Our herd is clean, tested annually (see results here), G6S normal by parentage or test. We work hard to raise the highest quality milk goats we can, and enjoy packaging those milk genes in fun colors. There are blue eyes to be found in our herd, as well as roaning, moon spotting, unusual colors, and also traditional solid colors. Some of our goats are also polled.
Our goats combine some of the most well-respected bloodlines in America (Green Gables, Echo Hills, Eddy Place, Skillman’s Ranch, Goat Trails, Cedar Creek, and CA Blackberry, to name a few) and we are working:
- First to always improve conformation that enhances milking ease and udder capacity.
- Second, to offer a fun variety of colors and patterns.
How to Get on our Interest List
We do not take deposits, but we do maintain an Interest List. In 2024, we anticipate offering both doelings and some prime bucklings for sale. We typically also have some wethers (castrated male goats) sold as goat companions or pets. You will find young kids (under one year old) listed on this page: Kids Looking for New Pastures.
We should have some does in milk for sale in late summer as we make tough calls on who to keep in the fall of 2024. Check this page off and on for new listings.
How to Get Started Choosing a Goat
- If you are interested in a kid, please START by looking at our Breeding Plan for 2024.
- Please take some time to review the goat sires/dams that are linked there. Each breeding-aged goat has a page that shows their pedigree and pictures of their forebears, or links to them if they’re at our farm.
- An educated customer is our favorite kind, so get to know our lines and breeding goals!
- If, after these steps, you would like to get onto our Interest List, drop us an email at storybook.farm.wv@gmail.com to start a conversation about purchasing one or more of our goats.
- You can also find our farm page on Facebook, but do NOT message me via our farm page.
- Please message me personally on FB: I am Marcia Somerville of Sugar Grove, WV.
- We keep separate doeling and buckling Interest Lists, and as the season progresses, we list those kids not under deposit HERE.
The Purchase Process After Kids are Born
When kids are born, the first person listed with interest in the types of kids available will be contacted via email or text (or other preferred means) and have 24 hours to accept or decline a kid. If a kid is accepted, we will need an immediate $100 deposit (more on this below).
Please note that we do not go in strict chronological order down our Interest List. Rather, we make the best matches we can between those looking for goats and the goats we sell. (We reserve the right to make selling decisions based on our own criteria and discernment.)
- We do not sell babies to farms who do not have at least one age-mate goat buddy for our baby.
- Goats do much better moving to a new farm in pairs, so we give a small discount to those purchasing more than one goat at a time from us.
If we have gone all through the Interest List and no one claims new kid(s) with a deposit, we will post pictures of kids on our Kids Looking for New Pastures page, and advertise nationally. (Listings on this page also cross-links to the parents of each kid.)
About the $100 Deposit
To hold your kid, you’ll need to send a $100 deposit within 24 hours of saying “yes” to him or her (via PayPal or direct deposit so that we get it immediately). As a normal course of action, we vaccinate kids with CD&T at a month old and then again about three weeks later. If you choose to refuse vaccination, the deposit increases to half the sales price. (See more conditions connected with vaccination below.)
Your deposit is NOT refundable if you change your mind for any reason, but will (of course) be refunded if the kid becomes sick, deformed, injured, or dies while in our care. The exception to this is with non-vaccinated kids. We will perform a necropsy, and if it is determined that a vaccination would have prevented the disease, we will not return the half-price deposit.
While we disbud, vaccinate with CD&T shots, and deworm kids before they leave our farm, we do NOT tattoo. Instead, we microchip any goat the will be registered. (We do not chip wethers.) If you do not want your kid vaccinated or dewormed, you need to tell us when you make your deposit. All registrable kids must leave here with a permanent ID if they are to be registered.
We also give kids Vitamin B complex on the day that they leave to ease shipping stresses, and will include a chilled bottle of goat milk if they are bottle babies. You should watch any kid closely for worm issues, since transport and a change of environment are very stressful and can give rise to a worm bloom (more on this below).
Moving farms is stressful for goats! We have created an entire webpage that details our management so that you can best know how to ease your new goat into your management situation gradually.
Payment Policies & Purchase Contract
You will be required to agree to a purchase contract at the time you make your $100 deposit. This contract protects you and us, and makes clear the communications that we’ve had regarding your kid purchase. In the contract:
- It states the names of the sire and dam of the kid(s), and the date(s) of their birth(s).
