Lazy Lady Farm's herd is one of Vermont's best working herds . I have been working for decades trying to create a consistent, productive, and profitable herd of working girls. If I didn't live in the cheeseroom I would be out there showing them off. It brings me great pleasure to work with them. I am sure that what I have to offer will be equally rewarding for you.
Why a registered herd
With a registered herd I can calculate, observe, create, and recreate productive and well structured does. I try to follow articles in goat journals about different breeders and watch their progress. For me, a registered herd gives me a sense of confidence for the herd to make great strides in dairy herd improvements and then I'm proud to offer offspring from these breedings. Having a strong geneology is a powerful tool.
DHIR
SHE'S A GOOD MILKER How many times do you see this in an ad? What is that? To me a good milker should give over 2000 lbs. by her second lactation. It means that a doe will milk up to and over 11 lbs per day at peak production (months 1, 2, 3) and then gradually over the next 6 months taper from 9 to 5 or 6 lb. per day. This is derived from proven genetics, great pastures, proper grain feeding, and decent hay. If someone says a doe is a great milker, you will know only by trusting that she is telling the truth or by reading her Dairy Herd Improvement Records (DHIR). Ours records are posted here.
Breeding Strategy
Lazy Lady Farm was started over 24 years ago with a herd of one registered Nubian, Blooper. As the herd slowly grew, I realized that with the shorter lactation of the Nubies my herd was spending more time on welfare than it should. In 1997, with an eye toward doubling the herd average I had the great fortune of meeting Cathy Mabie of Roeburn Farm . She has been breeding great animals since 1976 and now has 23 permanent champion does. She gets maximum milk production from girls that show really well. That was it for me. I sold most of my 12 Nubians and switched the herd over to Cathy's fine Alpines. By now all of my bloodlines run from these does bringing a significant improvement to the bottom line of my cheese operation.
Having learned a valuable lesson I kept an eye out for good bucks and found them out West. In May of 2006 I flew in a doeling and a bucking (Alice and Andy) and in 2007 I flew in Sting and Roxy from a great breeder in Oregon. Pat Morford of Three Rings Farm strives for great looking animals and lots of milk production. Spend some time with the lineage records on our site and you will understand.
In 2009 I began working closer with Three Rings Farm's breeding source, Mamm-Key Farm of Colorado. I brought in Tom through a Mamm-key buck and my top producer and "best udder in the barn" doe. Please read Tom's story. Tom's grand dam cranked out over 3000 pounds as a 2 year old. In May of 2011 I flew in another bucking and doeling, this time directly from the great source of Mamm-Key farm. The dams of both these animals were in the top 10 list of highest producers of ADGA registered alpines. Their dams were able to produce over 4200lbs. in 289 days. The photos of these dams are available by clicking on "Tripper" or "Ballet". There you will be able to observe the fine structure and body type to hold up with this kind of production. I have placed a deposit for 2 more kids again from the Mamm-Key farm for the 2012 season.
The herd is meticulously managed to maintain its profitability. I don't understand caring for a doe that gives 5-6 lb/day. when the same amount of effort is required for an 11- 12 lb/day doe. With these girls producing 1900- 2300 lbs. and more, I have built a herd that is both manageable in size and profitable in production. Think about it. A typical dairy grade herd of 900-1000 lb. does earning, say, $48 cwt. will bring in $432-$480 per head. A doe that milks 2000 lbs. (11-13 lbs. at peak) will earn twice that, $960. Year after year. Structure and productivity is what it is all about. Lazy Lady Farm can provide that for you!!
