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A Dream Come True
By Julie Turner-Crawford
After more than 20 years in the dairy goat industry, Jen Ruyter is building her dream operation Raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, Jen Ruyter began venturing into dairy goats more than 20 years ago. “I’ve been passionate about the goats since I was little,” Jen said. “I used to show them throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland and milked there, too.” About four years ago, she moved to Arkansas for missions work with the Youth With a Mission organization in Ozark, Ark., bringing 11 of her goats with her. “When I moved here, I used my goats to teach food security and used them in the discipleship training schools,” Jen said. Jen and her husband David, whom she met after moving to the Natural
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State, are now building their herd and 4 I’ve been getting Miniature Nubian bucks acres, all while raising 2-year-old twins from Oklahoma and Texas. The MiniaEzra and Hezekiah, and 4-month-old ture Nubians have gotten more popular Azariah at New Dawn Goat Dairy. the last five years, and there are a lot of on“When we got married and started line shows. The one I got from Texas just having kids, we decided to settle down,” won a show, so it’s exciting.” Jen said. “But I still have the goats.” Her years of showing drive Jen to find Jen is still milking her herd, selling milk animals with superior conformation. straight from the farm, and making a “It’s all about longevity,” she said. line of goat milk soap, which she sells “Better genetics will last longer, and beat a local coffee shop. She also ships her cause we are milking twice a day, it’s imsoap back to customers in Pennsylvania. portant to have those good genetics for Jen raised mostly Alpines in Pennsyl- the animal’s health.” vania, mixed with a few Nubians and The New Dawn milking herd is five, Nigerian Dwarfs. Today she has added but several yearlings will be bred next Miniature Nubians to the mix. year, and younger animals are waiting “It’s a cross between a Nubian and a Ni- in the wings. gerian Dwarf to get a smaller Nubian,” she “I get about 4 gallons a day from the explained. “Both breeds have five I milk, so they are doing the highest butterfat of any pretty well,” Jen said. “One of breed, and Nigerians are more my milkers is only 22-inches than double. My goal is to Ozark, Ark. tall, and she’s milking really have a high butterfat-producwell.” ing animal that doesn’t conIn the past, Jen has taken off sume a lot. I have the standard from milking in the month of Deand the smaller Nubians, and cember, but she has opted to change Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
her breeding program to have milk year round. “I am going to try to have at least two,” Jen said, adding that Azariah came around breeding season last year, so she had to modify the schedule. To make kidding dates more manageable, bucks are not housed with the females Instead, Jen brings does to the bucks when she is ready to breed them. “That way, I know when they are due, and I can have one or two in milk most of the time,” she said. “With the Miniature Nubians, they come into heat more often than the standard breeds do, so they are easier to breed in late winter or early fall. I prefer this because I can also be there when the goat is due so I can make sure she’s having a safe birth and the babies are doing OK. I have worked on other dairies, and it’s very chaotic when you have 10 due the same day. I like to spread things out, so the babies get the attention they need. Goats have two or three babies at one time, so there can be a weak one that needs more attention; I try to keep everyone healthy and alive. One of my favorite parts about it all is baby season. You work hard, but you get to see what your new genetics look like.” To aid in the longevity of her herd, Jen said, does are not put into a breeding rotation until they are a year and a half old. “I like to wait until they get a little bigger and are more mature,” she explained. “Doing that, they seem to do better.” Most buck kids are wethered young and sold for meat or as pets. However, some superior bucks, as well as does, go into the breeding program of New Dawn and other herds. “In Pennsylvania, I had a lot of good customers who came from all over to get milk or goat kids, and a lot of them still know me,” she said. “They like my genetics. I’ve also sent kids to Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and a few around here. My whole herd is registered, and I have some genetics that go back over 20 years. Not too many people have done that.” All goats are on pasture, and receive locally sourced, free-choice grass hay and Chaffhaye – a fermented alfalfa. “They just get a little feed and good minerals,” Jen said. “They also get an AUGUST 1, 2022
