Reserving Your Kid

The Protocol & Our Philosophy

Kidding Begins 2/17/2018

Terms:

Please make RESERVATIONS & deposits early as they can FILL quickly

Availability Inquiries: Call 918-623-9443 or PM to FB page: Nubian Dairy Goats of Castlekeep or PM to FB page: Karen Pilgrim-Johnson or Email: karenpilgrim-johnson@hotmail.com

Note:

All births are attended and all kids are raised separately from the adult herd. We reserve the right to retain any kid we need as a replacement.

Requirement for Sales

Your $100 retainer is a non-refundable deposit to be applied to the agreed purchase price of a specific kid. If you back out it can cause someone else not to get a Castlekeep kid. The $100 deposit is to hold your Kid and as mentioned will be applied to the sale price.

We reserve the right to retain a kid if we choose to do so & in that event we will return your reservation/deposit money.

When you purchase a kid from Castlekeep it is healthy & the kid is yours as soon as you leave the farm. We do not take kids back once they leave our farm. Be certain the kid(s) you’ve selected & reserved is the kid you really want.

When you purchase a kid we prefer the kid remains with us for their first month of life so they have the best possible start. The kids are removed from their dam as soon as they are born and are moved into the house immediately. Kids are fed their dams colostrum within the first hour of life fed every 4 hours for the first 3 to 4 days. They are cared for in the house for 3 or 4 days – depending on weather . Our kids are fed only fresh Goat Milk until they leave the farm. Our coccidia prevention begins at 3 weeks of age. We use DiMethox 12.5%. Our protocol is 1 & ½ cc (in their bottle) per kid twice daily for 7 consecutive days and then 1 & ½ cc (by drench) AM & PM every Monday until weaned. We vaccinate all Dams with CDT vaccine 30 days prior to kidding and vaccinate kids at disbudding (5 to 10 days old), 4 weeks and 8 weeks of age.

What we want for our kids is quality loving homes…… nutritious feed, proper shelter, veterinary services when needed, and lots & lots of love and attention. That’s how we start them out in life and we pray it will continue throughout their lives. We strive hard to maintain good herd management practices and believe it pays dividends. We hope you have made the same commitment to best practices for your herd. We see them as part of our family and treat them with the love, gentle care and respect they deserve. They are not “just livestock” or “just for milk” or “only for show” or “just for breeding”- they are family….and yes, as adults, they occasionally come in the house! We believe that any animal who is given these things….will return dividends 10 fold. (I’m sure I am just preaching to the choir).

***If you are new to dairy goats….and just looking around – please….do your homework and save yourself from lots of pain – financial and emotional. Spend some time on line and learn as much as you can. Read some books about Dairy Goats. Find a couple of goat discussion sites and find out about health issues, kidding issues – everyday things you might encounter so you aren’t blindsided when it happens in your new herd. Visit a dairy goat farm. Keep your eyes open – observe. Ask questions – lots of questions. Plan….Prepare/build your barn, build good fences, research livestock guardian dogs. Stock your medicine chest. Buy a thermometer. Find a mentor/coach & get to know a knowledgeable veterinarian. Then, when you are prepared, select your herd foundation animals from Herds that TEST. Herds that Test for CAE, CL, Johne’s, and G6S defect in Nubians. Give yourself and your new animals what you both deserve….a Great Start! (And by the way….hold onto your hat – you’re in for the adventure of a lifetime & you may never have expected it – falling in love with Nubian Dairy Goats!) Welcome to “Goat World”.

Castlekeep Farm Freedom

Freedom – 3 yrs/3mo with Jack. Snacking on cut branches wedged in their wind screen

Permanent Champion – Castlekeep Freedom

Freedom was our first born here on the farm, first to boast the name Castlekeep (he is that way!) And at under 3 three year old became a finished Champion.

Freedom and I headed out for our very first Buck Show in October 2013. As it happens, we later discovered, it was the largest ADGA Sanctioned Buck show in the country! Fall Frenzy – Neosho Missouri – what an experience it was for both of us! He loved the show ring – he knew then he was special (at least to me) and he thought – to the entire world as he knew it. He was my little king and OH! what an attitude he had. He showed well …in the top 1/2 of all 6 rings – he didn’t win his class but HE thought he was the very best and so did I. We were hooked and determined to return the following year a little smarter and with some “advance practice”. As I said…Freedom loved the show ring and he loved to be admired. Fall 2014 we returned to Fall Frenzy in Neosho – Freedom was now a yearling and it was time to compete with the “big boys”. First he had to win his class….and in three rings he did just that. Then he had to go back in and compete with the winners of the various “bigger boy” classes. Freedom had a shot …. it was a real turning point for Castlekeep. Bucks were represented from all over the country (154 that year) and 27 of those were Nubian bucks. So there we were…our second show ever! Freedom was his confident – “everyone is in awe of me” “aren’t I handsome” self. He astounded me that weekend. Freedom won Senior Reserve Champion in two rings and topped it off with his first Senior Grand Champion win. He was only 1 and 1/2 years old and this was the largest ADGA sanctioned buck show in the country. We came home on cloud nine. We’ve never looked back. He believed in himself – I believed in him. It was simple…. “damn the torpedo’s – full speed ahead”.

