Rafter O at Cordova Creek - Canyon Lake, Texas

your Mini Nubian boutique

Welcome to the Rafter O

click the icons above for more info
the Rafter O Hall of Fame

Home of Champions

Mini Nubian - FCH Rafter O Four Leaf Clover
our farm

Quality
Mini Nubians

We are a small operation in Canyon Lake, Texas that prides ourselves on raising wonderful, healthy Mini Nubian dairy goats to join your family homestead and provide you with plenty of rich, sweet milk.

Herd health is our top priority.  Rafter O goats are tested for CAE, CL, and Johne’s.  The entire Rafter O Mini Nubian herd is also G6S normal.

Our Mini Nubians are a variety of generations – 1st through 7th. We have brought in lower generations and full Nubians to work on more diversity and bloodlines in the Mini Nubians.   They are registered with the Miniature Dairy Goat Association and the American Dairy Goat Association.

Our goal is to provide kids with great milk lines, good conformation, excellent Nubian traits, and friendly!  Rafter O Mini Nubian kids are so people-oriented..sometimes I wonder if they know they are goats!

why our mini nubians are so good

Raised without Compromise

HEART Breeder
Rafter O Agarita & Rafter O Cottontail - Mini Nubian

        Our Rafter O Mini Nubian herd is raised without compromise.  We provide only the best for our goats whether it be nutritional, medical, husbandry-related, or social.  Our does are hand-bred so we know the exact conception date, and we can be present at all kiddings.  Right from birth, our Rafter O kids are cared for with the highest level of attention.  We strive to stay up to date on current research and change our protocols to implement the gold standard of care for our dairy goats.  We are proud to breed with H.E.A.R.T.!  What is a H.E.A.R.T. breeder?  Learn more below…

H.E.A.R.T. breeders are dedicated to promoting the breeding and raising of high-quality miniature dairy goats meeting requirements in Health, Education, Accountability, Responsibility, and Tradition.

Health – Feed and water, Environment, Veterinary Care, Inspection, Biosecurity, Genetic Testing, Other Diseases, Husbandry, and Other Procedures

Education – Continuing Education, Mentor Program

Accountability – References, Business Practices, Sales Agreement, Record Keeping

Responsibility – Code of Conduct, Improving the Mini Breeds, Parentage – DNA, USDA Scrape Requirements, Transportation

how it was

Our Farm History

     In April, my dream to own land and live in the country became a reality when we purchased our homestead which would become the Rafter O at Cordova Creek.  Situated on 10 acres in Canyon Lake, Texas, the farm backs up to Cordova Creek….which is dry most of the time!

     I always knew I wanted to raise dairy goats but it was just a matter of deciding which breed.  The long ears of the Nubians captivated me, but I did not like their big size.  While researching, I came across the Mini Nubian which is just what we wanted!  Perfection!

     Our doe barn was completed, and in April, we came home with our first three Mini Nubians…Kandi, Molly, and Pixie.  In May, Zoe, our first Livestock Guardian Dog joined us from Colorado.  In the Fall, the buck barn was completed, and Elvin and Parker became our first Mini Nubian herd sires.  In October, Zeke, a 12-week old Maremma puppy from Coonridge Dairy in New Mexico, joined the farm.

     Kandi started our first kidding season with a bang…quadruplets!  Pixie followed with twin doelings, and Molly had triplets.  We retained June Bug…the only doeling from Kandi’s quads.

      We decided to name our Mini Nubian kids after things that are native to the Rafter O.  This year’s kid crop had the following names: Red Bud, June Bug, Chipping Sparrow, Persimmon, Mountain Laurel, Bear Grass, Oriole, Honeycomb, and Rain Lily.

     In the spring, we had two sets of triplets out of Kandi and Pixie.  The Mini Nubian kids this year were: Agarita, Cottontail, Mud Dauber, Tarantula, Coyote, and Black-footed Daisy. 

     Tilly, Luna, and Indy joined the herd in late Spring, and Clair came to us from Washington in late summer.  Parker bred June Bug and went to his new home in October.

     June Bug kicked off the 2018 kidding season with a beautiful single buckling, and Pixie followed with a set of quadruplets.  Luna and Tilly freshened in April with twins.  The Mini Nubian kids this year were Ashe Juniper, Evening Primrose, White Skipper, Prickly Pear, Cedar Elm, Callisto, Ariel, Millipede, and Chuck-Wills Widow. 

     Memphis Blue joined the farm in June from Rite Choice Dairy in Florida.  In October, Juliet flew in from Los Angeles from Green Eggers Farm, and Elvin left to spread his seeds elsewhere.

