Briar Rose Miniature Goats

We are based in Hindmarsh Valley, South Australia.

We started our goat journey in 2011 with some rangeland does that quickly escaped our paddocks but in the process captured my fascination with all things Caprine. We got the girls back and although these crazy frightened animals where a handful I was quickly able to tame the majority of our small herd and learn from their behaviours and the adventure truly began.

I stumbled upon Australian Miniature Goats by chance during some research. From the day my first two does arrived I was hooked completely and we registered our stud in 2013 by welcoming the arrival of our first registered babies. We lived on 2 1/2 acres at this time and as our herd was expanding we knew a bigger property was needed in our future.

We shifted in 2015 after buying part of the family farm and started diligently blood testing all our animals for CAE and JD. The property required a great deal of work and investment to make it suitable for goats which is on going as my family had previously run an MN3 Murray Grey Beef Cattle stud. It gave us 23 glorious fertile acres to expand on. Not long after the move we completed our family of 3 strapping beautiful boys who embraced the extra space and work hard to help run our small farm.

From 2019 we expanded further to include a herd of Pure Bred dairy goats incorporating; British Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg, Anglo Nubian and Nigerian Dwarf Goats. We milk the herd at different times throughout the year and have ambitious plans to set up a small dairy for our own use. The milk is currently fed back to bottle baby goats, pigs, calves, and is also turned into cheese when we have excess.

Our adventures with expanding our multi purpose property has included the addition of miniature pigs and long haired guinea pigs plus a productive flower garden. We plan on growing the pigs out on as much goats milk and pasture as we can to finish with an absolute luxury eating animal whilst giving them the best life we can incorporating free range paddocks and lots of fresh veggies from our large garden plus provision of top quality grain mixes. They do also make very lovely pets as they are a fairly small pig compared to other breeds available in Australia with loving personalities.

Country living whilst breeding and managing our beloved animals to the highest quality structurally and productivity wise, whilst keeping them happy, healthy and exposing them to as little stress as possible is a true blessing albeit requiring a huge commitment and at times a great deal of stress and difficulty. Being able to feed family and friends with a clean and healthy home grown products is a gift and real joy. Producing stock that has a definite function, multiple purposes whether that be pet, meat or milk has sparked a passion and drive to share our journey. We love seeing new families fall in love with our animals and it brings us a great deal of joy to know they make many wonderful memories for others, just like they do for us. We combine every different element of the farm from gardens, vegetable patches & fruit trees with their trimmings and extra produce going back into the animals who then provide the fertilisers and mulch through their waste products to produce next years harvest with a exciting array of heritage and weird and wonderful produce a favourite! Its a pleasure and sometimes a curse to grow your own food but personally I find its such a source of pride and when it all comes together an extraordinary experience that you can share with all your nearest and dearest including preserves and extra produce for swapping and bartering. What better gift than one you've grown yourself through hard work, enormous investment and love.

Our journey is not going to be for everyone but we are happy to share our experience with those that are interested to know more.

The opportunity to source genetics focused on strong structure, resilience, output, friendly natures and shape my own herds to reflect the attributes and behaviours I desire whilst embracing the breed standards and striving towards hardy improvements each new generation is just exhilarating!

BE INFORMED >>

Please please please do your research to see if these amazing animals will suit your lifestyle and decide what their function is before you buy. It is a big commitment and your animals will be relying on you for their health, well being and attention for the rest of their lives, whether that be as a pet or production animal. The internet is a great place to start. You can also speak to or email breeders and there are some great books available but nothing beats a visit to studs and seeing for yourself.

We often have social days or shows organised for goat owners so please ask if your interested in an invitation, we welcome those interested in all breeds at these events.

~WARNING TO BUYERS~

Please also be aware that there are many different breeds currently available in Australia. They are all beautiful in their own way but be sure of what your buying and ask to see the registration papers if possible.

Sellers often claim what they have is a miniature goat or a pure breed with no proof such as rego papers. I have seen many cases where baby goats are sold as minis when they are actually Rangeland Goats being sold under false advertising. Its buyer beware.

Ask for copies of CAE & JD testing if available and/or vaccination details before purchase but be aware that a negative test does not mean the goat is not a carrier that will show up later in life, its a tool along with assessing risk factors of the individual property and their bio security protocols and neighbours access, water courses etc. Any other programs your breeder may be apart of to help establish the herds health and management status are of a great benefit. We have a bio security plan specifically tailored to our property and have decided to vaccinate all the goats joining our herd with the JD vaccine Gudiar and any kids sold will also be raised based on a PIRSA approved kid rearing plan prior to being exposed to our pastures. We no longer test for JD each year as we've chosen to invest in other I believe more reliable forms of protection for our animals.