SO HERE’S THE “REST OF THE STORY”………

Freedom – almost 5 months old – September, 2013

It’s May 2015 – Freedom just turned 2 years old

Castlekeep Easy Sam

CH Castlekeep Easy Sam….

And next….there is Sam. What a dream buck – so gentle and calm…seen here a 2 year old he is about to achieve Senior Grand Champion – Nubian Specialty Ring sponsored by the International Nubian Breeders Association in Sedalia Missouri 5/2016. Sam will win Senior Grand Champion this day and our little buckling Castlekeep Hidalgo will stand by his side as Senior Reserve Champion! It was a wonderful day for Castlekeep! In September Sam became a Permanent Champion at Boon Companions – Autumn Romance Buck Show. He was simply stunning. Sam, like Freedom, turns heads and loves attention. Sam’s first offspring arrived this past spring 2016 and I expect we will see both his doelings and bucklings in the show ring during 2017.

Sam and Autumn Romance – Sedalia Missouri 9/2016

(Southeast Kansas Dairy Goat Show)

Castlekeep Easy Sam Brings Home the Bacon

So proud of Castlekeep Easy Sam! He was his majestic self on Saturday 5/15/16 at the Southeast Kansas Dairy Goat Show in Fredonia Kansas. Joe Brown of Hickery Hill and Duke handled him for me – Thank You Joe & Duke – you brought out Sam’s best! Grand Champion, Best of Breed, Best in Show !

And thank you to Janet Maxwell and the Southeast Kansas Dairy Goat Club for the great show! You had an awesome turn out!

Yearling….Permanent Champion! CH Castlekeep FanDango “Dango”

Dango and his twin sister Fantasia came into this world 4/3/2015 and the pair surpassed all of our expectations from their moment of arrival. (Fantasia was retained and this year, 2017, will be her first kidding…we are so excited about February as she is bred to CH Castlekeep Easy Sam!)

But this story is about Dango! Look out little buck world! Win, Win, Win….our first trip out was to Sedalia Missouri 2015 when he was a little guy and he’s never looked back. He was a “natural” from the very beginning. Self assured, calm…simply had to hold his collar and he would stroll right in with his head held high and his tail on high alert. Set him up? No big deal…just lightly touch his back – he was there. Stop – go – turn – he was magic – no mischief – just focus. No flashy colors….just pure class. He turned many heads and many offers were made. Nope, this boy was destined to come back home to Castlekeep – I couldn’t let him go.

A year passed ….our next outing….Fredonia Kansas…then Sedalia’s Autumn Romance rolled around followed by Fall Frenzy in Mountain Grove (the largest 6 ring buck show in the USA). Our Yearling….continued the streak of his buckling days (once Castlekeep Easy Sam was a finished Champ & out of the picture). FanDango owned it ….all the way! And as a yearling! He finished out in Mountain Grove Missouri – Fall Frenzy. We entered all 6 rings up against a field of stunning big boys with lots of breeding behind them. So….what happened? Castlekeep FanDango – Senior Grand Champion – Ring 1,2,3,5 (Sr. Reserve in ring 4). I scratched him from ring 6 – no need…..he’d already made it! What a weekend it was – our yearling became a finished Champion!

It’s December 2016 as I write this post and I want to introduce you to FanDango’s son – Castlekeep Hombre’ and doeling Castlekeep Hepburn (Heppi)….now 6 months old….but I’ll save that for another day. Perhaps you’ll check back in!

FanDango & Me at the head of the line…with Castlekeep Footloose right behind us! Autumn Romance 9/2016 – Sedalia Missouri

Sire: CH Castlekeep Farm Freedom Dam: Castlekeep Echo. His first “get” will arrive June 19, 2016 – Bred to Castlekeep Fanci Pantz. We are so excited to see what this young buck will produce!

Castlekeep Hondo – DOB 02/17/2016

Particulars:

Castlekeep Hondo – DOB 2/17/2016
Sire: Castlekeep Easy Sam ‪ #‎N1673658‬ 2015 LA EEV89 (yearling)
Dam: Castlekeep Ellie ‪#‎N1670911‬ 2015 Y/S V+VV

Castlekeep Hondo 2 — Castlekeep Hondo DOB 2/17/2016

Description:

Big buckling…Long, muscular, deep chest, wide, angular, smooth. Hondo is calm, laid back and confident. This buck is bound to deliver results as both a herdsire and in the show ring. He’s a herd sire here in Oklahoma – his new family is very excited about February 2017 – His first offspring will arrive and we can hardly wait for the photos of his kids!

Hello Nubian Dairy Goat Lovers!

Hard to believe, but our journey with Nubian Goats began in March 2012 with three does and our friendly wether Jack, from Fairdale Farm, here in Oklahoma. Our farm we call Freedom Farm, and our registered herd name is Castlekeep. We are located in Castle, Oklahoma, a tiny town about midpoint between Bristow and Okemah off OK Highway 48. Now, after building several new barns, shelters, feeders and the like, and lots of fencing, our herd generally numbers around 30. Our matriarch, Princess, rules the roost, and Castlekeep Freedom, our first finished ADGA Grand Champion, (1st of 5 Finished Champions) is one of our pride and joys.

We treat our kids, does and bucks like family and love every minute around our four-legged companions.

Oh, and my name is Karen Pilgrim-Johnson – I’m the Goat Mom around here. Husband Phil is my helper (he says grunt).

For more information, see our ABOUT US page.