DeLuna Acres, LLC

Spent the weekend in Great Falls, MT showing at the MT State Fair. Always love coming up here. Beautiful country and super nice people to be around.
Very happy with the results from the three girls that went along: Wandella finally hit her stride as a 4 year old taking 1st in class in both rings, Senior Doe Grand Champion and Best in Breed. Sybella went as my 5+ year old entry and went on to win her class on Saturday. Kadara, a dry yearling entry won her class on Saturday and then went on to win Junior Doe Grand Champion.

We had our annual Linear Appraisal this morning and to say we were blown away by the results is an understatement !!! We started this venture less than 3 years ago building most of our herd from bottle baby doelings and bucklings. Today we saw the fruits of all our hard work pay off. We tested 13 does and 3 bucks. Only 3 does are over 3 years old, the remainder all 2 years old or less. Likewise the 3 bucks we tested are all under 2 years old.

Results: (3) scored 91, (2) scored 89, (4) scored 88, (3) scored 87, (1) scored 86, (2) scored 85 and (1) scored 84. Seven of our does recorded an E in the Mammary Category.

The biggest highlights were our 3 senior girls, Sybella, Wonella and Wandella, all scoring 91 EEEE. Sybella recently turned 5 yo and this will become her permanent score. We are so grateful for Jolene Jantzi at Treasured Sunrise for selling us these girls 2 years ago. I can spend countless hours staring at them and am so pleased how they’ve evolved here at our farm.

The 2 biggest surprises were Moon and Venus, both 2 yo does that we acquired as bottle babies from Jolene. Last year as a FF, Moon scored a dismal 83 V+++, today she went 88 VVVE. Venus is a similar story. Shortly after FF last year, Venus became very sick and we almost lost her to internal blockage. One month later she went through appraisal and only scored an 84 +V++. Today Venus scored 89 VVVE. 

Our yearlings didn’t disappoint, either. Goldie as a mere 1 year, 5 month old scored 88 VVVV. Not to be outdone, Artemis as a 1 year, 3 month old scored 88 VVVE. Matton, our super-star 1 year, 5 month old old buck from Manzinita Farm scored 87 VVV and Altair, our newest arrival from Barnowl Farms last fall scored 86 VVV as a 1 year, 3 month old. So pleased to see the strong scores from our young herd.

— Jim

It’s with a very heavy heart, we announce the passing of our beautiful girl, Quatorze. Quatorze came to us in the Fall of 2017 from Barnowl Farms as a soon to be three year old. She wasted no time establishing herself as second in command, deferring only to Sybella as the herd leader. Quatorze exhibited an energy unlike anything we’d ever seen and we grew to expect her lined up first in line at milking time or staring us down from afar, dare we be late. A late bloomer, Quatorze developed into a stunning, full bodied doe waiting to make this her break out year. Two weeks earlier at the Spokane show, she won her class three times and went Reserve Grand Champion. Maybe it was her gift to us before moving on, we’ll never know. We are very fortunate to still have Quatorze’s two doe kids from this season in our herd and at least one will stay here to carry on her legacy. Rest in peace pretty girl, we miss you dearly.

Shelli and I started DeLuna Acres in September 2016 with the simple goal of raising a few pack goats. It’s funny how much can change in 2 years. We’ve grown from our simple pack goat vision into a full fledged dairy comprising 30 LaMancha and Mini-LaMancha does, bucks and pack wethers. Our facilities have grown equally fast from a single barn in 2016 to 2 barns, 5 loafing sheds and a first-class milk parlor today. Next year will see even more growth in our herd and facilities in support of our growing business and business goals.

2018 marked our first full year in the show ring and we have so much to be proud of. We participated in 6 ADGA sanctioned shows throughout Oregon, Montana and Idaho with our young herd; we were blown away by the results:

• (15) 1st Place Class Wins
• (15) 2nd Place Class Wins
• (7) 3rd Place Class Wins
• (5) Grand Champion Wins
• (1) Reserve Grand Champion Win
• (1) Best in Show Win
• (2) Best in Breed Wins
• (2) Champion Challenge Wins
• (2) Best Udder in Show Wins

In addition, we finished our 3 year old doe, Wonella allowing her to obtain permanent champion status. Equally impressive was her daughter Athena winning her first champion leg towards her future permanent champion status.

We are so thankful to the many great people that have helped us along the way. They will never be forgotten and will live on within our farm as we continue to grow.

We’re already planning for the 2019 breeding and show season. Super excited to see what next year brings us !!

Just returned from a weekend in Choteau, MT where we took a some girls to show in an ADGA sanctioned event. Our main objective was to get Wonella’s 3rd Grand Champion win allowing her to become a permanent Grand Champion – we were successful !!! Wonella gracefully took to the ring, showed all her charm and came away with the Grand Champion rosette. She then re-entered the ring taking Best Udder in Show. We are incredibly proud of Wonella; she’s now earned a well deserved break.

Wandella  also turned on the charm winning a 1st and 2nd placing in the 3 Year Old Class. Not to be outdone, Wandella’s daughter, Solarus also came away with a 1st and 2nd placing in the Senior Yearling class.

We’re really proud how our girls have performed this year. Taking a quick 2 week break and then off to LaGrande, OR for our next show !!!

We just returned from an incredibly rewarding weekend in Hamilton, MT where we participated in a two ring ADGA sanctioned show coordinated by the Bitterroot Dairy Goat Association. Great folks and a great facility. We will certainly make this an annual show on our schedule!!!

We took 5 of our senior girls along, Quartzite and Solarus for the yearling class, Wandella for the 3 year old class and Quatorze and Wonella for the 4 year old class. We also took Athena along for the junior yearling class.