Our Family
Back: Holly and Derek.
Front: Doug and Chelsea.
Greetings!
We are a small, family-oriented hobby farm located about 30 minutes west of Madison, Wisconsin. Our 12-acre farmette is located on a hill tucked into the corner of our little valley. The menagerie of animals consists mainly of our beautiful Golden Retrievers which we have been raising since 1996 and our quality Fainting Goats which we began raising in 2004.
Our family consists of the parents (Pam and David), the kids (Derek, Chelsea, Holly, and Doug), four golden retrievers, about ten fainting goats, eight rhode island red chickens, one miniature horse, a small pony, an older horse, one guard llama, a blue and gold macaw, and five holstein steers.
We are very involved in our local FFA chapter and enjoy showing our animals at the local fair. Aside from the fair, we love bringing our animals to the nursing home, high school, library, and any other public place where they can be exposed to humans and new surroundings. Proper socialization is the key to a well-rounded family pet--especially when it comes to puppies!
Thank you for visiting our website. Take a look around and contact us if you have any questions or comments. We will do our best to try and answer any questions you may have.
We are a small, family-oriented hobby farm located about 30 minutes west of Madison, Wisconsin. Our 12-acre farmette is located on a hill tucked into the corner of our little valley. The menagerie of animals consists mainly of our beautiful Golden Retrievers which we have been raising since 1996 and our quality Fainting Goats which we began raising in 2004.
Our family consists of the parents (Pam and David), the kids (Derek, Chelsea, Holly, and Doug), four golden retrievers, about ten fainting goats, eight rhode island red chickens, one miniature horse, a small pony, an older horse, one guard llama, a blue and gold macaw, and five holstein steers.
We are very involved in our local FFA chapter and enjoy showing our animals at the local fair. Aside from the fair, we love bringing our animals to the nursing home, high school, library, and any other public place where they can be exposed to humans and new surroundings. Proper socialization is the key to a well-rounded family pet--especially when it comes to puppies!
Thank you for visiting our website. Take a look around and contact us if you have any questions or comments. We will do our best to try and answer any questions you may have.
The Sutcliffe Family. Our immediate family is two people in from the left with David (dad), Chelsea, Holly, Pam (mom), Doug, and Derek.
The view from our house looking out towards our three pastures and our neighbor's 20 acres of trees.
Our History with Goldens
It all started in 1995 when we purchased our first family dog--a golden of course! Motzart was our big golden boy who taught us a lot about dogs, especially golden retrievers. Not too long after that (about two years later) we decided he needed a playmate and that is where Molly came along. She was another great family dog with a sweet personality--our neighbors were always trying to buy her from us, but we considered her to be worth much more than money could buy. Although we miss these two greatly, we now cherish the two girls that they left us even more.
Nutmeg was one of Molly and Mo's puppies from one of their first litters. We chose to keep Meg in 2003--about a year after we purchased Louisa, our other golden girl, in 2002. Realizing that Motzart wouldn't live forever, we decided to buy another golden boy in 2006. Hawk arrived as a 3-month-old and despite our reservations, Motzart and Hawk got along very well! In 2007, Molly and Mo had one last litter that consisted of a single puppy--so, of course, we had to keep her! That is how Ellie came into our lives and just in time too--Hawk now had a great playmate. Once Nutmeg and Louisa were getting older and ready to retire, we soon realized we would need another girl to add to our breeding program. Kahlua joined our lives soon after that in 2009 as our last golden girl--for now; wink, wink :)
Now that Louisa and Nutmeg have officially retired, Ellie and Kua are our golden girls and Hawk is our golden boy. We don't have any future plans of adding another golden anytime soon, but who knows. Plans never stay the same. Our goals started out simple--to raise quality goldens that could be great companions. After years of experience, we have modified our goal to include a well-rounded golden retriever puppy that has the capability to hunt, do search and rescue, or attend obedience trials, but our main goal is still to produce a great family companion.
Nutmeg was one of Molly and Mo's puppies from one of their first litters. We chose to keep Meg in 2003--about a year after we purchased Louisa, our other golden girl, in 2002. Realizing that Motzart wouldn't live forever, we decided to buy another golden boy in 2006. Hawk arrived as a 3-month-old and despite our reservations, Motzart and Hawk got along very well! In 2007, Molly and Mo had one last litter that consisted of a single puppy--so, of course, we had to keep her! That is how Ellie came into our lives and just in time too--Hawk now had a great playmate. Once Nutmeg and Louisa were getting older and ready to retire, we soon realized we would need another girl to add to our breeding program. Kahlua joined our lives soon after that in 2009 as our last golden girl--for now; wink, wink :)
Now that Louisa and Nutmeg have officially retired, Ellie and Kua are our golden girls and Hawk is our golden boy. We don't have any future plans of adding another golden anytime soon, but who knows. Plans never stay the same. Our goals started out simple--to raise quality goldens that could be great companions. After years of experience, we have modified our goal to include a well-rounded golden retriever puppy that has the capability to hunt, do search and rescue, or attend obedience trials, but our main goal is still to produce a great family companion.
Left to right: Molly, Motzart, and Nutmeg.
Our First Fainting Goats
Our passion for the fainting goat (myotonic) breed started much more recently than our passion for golden retrievers. We purchased our first two fainting goats in 2004--as soon as we moved to the country! Originally, we were actually looking for a couple of pygmy goat doelings or any smaller breed really--we weren't picky--to add to our herd of two horses. We wanted them to eat the weeds and be companions to our horses. After pretty much stumbling across the breed, we did a little of research and found out that fainting goats made great family pets because of their docile nature and their unlikelihood to climb on tall things--especially our cars!
Bobbijo and Flicka were our first two fainting goat doelings that we purchased from a small hobby farm located in Fennimore, Wisconsin. We road back home with the goats on our laps in our minivan and their first few nights we spent in a dog kennel outside because we hadn't quite figured out the best fencing solution for both the horses and the goats. We were concerned about the coyotes bothering them, so that is when we found our first llama, Yoda, and realized what a great asset a guard llama can be. We never imagined that our two fainting goats would turn into a small hobby, but it has been an enjoyable one! We are still in awe every time one of our does gives birth. Goats in general are amazingly simple animals that don't require much, but are a joy to have around. We like to keep our herd on the smaller size (about ten to fifteen at a time) so that we can get to know each goat individually. Our herd has definitely grown since we first brought home our two kids and we have evolved with them. Our main focus now is to have healthy kids with great confirmation, beautiful coats (with a few silkies thrown in there), and amazing attitudes--plus, they must faint...at least every once and a while :)
Bobbijo and Flicka were our first two fainting goat doelings that we purchased from a small hobby farm located in Fennimore, Wisconsin. We road back home with the goats on our laps in our minivan and their first few nights we spent in a dog kennel outside because we hadn't quite figured out the best fencing solution for both the horses and the goats. We were concerned about the coyotes bothering them, so that is when we found our first llama, Yoda, and realized what a great asset a guard llama can be. We never imagined that our two fainting goats would turn into a small hobby, but it has been an enjoyable one! We are still in awe every time one of our does gives birth. Goats in general are amazingly simple animals that don't require much, but are a joy to have around. We like to keep our herd on the smaller size (about ten to fifteen at a time) so that we can get to know each goat individually. Our herd has definitely grown since we first brought home our two kids and we have evolved with them. Our main focus now is to have healthy kids with great confirmation, beautiful coats (with a few silkies thrown in there), and amazing attitudes--plus, they must faint...at least every once and a while :)
On our way home with our first two fainting goats, Flicka and Bobbijo. It was an exciting ride!
