Broken Arrow Ranch & Feed

BAR Rivers Mojo

Welcome to Broken Arrow Ranch & Feed, located in Braxton County, West Virginia. Get a cup of coffee and sit down and browse a while. We always welcome visitors, who quickly become friends.

We bought the place in August of 1995, it is 68 acres of mountain, 'cause there ain't nothin' flat in West Virginia! No one had lived here for a few years, so there was many repairs to be done before we could even move in, and we were looking winter dead in the eye. We made it, and spent a comfortable winter evaluating a assessing and the following spring we started building and haven't stopped.

We now have some of the fencing up and a loafing shed with stalls for the goats. We have a Boer buck, Saanen does and some cross breed offspring from them.

When I was born, my mother had major medical problems and I was allergic to cows milk and formula. I was quite ill for a long time, then my mother put me on goats milk and in a month I was just as healthy as any other child and eating regular foods too. So I grew up with the goats and the milk, meat and other products.

Well here is something new for the folks returning for another visit. I have purchased 3 Saanen does of excellent milking quality, Marylin's first freshening she milked 2 gallons per day, and her second freshening was almost 3 gallons per day! I also have two of her half sisters, who milk just as well! They were bred by Jim Kirk, and are excellent line for those looking for major milk production. Remember it costs much less to feed one GOOD milker instead of 10 brush goats who are poor milkers! Jim shows his goats too, keeps acurate milking records and is an active member in the Appalachian Goats Owners Association and The American Dairy Goat Association.

Our buck, pictured above from 1999, is BAR Rivers Mojo, is a full blood SA/SA buck. His sire is JLF Faro and his dam is Mojo's Caroline. Mojo Magic is his grand sire on both sides. Rivers came from Wildwood Boer Goats formerly located near Asheville, NC. Mojo Magic is owned by Lynn Farmer, Farmers Stock Exchange, near Mullin,TX. He weighted about 180 pounds in that picture and is over 400 pounds now! His kids (that means his offspring), when crossed with our Saanen does, weight between 90 and 125 pounds at 9 to 11 months old when they are ready to butcher.

At this point I am very interested in marketing, as are most producers, and anyone who is interested in marketing is encouraged to contact me. I am also interested in further promoting the Boer goat and all other meat goats for commercial production (that means to eat, like beef, pork or poultry). By the way, goat meat is called chevon or cabrito if you didn't know.

I know you are either laughing or cringing now at the thought of eating goat's meat.... But did you know that the United States imports over 9,000 metric TONS of frozen goat meat per quarter (that means every 3 months) just on the East Coast to meet the demand of our fair citizens?? The West Coast imports a pretty large amount too! We do according to the USDA. And that isn't just for the "ethnic" populations, it is rapidly growing in popularity with all Americans for various reasons, health being the primary reason, but exellent taste doesn't hurt either! Ease of cooking helps too, you can prepare it the same ways you prepare beef or pork, with the same spices.

If we butchered every goat in the country this month it would not be enough meat to last a week on the open market! Goats' meat consistently brings $1.25 and up per pound live weight (between 9 and 11 months old) year round, and spikes up during certain holiday seasons to as much as $5.50 per pound live weight. How are cattle, pork and poultry prices doing?

Remember that beef and pork are the direct causes (the fat in them) of prostrate cancer and a lot of other health problems; as per our doctors, and the medical profession in general. Have you noticed the news bleeps about beef and pork being bad for Americans, and how the red meats should be avoided??? Wonder when they will do a Master Lawsuit Settlement on the Beef and Pork Industries to pay for the cancers those meats cause??

Now I HAVE TO tell you that I am NOT on a Cancer Cruscade, in fact, I own a tobacco store: http://www.abstobaccoshop.com - I am just trying to enlighten you that: 1) cigarettes are not the main nor only cause of cancer in our society; and 2) you can do something about your diet; and 3) all industries should be treated the same if they are proven to cause cancer. I am against the special "sin taxes" our government has put on tobacco products only because they do not apply them to all industries that are deemed to "cause cancer" of anykind.

I am a member of the Mountain Pride Co-Op. It was established in 1996 to buy and process rabbit and goat (in a USDA inspected facility) to sell at the grocery stores and resturants. They are located near Oakland, Maryland and buy product from five states (MD, VA, WV, PA & NC.) at this time. They buy rabbit regularly and we are looking for contract buyers for the processed chevon before Mtn. Pride can start buying live goats from the growers. The phone number for the office is 301-344-6960.

We also have rabbits, chickens, guienes and turkeys, for eggs and meats. These meats do not cause prostrate cancer either, as per our doctors. I think if we had a hundred chickens I could not keep the area in eggs, no matter how many hens I buy, I am always short on eggs.

There is also a link below for our beautiful state of West Virginia. Hubby, Dayton, was born here and wanted to retire here. I was born and raised on the West Coast and I love it here, I was really tired of the high taxes and over population of the West Coast. There are several other links below which offer a wealth of information.

If you are interested in being on a dairy goat list (where fellow goat owners exchange information and ideas via e-mail) or a meat goat list, contact me and I will forward your request to the respective list's owners.

You can also go to several other goat related sites by clicking on one of the buttons below for the Goat Web Ring, which is sponsored by Alpine Haus, a fine online book store for goat books and general farm and ranch books as well as soap and cheese making books and supplies as well as livestock computer software and more.

Well Thanks for stopping by and letting me bend you ear! Please sign my guest book before you leave, I try to acknowledge each one. When you are done, try some of the links. I hope you enjoyed your visit - stop by again. And Hey! Be brave, try the reciepe below - I bet you will like it!

Chevon Reciepe Links