- It states that we will disbud kids in the first two weeks of life, unless you’d rather us not. (In this case, the kid must be paid for in full–no refunds.)
- It states that we will give (as a matter of course at our farm) CDT vaccinations at 4 and 7 weeks of age. If you do not want your kid(s) vaccinated, please indicate this at the time of contract signing, and we’ll state that in the contract, and also change the deposit amount.
- It tells you that we will use microchips, and not tattoos, for permanent ID. Permanent ID is necessary for all registrable animals, in accordance with registry rules.
- It states that we will fill in a registration form for MDGA or TMGR registration for you if your kid is registrable (males intended as wethers are not registrable). The tattoo numbers and the chip number will be filled in on that form.
- Transport is not under discussion in the contract. We can often help, but ultimately, transport in a timely fashion is your responsibility.
- If we meet you for transport, we will need to be compensated for gas and time at the rate of $20/travel hour, per GPS.
- Unless agreed to in your contract, your male kid will stay here no longer than 10 weeks; females, 12 weeks.
- Kids of both sexes can go to you at 8 weeks if you are willing to commit to bottle feeding for the remaining weeks that they need milk nutrition. After we agree on the date for pickup or transfer, we will charge a board fee of $3/day that the kid stays over the agreed upon date.
- Some contracts for our goats may include a buy-back clause: we will ask for a right of first refusal should you decide to sell the animal in the future.
- Finally, the contract clearly states that after the kid leaves our property you will hold us harmless for any injuries, illnesses, etc. The kid will be in your control after leaving here, and we cannot control outcomes.
All goats must be paid for in full before leaving our property/being transferred.
- We prefer cash for the balance of each sale.
- You can pay by check as well. That check must clear before the kid leaves our property, so please make sure to send it at least a week (ten days is better) before you plan to pick up/transport your kid.
Once a goat leaves our farm, there are no refunds. Your goat is your responsibility. We will not knowlingly let a sick goat go to your farm; we cannot, however, be responsible for travel sickness or conditions at your farm. This is why (if you are new to goats) you should do your homework on caring for new goats before you pick up. PLEASE read THIS PAGE before accepting your new goat(s).
A few pieces of friendly advice…
- If you do not have one already, please do choose a vet ahead of time before bringing home your new goat! If you are getting a young wether from us (under 10 weeks old), your vet will be banding him, unless you choose to do it yourself.
- A change of environment can impact the gut of a goat, so please be vigilant about parasitic worms, keeping an eye on goat droppings and getting fecal tests done by a vet/lab about a week after receiving your new animal. It is wise to quarantine a new goat for about two weeks, minimally, in case they are carrying a cold or virus from our barn to yours.
- Plan ahead to bolster your kid’s immune system by added B Vitamins and by accustoming him to new feeds or pasture very gradually.
- Be aware that there can be worm blooms after travel, so know the signs of worm problems, and learn about worm prevention techniques, including the importance of doing regular fecal tests.
Other Stuff to Know
Transport is your responsibility, but sometimes we can help. Contact us early on this and we’ll see what we can do to help. Flying is a possibility, but it will be expensive as the nearest hub is three hours from our door.
Unless something unusual happens (dam refuses kid; dam can’t feed multiples well, etc.) we do not bottle feed kids. We dam raise them. However, we do work to accustom kids to a bottle at birth in case we later need to bottle feed—for example, for milk test days. We prefer to not let bottle babies go before 8 weeks of age, and definitely not to inexperienced goat keepers. So, most kids leave here no sooner than 8 weeks old, and more usually at 10-12 weeks (depending on sex).
Goats need other goats! We will not sell kids to those who do not have, or intend to have in the immediate future, more than one goat.
New goat owners: we will be asking questions about your farm, and please, please ask us questions about goat care! There’s a lot to learn and consider when starting with goats, and we want to make sure our babies go to loving, caring, good homes! We’re not being nosy when we ask about your goat plans and facilities. We’re being caring and careful. And we want to help, so please stay in touch and use us as a resource!
About Registrations
All of our adult goats are registered; you will be responsible for transferring their registration to your name. (In both mini goat registries, this is a matter of a few dollars.) With adults, we will give you any relevant paperwork, including their current registrations, so that you can transfer them to your name.
Wethers from us cannot be registered. With young kids, unless they are sold as wethers, we will provide you with paperwork you need to register them with the appropriate registry.
If you get confused about the paperwork process, we are more than happy to help!