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Madison's Meadow is my mini-farm. I began Madison's Meadow in November 2006 with the help of my mom and dad and extra special help from my grandma and grandpa.
My dream for Madison's Meadow began with many summer trips to a Midwest county fair with Grandpa and Grandma where I wandered through the animal barns and in August 2006 I watched a newly born baby goat. I had a dream and my Grandpa helped me share it with my daddy and together with Grandma and Mommy, my dream grew into Madison's Meadow! |
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It all started with a small goat house that my daddy and Grandpa Draeger built where I housed my 5 wethers and one doe.
Then my herd and my animal collection started to grow so my barn needed to grow, too. My original goat house has become my kid house. |
| January, 2007 - Today, this is my barn! My daddy and mommy have worked hard to make it. Grandpa Draeger was a big help, too! |
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Of course, a playground is essential for a girl, her dog, and definitely for goats. Hours of fun happen right here!
 
It's not all fun and games in the meadow. We have work to do! Cleaning and grooming are important tasks that we do to keep the animals healthy and happy. Grandpa Draeger designed and built a stanchion for me to use when grooming my goats. If you would like to see more of the stanchion, just click on its picture.
 
 
January, 2008 - Construction of our buck house is complete! The boys love their new larger play yard and their much bigger house! I think their favorite thing, though, is the gigantic boulder that they play King of the Rock on!!
 
Rear barn addition-Spring, 2008- We are GROWING!! We added a 10 x 36 addition onto the back of the barn. It consists of four 5 x 12 pens and one 12 x 12 general purpose area with a 45' x 50' yard. The primary purpose of this area is to house does near their due date and after they kid. It will also serve as a quaratine area when new goats arrive or if they need to be seperated. Another purpose for this area is to allow a buck to "honeymoon" with selected does in privacy "out behind the barn".
 
Barn fans and lights in the back make it more comfortable to get the job done.
Using waterproof switches is a safety feature.
  
Awesome help - If you ever wondered what awesome help looked like then look no further because it looks like this!!
 
March 2009 - At Madison's Meadow we are always trying new things. My newest addition are chickens. I'm raising Ameracaunas and Buckeye chickens for their eggs. I love fresh eggs!! Ameracaunas lay colored eggs in greens and blues and Buckeyes lay brown eggs. I can't wait to share fresh eggs with my friends! I'm looking forward to watching my chicks grow into hens. I'm also excited to be helping to raise a rare breed of chickens to keep their breed ongoing (Buckeye). In summer 2009 we added Golden Comets and Plymouth Barred Rocks.
Check out the awesome house we have for our chickens...
...and with its pen.....
The Chicks have arrived!
Ten Ameraucanas 3/20/09 |
1 week old |
4 weeks old
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5 Buckeye chicks arrived on Good Friday (4-10-09) and survived a tornado that night!
This picture is at 10 days old. |
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A barnyard of fun! |
| Sheba loves her people and her goats! |
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Click the graphic to view pictures of the Good Friday 2009 tornado |
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| Click the snow graphic to see our 2/12/2010 snowfall !!! |
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Snow in South Carolina - February 12, 2010
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2011 - I have expanded my chicken flock. I continue to house my Buckeye chickens seperately and will work to increase their numbers by incubating fertile eggs in an incubator. My mixed flock has many additions. I have added Silver-laced cochins and black sex links.
I can see a real difference in my breeding program for my goats. I have culled many goats that did not have the mammary systems that I wanted in order to be competitive in the show ring and also produce strong milk records. I also sold many of my original does in order to have room for keeping new kids. It looks like I have achieved my goal of kids being improvements over their dams. I keep watching them to make sure this is true.
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May 2012 - I have new additions to my chicken flock! Thanks to our sweet friend, Ms. Kay, at Hissy Fit Farm I am able to add Black Copper Marans (one of the rarest breed of chickens in the United States). I am hoping one is a rooster so I can work to increase the numbers of this breed as well. In addition Ms Kay gave me a couple of Black Giant hens as well. These will be exciting to watch grow since they get so huge!
This spring we had 39 goat kids born. I have retained ten and the remainder have gone to new homes. These kids look amazing! I can't wait to watch them develop and freshen. I can see such a difference in the goats I have now and the goats I started with. My breeding program is moving in the right direction it seems! I have also moved several of my adult does and have more that will be sold after their next freshening. I'm moving away from certain lines and focusing on lines that are showing promise and continued response to breeding by producing better and better animals. This fall I will be doing another milk test and can't wait to see the results.
My first and second fresheners this spring look terrific. Remarkable attachment of mammary systems, capacious udders, and excellent volume of milk produced. Exactly what we are breeding for at Madison's Meadow!
This summer I will be adding two new future herdsires to the Buck Club at Madison's Meadow. The genetics behind these boys is award winning! I can't wait for them to arrive and watch them grow and breed here! |
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