Happy Egg Farm
At Happy Egg Farm in Hickory, North Carolina, we raise Mini Lamancha dairy goats. We register our goats with the Miniature Dairy Goat Association (MDGA) using the herd name Happy Egg and the Tattoo HAPP.
Mini Lamanchas are the result of breeding a male Nigerian Dwarf goat with a female Lamancha goat. We like “mini manchas” because they have a very good temperament with our human kids, and are a nice manageable size. Once in milk, a doe reliably produces a quart of milk in the morning and another in the evening. Sometimes we get a little more, though we don’t usually try to maximize production. One or two goats provides plenty of milk for our family, and due to state laws we aren’t able to sell any extra milk that we produce. We value the goats on our farm as vegetation managers and entertainers, in addition to their dairy capabilities.
The goats on our farm are handled daily and are tame like pets. We aim to kid in the spring, ideally from March through June. That helps get the kidding dates into slightly warmer weather. We do not usually milk all of the goats that are in milk, because that would produce more than we would need. Instead we select one or two does and milk each one once per day in the morning. The dams raise the kids, so for the first several weeks, the kids get all of the milk. Then when it’s time for us to start milking, we separate the mothers from the kids each evening. We milk in the morning, then reunite them after milking. Milk from Lamanchas (including our minis) has a high butterfat percentage. For our own use we make cheese, yogurt, butter, custard, eggnog, and more. Goat milk is useful for crafts like soap making, and for supplementing feed for other animals.
Mini Lamanchas are productive members of a homestead, whether for milking, keeping fence lines clear, or just for pets! Depending on your needs and budget, we can supply registered goats, wethers, or quality pets. We have over three dozen goats, odds are good we have the right goat for you!
Here are a few of our featured goats that are available, with details below the chart:
Spring 2023 Goats for Sale
| Goat | Status | DOB | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluebird | Doe – Open (not bred) – F2 Elf Ears | 3/17/2020 | $200 (special discount when combined with Kiwi) |
| Kiwi | Doeling – Could be Bred for Spring 2024 (next year) – F3 Elf Ears | 3/20/22 | $200 |
| Sycamore | Mature Buck – F3 Gopher Ears | 3/9/2020 | $300 |
| Finn | Mature Buck, F5 Gopher Ears | 5/21/2020 | $300 |
| Raven | Wether | 4/15/2021 | $150 |
| Rusty | Wether | 4/15/2021 | $150 |
| Linden | Wether | 4/8/2022 | $150 |
| Mint (hopalong) | Wether | 3/15/2021 | $75 |
| Banana Bread | Buckling – F4 Gopher Ears | 3/7/2023 | $75 |
Blue Bird
Bluebird is one of Oriole’s daughters and one of the first kids born on our farm. She stands out for her beautiful colors, and also very respectable teat size and placement, especially as a first-freshener. Her first freshening in 2022 yielded a doeling Kiwi and a buckling Manu Pango. She has longer hair like Oriole, which we clipped somewhat for the photos below. She is not currently bred but if you live close by we can negotiate future stud service. She loves head scritches and is quite social with humans.
Sycamore
Sycamore was the star of our 2021 kidding season and is sire to 14 of our goats. We like his conformation and compact size as an F3. But from a genetic diversity standpoint, he’s valiantly served his purpose at our farm and is ready to come work for you. As long as we have him, he’s also available for stud service.
Rusty and Raven (pedegrees here) are two brothers. The most recent photos are first:
These guys were born on 4/15/2021 to one of our most hardy and independent does, Oriole. Rusty and Raven’s sire was Sycamore, our F3 born in 2020 who is also for sale. These guys are nearly all black, and they have fairly long fur like their mother. They are nice and short and were castrated at the end of August 2022.
Linden
Linden is a wether from the spring 2022 kidding session. He is one of the most pretty colors of any of our goats for the season, but he has elf ears which make him ineligible for further breeding. He was surgically castrated in August 2022. He’ll make a great pet, or vegetation management technician. Based on our experience with other mini-mancha wethers, we expect him to mature to be around 2 feet tall at the withers (not to be confused with the wethers) and he’ll be able to clear brush up to a height of around 4 feet.
Mint
Mint, aka “little hop-along”, was born in our first kidding of 2021, on March 15th, 2021. Like all of our goats, he comes from a strong milking line, click here for his pedigree. Mint’s dam is Rose Mary, one of our most talkative and human-loving goats. When we first visited Ed Kisner’s Enchanted Hill farm to purchase three goats in 2020, Rose Mary was one who would just come over and visit while we were talking in the barn. She’s not as high on the social order as Oriole and sometimes we wonder if that is what makes her more social with us. Her body type is more slender, which carries on with Mint and his sister Saffron. We especially loved mint’s colors when we first saw him. He’s mostly black and white, with a Sundgau pattern. Sadly in his early days as a bouncing little buckling, he managed to break one of his rear legs. The vet x-rayed him and he wore a splint for several weeks while the broken bone healed. Subsequent x-rays showed that the bone was healed, but to this day he still doesn’t use that leg. He’d make a great pet, and though we had hoped to breed him because we liked his genetics, having only one rear leg has hampered his ability to successfully breed. But like his mother, he’s a great little buddy to have around. He was castrated in September 2022 and will make a great pet goat.
Banana Bread
This little buddy is Apple Blossom’s single 2023 buckling, born on 3/7/2023. F4 with Gopher ears, this little buckling has what looks to be a sturdy front end. He’s disbudded and ready to wean if you’d like for him to come to your farm.
Kiwi
Kiwi is one of Bluebird’s 2022 kids. She is an F3 with Elf ears and beautiful markings of white, black, and brown. We generally like to keep the doelings but wanted to make one available in case anyone is shopping. She’ll make a great addition to your farm for all of the reasons that we like about the mini Lamanchas. She would pair well with her mother Bluebird if you would like two new goats. She’s too young to breed for 2023 kidding but if you live close by you’d be welcome to come visit for a breeding to kid in fall 2023 or spring 2024.
Speaking of stud service, we currently have several bucks available. Coordinate with us before kidding season so that we can have a plan, and a discussion about herd management and disease testing. Once your doe is in standing heat, bring her by for a visit. If she’s ready, it will take about 5 minutes in the driveway. The fee is $50, which trust me, is a much better option than keeping a stinky buck around during the rut season!
We’re still waiting for the spring 2021 crop to mature so that we can study their conformation and traits, to decide who we are going to keep. We have a very promising little F3 cream buckling (Starlight) that is polled, and a black and tan F4 named Toto.
Dusty as a yearling:
Toto
as a yearling:
We also have our old standbys including Raincrow and Finn. 2022 has brought us a few new bucklings to be excited about too, with six so far and one more does yet to kid!
Raincrow:
Finn:
