Holman's Happy Herd Farm began in the Summer of 2008. The "herd" started because we had gotten tired of the Kudzu taking over our property and after a lot of research, we discovered there were only two ways to effectively get rid of it: a lot of pesticide or goats. We chose the cheaper and the more environmentally friendly of the two, Goats.

When we first started, we really didn't care what type of goats we got as long as they were hungry. By pure luck, we stumbled upon a person close by that had the Nigerian Dwarfs and was thinning his herd. We didn't know anything about "registrations" or "purebreds" and we really didn't care. The goats looked like goats so we ended up purchasing four goats from him and haven't looked back. (the four original goats were- Billy Ray(B), Clover(D), Storm(D), and Fireball(D).

A few days after the purchase of our original four, we learned that there were coyotes in the area and we needed to protect our investment. After more research, we decided on a Great Pyrenees as they are considered the best goat protectors alive. I started what I thought was a fruitless search for one I could afford because the prices of these dogs were so high. One Friday evening I was checking the newspapers online and under a heading I wouldn't have thought to look, (I believe it was "Farm and Garden"), I saw the ad: "Full Blooded Great Pyrenees puppies for sell". I decided to call the number and ask about them knowing I couldn't afford $500 for a dog. The man on the other end said he had more pups than he had expected and still had four left. When he told me what he wanted for them, I immediately made plans for the following day for us to go see them, even though it was 100 miles away. To make a long story short...we bought two of these monsters and another goat from the man. None of the animals are registered i.e. the great price, but the dogs are Purebred and the goat was another addition to the herd. (Dogs-Cotton(F) and Cloud(F)and Shortcake(D)-goat number 5)

Goats are compared to deer. Males are Bucks and Females are Does. Babies are called Kids and a "fixed" Male is called a "Wether". (unless your in Africa were a fixed male goat is called a "Kapater".) I liked the color of Shortcake, she is whitish/tan and a different breed than the Dwarfs so I decided I wanted another white goat. I found a white Wether that a man South of us was selling strictly as a pet. I went and looked at Frank who ended up being number 6. Frank has to be the best goat ever...he's friendly, eats from your hand, and he tries to talk. He is hand's down my favorite and I will never part with him.

We had a new kid born to Fireball in February. "Penny" made goat number 7. Since February we purchased a NMGA (National Miniature Goat Association) registered doe -Helmstead Minis Rebeccah (#8) and her kid- a buck, Helmstead Minis Wolverine (#9). After meeting Ben and Kate Helms and seeing their wonderful herd and their webpage, www.helmsteadstables.com, we decided we wanted to get into goats more fully. On March 10th 2009, we added four goats to our herd: another adult buck- Little River Farms Sampson(a big Black, Blue eyed Buck,#10) NGDA registered doe- Moe Moe Acres Audrey (#11), and her two kids- Sock(d-#12)and Elkie(d-#13). On March 29th, we purchased another new goat- Lola (#14). We are unsure what breed she is but due to her odd looks and behavior we had to have her.(We have since found out she isn't a she but an it!) That made fourteen goats, three dogs, and our two children in our herd. If you count BJ and I, that's twenty one mouths to feed at the start of April and a pretty good sized herd. ******April-May UPDATE***** Audrey's offspring-Sock didn't wake up one morning and our herd count went down for a few weeks. She was a beautiful little doe and we were deeply saddened at her passing. *******May 24th***** We have increased the goat herd to a total of Fourteen. Kate and Ben Helms gave us a great deal on a NDGA registered buck, Holt's Simple Pleasures Oreo. ***************** July Update******* We added two new does at the end of June which brought our herd count to sixteen---Josephine and Daiqu---look for their photos on the "Our Goats" page. We have also taken in a mixed puppy- "Twizzler". Our total count of goats, dogs, and humans is twenty four and we're expecting August delivery's!!!) *******August Update******** Clover delivered- Holman's Happy Comet (B) was born on August 12th. He's a beautiful little guy and the spitting image of his father, Billy Ray. TOTAL HERD COUNT - 25 (Humans-4, Dogs-4, Goats-17)