Carolyn started her journey with goats in 1996 with two Nubian x Boer doelings from the Lynnhaven herd in NY. Over the past three decades she has kept several breeds including Nubian, Boer, Kiko, Sable, Nigerian Dwarf, and LaMancha.
After growing up immersed in 4-H and FFA activities, Carolyn became a 4-H leader in 2012 and shares project goats with local families, providing hands-on learning experiences and show opportunities. Carolyn became the superintendent of the goat department at the Caledonia County Fair in Lyndonville, VT in 2018. Today, she also serves on the fair board and has successfully grown the goat program to host over 20 youth and 60 goat projects, a youth dairy goat show, an ADGA sanctioned show and, new in 2024, an MDGA sanctioned show!
After experiencing the rapid growth and massive size of Sables, Carolyn purchased her first Nigerian Dwarf goats from the Sugar Moon herd, appreciating their more appropriate size for young children. This led to her discovering the perfect blend of milk ability and size in miniature dairy goats! The herd is now primarily comprised of Miniature LaMancha goats, being favorites of the family for several reasons:
*Photo: Pictured is Charlotte, a standard-sized Recorded Grade Sable doe, next to her daughter Ivy, an F1 Mini Sable. The size difference between these two is significant and is what sold Carolyn on the concept of miniature dairy goats. Photo from 2019.
Sonup 2 Sondown Farm is a member of the American Dairy Goat Association with our Nigerian Dwarf goats, and the Miniature Dairy Goat Association with our Mini LaMancha goats. Every one of our goats has a registration certificate to show their pedigree.
Performance programs the Morrison's herd participates in are Linear Appraisal and DHIA Milk Test. The mini herd will be starting milk test in 2025. These programs help to prove sires and doe lines through data.
*Photo: Morrison's Made In America wins her first two Champion legs and Best Udder in June 2024
The number one thing Carolyn stresses in goat herd management is bio security! There are many diseases that are prevalent in the goat world such as Johnes, CAE and CL. We practice caution to help PREVENT infections by doing the following:
To assure that our herd is staying healthy and we are not contributing to the spread of disease, we periodically conduct bio security screens on our herd and test for antibodies towards particular diseases.
If you're considering starting with goats, we cannot stress enough the importance of knowing the disease status of the goats and the herd you are buying from. Do your research. Ask hard questions. If the answers don't add up, move on!
*Photo: Our herd enjoys 6 months out of the year foraging and grazing on a rotational system. During the winter months they are kept on dry lot with quality hay, free choice minerals and supplemental grains.