     In November, we took part in our first MDGA Show with the Hill Country Mini Milkers in Decatur, Texas.  June Bug brought home three ribbons: Best in Show, Grand Champion Senior Mini Nubian, and Best Udder in Show!

     The Rafter O had an excellent crop of Mini Nubian kids this year!    June Bug had her single doeling followed by Tilly with her triplets.  Pixie, again, blessed us with quadruplets, and Clair had an easy first freshening with twins.  Luna closed out with two bucklings.  The 12 kid names this year were Doodlebug, Skunk, Chickadee, Raccoon, Sweet Pea, Dewberry, Fox Squirrel, Rufous Hummingbird, Lesser Goldfinch, Four Leaf Clover, Copperhead, and Red Admiral.

      We are retaining three Mini Nubian doelings – Doodlebug, Foxy, and Clover.  These three doelings have excellent milk lines and great conformation.  Ruby, a full-size Nubian, joined the herd as well as a buck, Levi.  Juliet returned to her home herd in California in November, and we welcomed Sapphire, a blue roan 2nd generation Mini Nubian.  We are excited about the future of our Rafter O Mini Nubian herd!

     In early June, our herd competed in the HCMM Texas Two-Step MDGA Show, and we brought home a trailer full of champions!  June Bug again received Best Udder in Show!  Doodlebug won Grand Champion Junior Mini Nubian in one ring, and Reserve Grand Champion in ring 2.  Foxy won Grand Champion Junior Mini Nubian in ring two.

        In early February, we welcomed a beautiful doeling from Blackberry’s herd in California, Snow Drop.  Later in February, June Bug blessed us with triplet doelings!  Clair had buck/doe twins again.  Both June Bug and Clair’s udders are looking fabulous.  In mid-March, Doodlebug had an easy first kidding with her single doeling.  Ruby had quadruplets – 2 buckling and 2 doelings a couple of days later.  Sapphire kidded in April with triplets – a tiny spotted, polled doeling and two bucklings.  

        The kid names this year are Lady Bug, Love Bug, Lightning Bug, Grasshopper, Cricket, Pill Bug, Meadowlark, Little Blue Heron, Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Wren, White-tailed Deer “Bambi”, Badger, and Porcupine “Spike”.  

        We will be retaining doelings Cricket and Wren.   Lark is so fabulous, we decided to retain him as well continue to infuse Ruby’s Nubian genetics into our herd.  We have also added a fabulous horned buckling, Tundra, from Blackberry to breed to our polled does.

     2021 has been an exciting year for the Rafter O!  We had 8 does kid between late February and early May. 

     Pixie kicked off kidding season with triplets, 2 bucklings, and 1 doeling.  Our wishes were granted with a polled, blue-eyed buckling!  June Bug had us all fooled that she was having multiples, but just had a huge polled buckling.

     The next four does, Clair, Sapphire, Cricket, and Clover, all kidded with buck/doe twins!  We finished off the kidding season with three bucklings: twins for Foxy and a single buckling for Doodlebug.

     Kid names this year are Ravine Haze, Canyon Mist, Valley Vapor, and Stick Bug “Walker”, Crested Caracara “C.C.”, Orbweaver “Ziggy”, Sandhill Crane, Greater Roadrunner, Trinity Aquifer, Edwards Plateau, Wild Verbena, Indian Paintbrush “Quanah”, Texas Live Oak “Oakley”, Texas Red Oak “Buckley”, and Red-tailed Hawk.

     In March, we added a female Kangal Dog puppy, Beyza, to our farm protection crew.  We will be breeding Kangal Dogs and hope to have puppies in late 2022 or early 2023.

     The HCMM Texas Two-Step MDGA Show was May 15-16 in Boerne, TX…and we brought home some more ribbons for our herd!  Snow Drop and Wren both won Grand Champion Mini Nubian Junior Doe!  Sapphire won Reserve Grand Champion Mini Nubian Senior Doe!

     In July, we added two full Nubians, Creme and Pony, from CA Blackberry Herd.  We are so excited to add these excellent genetics to our herd and the Mini Nubian breed!

In the Summer MDGA Virtual Show, Sandy brought home Grand Champion Mini Nubian Junior Doe and Tundra took another Reserve Grand Champion Mini Nubian Senior Buck.

 

     Our 2022 kidding season started in late February with Creme having buck/doe twins.  In early March, Pony and Wren kidded buck/doe twins, and Doodlebug had triplets – two bucks and one doe.  Sapphire and Clover kept up the buck/doe twins streak a month later.

In early April, we added a male Kangal, Kane, to the farm.  We held our annual Open Farm event on Saturday, April 16th.

