Welcome to Beulah Land Farm and the home of BLF Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats!  We are Mark and Sharon Bernhardt along with our children, Jessica, Jacob, Josiah and Joy.

Mark and I were married in 1982 and we’ve been blessed with four children.   We live near the Wisconsin border approximately 20 miles East of Rockford and about 65 miles northwest of Chicago. We built this home in the country during 2002 and moved in just before the birth of our 4th child, Joy.  A busy, stressful time that was, but what a blessing from God to finally have this desire of our hearts: to live in the country where our energetic children could have some good, hard, character-building work to do! And we could have our Nigerian Dwarf goats to provide healthy milk, for us and others to benefit from.  I grew up around experienced goat keepers and have appreciated their useful animals.  Then as we had our family, I learned to love the caprine variety even more, as we experienced the many health benefits that goats’ milk brings.  Our Jessica (born in 1984) as a baby had severe colic that quickly and completely disappeared when I began to drink fresh goats’ milk.  The pediatrician and I figured out that the pasteurized cows’ milk I was drinking was causing my nursing baby’s distress.  Our Jacob (born in 1987) had severe reactions to pasteurized cows' milk and it manifested itself in recurring ear infections and cold symptoms very frequently. I was thankful when a doctor finally correctly diagnosed it. He was around 5 years old.  When I removed pasteurized cows’ milk from his diet and began to give him fresh goats’ milk, he had no more ear infections.  Josiah (born in 2000) was 5 months of age when I had to stop nursing him.  He grew strong and healthy on goats’ milk (from our dear friends’ beloved Nigerian Dwarf doe who kept producing through a greatly extended lactation to supply our baby with nourishment).  We have been very thankful to now have our own herd since early 2003.

It’s not hard to figure out that it costs just as much (or more!) to raise and maintain poor quality goats as it does to raise goats of superior quality and genetic background.  We have high goals for our herd.  We strive to produce beautifully refined, high milkers, of show winning quality, correct in conformation. (Correct for reasons of health and longevity most importantly, but winning in the show ring is nice, too!)  Health and safety of our animals is a top priority.  We have done much research and will always continue to learn.  We are grateful to have been able to talk at length with the veterinarians from Washington State Univ. and Cornell Univ. in NY..  We have learned much from long time breeders.  We purchased our small herd of foundation animals from reputable breeders of healthy animals with the genetics and conformational strengths that will help us to best achieve our goals. 

We test  through Washington State University using the more accurate and sensitive ELISA method of testing.  All of our goats have tested negative for CAE, Johne’s and Brucellosis. We have had no abscesses or any other contagious diseases, nor have the herds we purchased our animals from.  We are members of A.G.S and A.D.G.A..
Our animals are registered with A.G.S. and can be registered with A.D.G.A.

We feed our animals a custom mixed organic grain (with organic barley, oats, flax, corn and black oil sunflower seeds added.)  They get a trace mineral salt, along with deep sea Kelp and baking soda free choice.  We feed the does a mixture of alfalfa and grass hay.  Bucks and wethers are fed grass hay.  Fresh, clean water is very important!  We also add a bit of organic raw apple cider vinegar to the water for easily assimilable potassium and to help prevent urinary calculi in the bucks. We use organic herbs and homeopathic remedies.

Our kids are dam and/or bottle raised.  At birth, we dip the kids’ navels in iodine, keep the pens clean, and watch the kids carefully to make sure they are nursing properly if they are not being totally bottle fed.  Mama appreciates some warm water with a bit of blackstrap molasses after her great job of kidding and she drinks a lot of it!
We train our does to the milk stand well before they kid and make sure to milk the doe within 24 to 48 hours of kidding, so she gets used to being milked by us.  The kids all get handled and loved a lot and have been very friendly.  We have found our dam raised babies to be just as friendly as our bottle fed babies. 

Nigerian Dwarf goats are not “dwarfs” but true, refined dairy goats in a smaller size.  They are easy to handle, alert, intelligent, hardy animals.  The maximum height for does is 22 ½", bucks 23 ½". They produce a reasonable amount of milk for the average family, approximately one quart per milking. They can be all colors and patterns. Color is not our primary focus but we thoroughly enjoy the surprise and infinite range of colors and patterns we can get with the Nigerians! It is a nice bonus!  Being natural browsers, they prefer eating fresh growing vegetation.  Unlike cows or sheep, they rarely will eat close to the ground.  They can be raised in all climates.  They require less feed and do not need elaborate or large housing.  Wethers make exceptional pets and companion animals, being very gentle. Goats are very social animals and are not happy alone. So, if just starting out, you need to start with two, not one.

There is no perceptible difference between the flavor of properly handled goats’ milk and that of properly handled cows’ milk. Goats’ milk is a good source for calcium.  It is whiter in color and easier to digest than cows’ milk due to the small fat globules and soft curds.  Many people who are allergic to cows’ milk can tolerate goats’ milk.  Nigerian Dwarf milk is higher in butterfat, making it more creamy and delicious.  The neurological development of babies and children is dependent upon fat in their diet.  Children on low-fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive & learning disabilities. (Food Chem News 10/3/94).  Our does give us good milk high in butterfat which is not only healthful to drink, but makes delicious yogurt, kefir, cheese and whatever else we have time to make!

Though we have a fairly small herd, we believe we have some exceptional animals and certainly have some incredible genetics. We hope you enjoy your visit. If we have anything of interest to you or you have any questions, please e-mail us at Brnhrdt6@gmail.com or call 1-815-943-0575.  Please e-mail if you can, with questions about breeding stock and kids as we’re a bustling household with many responsibilities.

  Beautiful 2009 kids are here!!    Take a look at the For Sale page!

Confused about fats? Click here Know Your Fats

We highly recommend this website for a wealth of nutritional information.  Our family has found it to be very helpful.
http://www.westonaprice.org

Recommended Books:
Nourishing Traditions - The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon

Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol
by Mary Enig PhD  
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price D.D.S.  

The Whole Soy Story
(The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food)
by Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN
The book that tells the truth about soy that scientists know, that you need to know,
and that the soy industry has tried to suppress.

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