Strawberry Fields Farm was born out of a love for goats. It is our family’s (the Adams Family), wonderfully, wild haven. I began working at an educational children’s farm in Kentucky in 1995 and fell head over heels in love with goats. We bought two American Alpine doeling kids and began from there. Jason, our son, joined a local 4-H club and so began our first two does’ show days. Jason, our youngest, has since married but we have never experienced "the empty nest syndrome. Our lives are full with tending our herd. Nine years ago, I became the Clermont County 4-H Goat Program Advisor and ten years ago became the advisor of my own club.The Goat Program in Clermont County has grown in leaps and bounds. Last year saw over 250 goats show at the Junior Fair. Our Senior Fair Board built a beautiful a new extension five years for the goat program and we have since grown with the overflow of goats going into portions of the sheep and cattle barn. This past fair, I retired to focus on the Ohio Dairy Goat Association Youth Show. I make cheese, soap and fudge with the extra milk and also teach a dairy program at the educational children’s farm where I still work today. I have been blessed to work at SunRock Farm for twelve years now.

The wonder of these beautiful animals has grown constantly. We enjoy showing our herd as well as visiting "goat friends" at the shows. I am still very excitable during show days, especially when my babies (the goats) become excitable. Both are inevitable. Paul does most of the showing, I live in the show barns with the girls.

Our does were tested five years ago and all were CAE negative. After three years of previous testing and attaining the same results, we still practice a strict CAE prevention program. All kids are fed heat treated colostrum, pasturized milk and are raised in a separate barn from our adult does. We are also enrolled in the Scrapie Free Certification Program. The State of Ohio is a T/B free state. I make cheese, soap and fudge with the extra milk and also teach a dairy program at the educational children’s farm.

The past years have seen our bucks, does, and babies go to farms in Bermuda, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and Kentucky, Virginia and California. We would like to thank Debra Smith from Flower Acres for selling us our first doe and second buck, Cloud and Hoover, and Patti Dean (Willow Run Dairy) for allowing us to give Josephina and Pan (one of our original bucks) a place to call home. These four goats are the basis of our herd. Currently our herd matriarchs are Willow Run Josephina and Strawberry Fields Irish Rose. Our boys are housed separate from the girls. Strawberry Fields Ireland is a son of Irish Rose and Radical Highlight (A/I) and Willow Run Jasper is a son of Josephina and Willow Run Wonder. This year we purchased a new buckling, Nixon's Warrior, and would like to thank Sheila Nixon for this opportunity.

All the goats receive a 15% goat ration (special mixed for us which includes dairy pellets, black oil sunflower seeds, oats, barley, rolled corn, beet pulp, minerals and molasses), alfalfa/orchard grass mixed hay, fruit and carrots daily as well as free access to trace minerals, baking soda, and kelp meal. Josephina gets an additional treat of Peppermint Altoids which she loves. Our babies are raised on the adult feed and hay from birth and are completely weaned by nine weeks of age. Research has shown that kids that are weaned by this age and are eating grain and hay develop much larger rumens than those that are given milk for months. They are able to process more hay for milking and body condition as adults. The babies are eating hay at a few days old and all are nibbling at grain by a week of age. Each kid is worked up up to 3/4 of a pound of grain individually twice a day and given free choice hay. Our kids tend to be large so need this amount of feed to insure their growth potential. Our doelings are bred to kid as yearlings when they are at least seven months old and weigh 80 lbs. They are fed two pounds of grain each, twice a day, during their pregancy so they give birth as healthy yearlings. Our does in milk are fed a pound of grain for maintenance, and a pound of grain for each three pounds of milk they are producing (8 lbs. is a gallon of milk) We split this into two feedings a day. When dry and bred, each doe is fed a grain ration that is much smaller but one that meets their individual needs for winter and pregnancy body maintenance. This differs from doe to doe. Our bucks receive one pound of grain twice daily. All are given free choice hay. Their hay racks always have hay in them.

In order to give all the girls and boys the attention they deserve as well as truly catching all the kids, pasturizing milk and heat treating colostrum for all of them, we have decided to keep our herd small. We now can have the opportunity to spoil them properly. Simply put, spoil them rotten. They deserve it for being the beautiful animals that they are.

-Beth Adams