     In late April, we started working with our goats getting ready for the Hill Country Mini Milker Texas Two-Step!  It took place on May 14th, and our herd did very well.  Clover came home with Grand Champion Mini Nubian Senior Doe, and several of our goats placed very well in their age classes.

 Memphis left the Rafter O in late May to spread his awesome genetics elsewhere.  We have kept many of his kids over the years!

     Snow took a while to settle this year, and she blessed us with kids in mid-June – buck/doe twins, of course!  

     Our Rafter O 2022 Kids were Eastern Screech Owl, LIndheimer Senna, Bald Cypress, Flameleaf Sumac, Javelina, Mayfly, Praying Mantis, Inca Dove, Lark Sparrow, Blue Topaz, Lesser Nighthawk, Indian Blanket, Texas Lantana, Lightning Sprite, and Thundersnow.  We retained four doelings and one buckling!

   In the Fall MDGA Virtual Show, Tundra brought home another Reserve Grand Champion Mini Nubian Senior Buck and Verbena brought home a Reserve Grand Champion Mini Nubian Junior Doe. Breeding began in late September!

2023 has been a GREAT year for the Rafter O herd!  June Bug started our kidding season off with a BANG!  QUINTUPLETS!  We have never had quints – several sets of quads, but never quints.  She is such a good momma, but we did start supplementing with bottles to help her out a little bit!  Verbena, Sapphire, and Wren kidded in late February/early March.  In late March/early April, Sandy, Snow, and Clover freshened.  Our 2023 kids are all fabulous!  We had a run on bucks in our last group, but Clover gave us an adorable doeling to end the buck run.

Our 2023 kids were named the following: Stink Bug “Harley”, Spittle Bug “Sally”, Kissing Bug, Assassin Bug “Creed”, Water Bug “Nessie”, Crescent Moon, Venus, American Robin, Spotted Towhee, Black Swallowtail “Polly”, Pipevine Swallowtail “Piper”, Cirrus Cloud, Dust Storm, Texas Tornado, Texas Pecan “Pawnee”, Yellow-billed Cuckoo “Little Bill”, Antelope Horns “Annie”, and Blue Sky “Azul”.

In April, a new Kangal puppy, Neylan arrived!  She will be health tested in 2024, and we are hoping for a litter of Kangal puppies in 2025.

At the Texas Mini Milkers Texas Two-Step on May 6, 2023, the Rafter O herd brought home 8 out of 10 awards!  Clover won Best Udder in both rings and Grand Champion Senior Doe in Ring 1.  Sue won Reserve Grand Champion Junior Doe in Ring 1 and Grand Champion Junior Doe in Ring 2.  In Ring 2, Wren won Grand Champion Senior Doe, Verbena got Reserve Grand Champion Senior Doe and Sprite got Reserve Grand Champion Junior Doe.

Our herd did very well again in Brenham on May 27th at the Memorial Classic.  Clover earned her third leg by winning Grand Champion under Judge April Hitch which makes her our first FINISHED CHAMPION.  For our juniors, Piper (a doeling out of Sapphire) won Grand Champ and Sprite got Reserve in Ring 2.  In Ring 1 under Peter Snyder, Senna got a Junior Reserve Champion win!

In October, we had the opportunity to take some juniors to the Deck the Stalls show in Brenham, TX.  Senna snagged her junior leg with a Grand Champion win under Judge Thomas Cox.

We planned to breed a few does in July for December kids, but only one doe, Creme, came into heat.  The other girls were bred in the Fall with 2024 kidding starting in late February.

Creme kidded buck/doe twins on December 5th with our first-ever December babies!

testimonials

A Few Words from
Our Mini Nubian Families

“Kerry at the Rafter O has been wonderful and tremendously helpful to me this past year as I began my adventure with Mini Nubians! I bought a beautiful buckling out of Junebug and while I was there picking him up, I fell in love with a doeling who was just so pretty and sweet, I couldn’t resist! I am very pleased with both of my kids. They are healthy, friendly and have some great genetics. Thank you so much Kerry, for selling me your quality goats and answering all of my many questions!! “

Ashe and Skipper’s Mom

Ashe and Skipper’s Mom

“We bought two does from Rafter O two years ago to start our herd. Detailed health records were provided for each goat and Kerry was helpful in answering all our questions as first-time goat owners. Molly and Honeycomb were disease-free and very friendly to people. Rafter O Honeycomb is a beautiful doe that our whole family loves to milk. Her teats are fantastic and her milk is rich. Kerry went above and beyond in providing us support. She has been a reliable resource and trusted friend as we continue to work with her on improving our herd and providing our family with delicious goat milk.”