GOATS GLORIOUS GOATS & PRECIOUS PIGGIES>>

Don't hesitate to contact me.

To get specifically what you are after you may need to pop your name down early. These are very popular animals. If I can't help you with what your are looking for I may be able to get you in touch with another breeder who can.

We are proudly registered breeders with MGA - Miniature Goats Australia. I am also a financial member of the DGSA (Dairy Goats Society of Australia).

So please contact me if you'd like any further information on joining, we are always eager to welcome new members.

For sale

Useful links

OUR CRITTERS >>

Our first focus and passion was the Australian Miniature Goat, Australia's original and true mini goat. Although they will forever hold a huge part of my heart and I will forever be an advocate of this incredible breed our goals and dreams have expanded with a interest and focus on productivity and functionality. As we work towards running a small dairy we have decided our next chapter lies in exploring the Nigerian Dwarf goat more recently imported into Australia. We now also breed small numbers of beautiful Anglo Nubians, British Alpine, Toggenburg and Saanens.

Goats make the perfect pets. They are wonderful with children and adults whether they are hand reared or dam raised if handled regularly and they make fantastic companions. They are very social animals and must go as a minimum in pairs unless you have other goats for company. The more the merrier. Affectionate, cute, inquisitive and full of character. Each animal has its own very distinctive personality. Wethers and does make the best pets. Entire bucks are best left for breeding as they can get pretty smelly when they come into rut and hormones can make them a bit un predictable to anyone not familiar with their behaviour, we do not sell bucks as pets.

Please be aware that dwarf goats, dairy goats or mini pigs are not suitable for residential backyards. 1/4 an acre for a pair of dwarf goats is the minimum we suggest. For all livestock you need a PIC number issued by PIRSA. For Pigs you also need a Pig Pass registered. If you are in a residential setting you can still experience the joy of owning a Briar Rose baby but are limited to our gorgeous long haired Guinea Pigs. The comfort I find in cuddling our GPs is immense. They are fascinating and full of personality.

All our young goats are de-horned for their safety and your own. We regularly vaccinate and trim their hooves to help keep them in good condition plus ear tag all our stock as required by law. We also drench and treat for lice when needed. In addition we also supplement feed our animals when required and allow them 24/7 access to fresh water and mineral blocks/loose minerals which are vital for their continued good health. They must all have access to draught free shelter as goats hate the rain and can get sick if left in the elements! Young kids also need to be protected from predators like foxes, eagles and dogs. Pigs require a good shelter and we prefer to use electric wires on their pens as they can be very rough on fences and are super strong when mature. Guinea Pigs can be kept either inside your house full time or on the lawn. Vitamin C is critical in their diet as well as a steady supply of hay and shelter from the elements. They can be a bit fragile in very hot weather too so we often provide frozen water bottle on extremely warm days.

Goats are perfect on small lifestyle acreage as well as bigger properties and we have found them to be very kind on the fences if they are content with company, routines, food and shelter. They will test them though so they need to be tight and at least 1.2 metres tall and tight enough they can't squeeze underneath. There are always some exceptions and some can be Houdini's if given the chance. Make sure they can't use a top rail to gain purchase and learn to jump too as its a very hard habit to break. Bottle babies in our experience who seek out your company tend to be more mischievous. You must start with strong fences they cannot get through, under or over because if they can get out it can be an extremely difficult to get them to stop!! Particularly watch for rails they can crawl up or use on the top of fences to gain purchase and jump onto and over. Rail fences and pallet fences act like a ladder to a goat.

You need a minimum of 2 goats, 2 pigs or 2 Guinea Pigs as they are all very socially reliant on each other. You will be supplied with a pig pass or NVD and all our livestock animals are ear tagged as required.

Another love of mine is gardening and the goats, chickens, Guinea Pigs and pigs help out whenever they can. A little nibble here and the trimming of a rose bush there...

A home grown veggie patch is a great asset. They all love fresh food, but only in small amounts at any one time so you don't upset their tummies. It is not wise to let any of them gorge themselves on new feed, introduce it slowly otherwise you could really upset the balance of their stomach. Please take care to be familiar with what is toxic to your animals though as it is certainly very false that they can eat anything and some very common plants can be deadly so please BEWARE and always check before giving them anything your not certain of!