from Georgia to be implanted in recip does and asked if I would be interested in having two of my Boer cross does implanted. I didn't have the money at the time, but if he were going to do Ets in the fall, I would be able to have it done then. I don't know what this process normally costs, but I am sure it is a lot more than what I will be paying. Out of the deal I will be getting two FB NZ doe kids and a FB NZ buck and not have to pay the high prices for these goats later on, prices I could never afford.
Enter another producer from Missouri who contacted me about helping sell a bunch of KIKO cross doelings and bucklings. (Have I goat "Goat Seller Contact Person" tattooed on my forehead and I can't see it?") Off and running again to help yet another goat producer. Lots of fun and laughter along the way and learning as well. I don't call a lot of people "Friends". That is a title that has to be earned where I am concerned. Along the way my buying goats was mentioned. These goats would be registerable as as 50% KIKOs and would help me head toward where I want to be in another year. To make a long story short, I will be gettting two older Nannies who are proven producers who will be bred to Ray's FB NZ KIKO buck in a couple of months. This will save me a year in breeding time thanks to his generosity. My two recip does will go to his farm along with the does from Paul in Colorado for ET's in July or August for transplant in September or October. My two does will be transported by Paul so I won't have to do it.
Final note, this website came about through the generosity of Jennifer Fulton of Erie, Kansas. Jennifer had bought one of my American Purebred Boer Does last year. She named the doe "HOPE", although I had called her "White Ear" because of the one white ear she has. Jennifer e-mailed me two months ago to ask if I still wanted a website for the farm. I told her I did and she went to work from there. What you see is the result of a lot of e-mails back and forth. She holds down a full time job, and takes care of her goats. Since she only has the one papered doe from me plus a 15/16 doe that was born to "Hope" this Spring, She will be getting a FB Boer doeling from Ruthy, my only FB Boer nanny at this time. Am I crazy-Maybe, but I figure that what goes round comes round-in one way or another. By then I will also have a few more FB Boer Does and KIKO crosses here for my breeding program. I can afford that generosity and kindness to help another person who is like I was when I first got into meat goats in 2001.