Sherwood Goat Farm

Sherwood Goat Farm

“When we first decided to add dairy goats to our farm, my husband started researching and searching Facebook where he came across a sales ad for the Rafter O. We purchased our very first starter herd from the Rafter O and from the moment we got them home, we were hooked. We originally purchased a doe in milk(Kandi), her doeling (Rafter O Agarita) and a buckling (Rafter O Tarantula). Last year, we have added another doe in milk (Tilly), her doeling (Rafter O Skunk), a buckling (Rafter O Red Admiral) and this year our daughter added a buckling for her herd (Rafter O American Badger). We couldn’t be more pleased with our Rafter O goats and look forward to many more purchases in the future. We have even referred the Rafter O to friends who are looking to get started in Mini Nubians. Not only are the goats from the Rafter O solid, healthy goats with excellent genetics, Kerry’s customer service and continued support over the years cannot be beat! We are forever thankful for the chance to call Kerry our friend and mentor.”

Medicine River Ranch

Medicine River Ranch

“Kerry is fantastic to work with. She has the most beautiful kids, with MILK! Health, breed conformation, milk production, and friendly goats are what we look for when adding to our herd. You get it all when you get a Rafter O kid! We are so appreciative of the podcasts, blogs, and helpful information Kerry provides. In my opinion, she is one of the top breeders out there. We feel honored to have the Rafter O name in our herd. We know the name stands for quality and honesty and that is important to us!”

SKM Carolina Dream Farm

SKM Carolina Dream Farm

“So many wonderful things to say about Kerry and her herd! This is our third year doing business with her and it’s always a pleasure, everything is so organized and clean-cut as far as paperwork goes. Not to mention she has the friendliest babies! Can’t wait to improve our herd with our new beautiful doelings.”

Lil Rascals Farm

Lil Rascals Farm

“I purchased 2 of the absolute sweetest doelings from Rafter O! Had them brought all the way to PA and it was one of the easiest transactions. Kerry had everything ready and was very accommodating to myself and my hauler. Would definitely recommend them..and may just purchase more of their beauties in the future 😘”

Prim and Ariel’s Mom

Prim and Ariel’s Mom

“We got on the waitlist for a doeling with Rafter O in March. Kerry contacted us when our sweet Pill Bug was born. We knew it would be 10-12 weeks before we could get our sweet girl. In that time, Kerry made sure to send multiple pictures and videos. She made sure we got to see our girl’s personality! The time came to pick up our new baby! Kerry was so welcoming and kind. She showed us how she runs Rafter O and all the goats. She answered any and all our questions. Even after leaving, she continued to check on how Pill Bug was doing and how she has transitioned. I can not recommend Kerry and Rafter O enough! If it tells you anything, we are on the waitlist for spring 2021 for 2 more doelings. Rafter O takes pride in their farm and it shows!”

5Q Farm

5Q Farm

“Kerry O’Neal is fantastic. I purchased an amazing Mini Nubian buckling from Rafter O and I am looking forward to his offspring in the future. Kerry’s goats are just impeccable and her farm is run in the most professional and friendly manner.”

Cactus Creek Dairy Goats

Cactus Creek Dairy Goats

“Kerry takes great pride in her goats and it shows from the updates she sends to her knowledge she eagerly shares and her attention to detail in the records and packet she provides. Her process and her goats and top-notch. All of the goats I have purchased from Kerry also have very sweet personalities.”

The Restless Red Barn

The Restless Red Barn

“I love my Rafter O goats! I am a repeat customer. I find Kerry’s stock to be high quality, very friendly, healthy and Kerry is extremely knowledgeable and easy to work with. I purchased a buck from her that has consistently produced gorgeous, healthy, correct offspring. I recently purchased a doeling from her and I can not wait to see what she produces as well.”

Chip and Callie’s Mom

Chip and Callie’s Mom

news and articles

Recent Posts and Updates

Goat Lover Christmas Gift Guide

Remember as a kid when the ads would arrive for Christmas? You’d grab it up, get a pen, and go through and circle all that you wanted Santa to bring…

Christmas Gift Blog
Goat Identification: Why We Microchip

Why do Goats need Identification? Plain and simple…it is the law. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has federal regulations in regards…

Fly Control: Integrated Pest Management

I hate flies! Despise them actually. But, if you have livestock, you are going to have flies. That’s a fact. Flies that are troublesome to goats include horn fly, stable…

Fly Control Blog
Rafter O Farm Fresh Goat Milk
Rafter O Red Bud & Rafter O Chipping Sparrow - Mini Nubian Kids
Rafter O Show Ribbons
Minimum 4 characters