Herd Health
We provide our animals with the best feed and feed supplements. We carefully manage our soils with compost, soil amendments and minerals. They have free choice of kelp with added supplements of niacin, biotin, copper sulfate and powdered molasses. They are also provided with browse year round. In the winter months we cut hemlock and spruce branches and bring them into their pens. The herd is pastured in the summer, May through October, using intensive rotational grazing. We make our own hay. Our organic grain is purchased from Green Mountain Feeds in Bethel, Vt., who create our own particular ration. The herd is on a CAE prevention program which is a plus for us, the animals, and for you. This disease is deadly and a heart breaker for any owner. We are pleased to offer this to you. They are blood tested every year and results are available for you to see.
Raising kids
The kids are pulled from the dams immediately. They are fed 24 ounces of colostrum in an 8 hour period. We then bottle feed individually for 2 days. In that milk I add nutri drench and vitamin C into the milk. They are then trained to multi feeder buckets. I keep 6 kids per pen with 2 triple teat buckets. They work their way up to 20 ounces per feeding. We feed 3 times per day for the full 2 months. This prevents stress, overeating, and scours. Second cut hay is offered starting at 1 week of age. Grain is introduced by the 4th week. Kids are dehorned between 7 and 10 days old. They are raised up to 50 pounds before weaning. When they reach 50 lbs they are moved up to a shed that is attached to a 1 acre wood lot and brush area to live in for the summer. They are fed 1 lb of grain per day and 2 lbs of hay of second cut. They are not put on pasture their 1st year to protect them from parasites and coccidia. They have less resistance than adults do. They are also offered plenty of kelp and minerals. They are ready to breed when they have reached 80 pounds AND are 8 months old. Being 80 pounds at breeding time is a crucial weight for breeding purposes.
Farming Practices
We produce our own hay from 12 well maintained acres. We make 3 cuts of hay per year. The first and third cut hays are round baled mostly dry and we produce square bales for our second cut. The fields are cared for by applying our composted manure, which has heated to 150 degrees, been moved twice, and is 6 months old when applied in the fall. Soil amendments are applied in the spring. The tilth of the soil is very important to us and the environment. We have 14 small pastures to create our rotational grazing system. The does are on one pasture for 24 hours. This gives the pastures 2 weeks to recover before they return. It provides for proper foliage growth without overgrazing and allows us to cut the pasture if needed to eliminate what they did not eat and grow the preferred grasses back uninhibited. The soil, hay and pastures are our biggest tools for creating award winning cheeses.
Off the grid
Lazy Lady Farm has been totally off the grid for 30 years with the use of solar panels and a 1K wind turbine. (see Tour photos) We have chosen to do so as a means of creating a smaller carbon footprint. In doing so, it makes the farm operation a bit more challenging and limiting but we accept the challenge.
About Us
Lazy Lady Farm has been utilizing organic practices since 1987. We now milk 41 registered Alpine does. Lazy Lady Farm is a cheese operation, which prevents us from getting these fine girls into the show ring but this should not stop you should you wish to do so. We strive for great looking animals, great milk production and great health to keep this small farm viable. Lazy Lady Farm Cheese can be found all over Vermont, New England, New York City and Chicago. We have been featured several times in the New York Times, Vermont Life, Williams and Sonoma magazine, and won several awards at the American Cheese Society and ADGA cheese competitions. We are a member of the Vermont Cheese Council since it began in 1997. I have served on the board and was president of the council in 2009 and 2010.
Contacts
| Laini Fondilier, Lazy Lady Farm, 973 Sniderbrook Rd., Westfield, Vt 05874 802 744 6365 | laini@lazyladyfarm.com |
Site Usage
- Most listings have two types of links.
YELLOW links follow pedigree within our herd back in time.
WHITE links follow ADGA pedigree records as far back as 1957 on a new page. Once there, placing the cursor over a goat's name calls up her championship level (CH, GCH, SGCH). Do so and you'll see that this herd has a mighty lineage going back decades. - As you browse your way through the listings you can 'CHECK' anyone that interests you next to her link on the left. This in no way places an order for that doe's kid, but makes it easier to keep track of her. Just 'UNCHECK' her as your search narrows.
- Clicking on a picture will get you a larger view.