Caldwell's Dairy Goats is a family operation located in the high desert of Southern California just outside of Barstow where we actually have two dairy goat herds on our ranch.
We just recently started breeding dairy goats about 2 years ago and have done quite well with them at shows. Our most recent show resulted in us winning the 2008 Grand Champion Junior Yearling!
We focus on breeding nubians that are well balanced, strong & correct with beautiful breed type as well as strong, well-attached mammary systems. Most importantly we breed our nubians so that they produce offspring that are as nice, if not nicer, in these categories as they are themselves.
With the addition of goats from the Longman's Herd, Mojave Farms, and more recently from the Kastdemur's Herd, we're hoping to acheive all of those great things.
We've come to realize there are no perfect goats and there probably never will be but we embrace the concepts of attempting to improve each successive generation. The breeding of dairy goats is a work in progress. It can be exciting, challenging, and very frustrating, yet it is completely fulfilling when it all comes together!
From time to time, people tell me, ''lighten up", its just a goat, or, ''thats alot of money for just a goat''.
They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent or the costs involved for ''just a goat''. Some of my proudest moments have come about with ''just a goat''. Many hours have passed and my only company was ''just a goat'', but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by ''just a goat'', and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of ''just a goat'' gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.
If you, too, think its ''just a goat'' then you will probably understand phrases like ''just a friend'', ''just a sunrise'', or, ''just a promise''. '' Just a goat'' brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. ''Just a goat'' brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person.
So for me and folks like me, its not ''just a goat'' but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. ''Just a goat'' brings out whats good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.
I hope that someday they can understand that its not ''just a goat'' but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being ''just a person''.
So the next time you hear the phrase ''its just a goat'', just smile, because they ''just don't understand.''
