Pleasant Wood Dairy

The Pleasant Wood dairy herd was established in 1994 with the purchase of two yearling does (Wawokiya). Our present genetics have been heavily influenced by the Walnut-Fork herd.  Although our herd is small, we strive to breed healthy and productive animals.

We focus our breeding on producing productive animals with solid, functional conformation. We are not looking for extremes in either conformation or production. Our desire is to produce a sound doe that can produce nicely over a long lifespan -on what we have available and can afford to feed her (eg. without needing excessive amounts of grain or alfalfa). Our does are not on milk test, however barn records are kept as a method to evaluate production.
While not specifically bred for the show ring, our herd has generations of thoughtfully bred, well acclaimed stock behind them and should be solid starting material for someone who is interested in  show animals.

Health & Care

Our animals are typically healthy creatures and we do our best to provide them with good care.  Each of our  animals is grained individually, allowing us to monitor  appetite and intake.  Does typically receive grain and Alfalfa pellets at a level that maintains production and good body weight for the individual, along with local grass hay. Clean water and minerals are available free choice. Bucks/wethers receive grain and/or whole oats as needed to maintain condition. Alfalfa pellets are used to help balance the Ca:Phos ratio as well as providing great nutrition. Grass hay, clean water and a mineral supplement are freely available.  Additional supplements are given as needed to bucks and does. Unfortunately, our space is quite limited and our animals have little access to browse or pasture.

Every effort is made to attend births and our kids are normally bottle fed  to a minimum of 8 weeks- 12 weeks is more typical.   Occasionally, we allow a doe to raise her kids   Kids are allowed to nibble grain and hay as soon as they are interested. The amount of grain offered increases to condition as the kids grow.

Our desire is to avoid using chemicals on our animals wherever possible.  A herbal dewormer is given on a weekly basis at minimum.  Other alternative deworming strategies are also used when appropriate. We do use chemical dewormers when necessary. Other drugs -antibiotics etc- are used on a case by case basis and only when deemed necessary. Our kids ARE typically raised on coccidia prevention.
Our adult herd has been tested for CAE since 2012. Our herd has not shown any signs of CL or Johnes disease.  We have tested for CL and Johnes in the past, but do not test for these on a regular basis.

We occasionally show animals, but mostly they are maintained on the property and are rarely transported or in contact with other livestock.

If you have any questions about our herd, its health or maintenance please contact us!