Thank you for your interest in Kickapoo Valley Dairy Goats. Our farm is located on the family farm only a few miles from where we first began raising dairy goats in the corn belt of Central Illinois. We began raising goats in 1981 when a doe was purchased for a great 4-H project. That doe, CH El Wick Moon's Laura, became our first permanent champion and helped to encourage our interest in breeding French Alpines and Lamanchas. Today the goat business is a partnership between father and son, Ed and Byron Jodlowski, and the love of the goats has now extended to the next generation of Evan, Cameron, Kenyon, and Griffen.
Our herd has consistently flourished in the last ten to fifteen years producing permanent champion does, high placing does at National Shows, Spotlight Sale animals, and many does that have done well for others. In 2006 we eclipsed yet another breeding goal - breeding a National Champion. We have also bred four National Junior Champions. We are very proud of the animals that we have raised, and we are thankful for the people who have supported us by purchasing our animals.
It would be hard to surpass the success we had in 2006, but 2007 was another banner show season for us. Our herd finished one Alpine, three Lamanchas, and received many legs on other does. In the show ring we consistently were GCH at nearly every show - finishing our Alpine two year old, CH Kickapoo Valley Cal Violence; we also nearly finished last year's National Junior Champion, Kickapoo Valley Cal Whimsay receiving two legs. With the Lamanchas, CH Kickapoo Valley Real Tang, CH Kickapoo Valley Musical Token, and CH Kickapoo Valley Trade Venom all finished their championship, which we have found is difficult when each of the does pick up legs at different shows - a mark of the depth of these Lamanchas. Yet, the doe who was most consistent this season was CH Kickapoo Valley Abner Scandal - she was 5x Best In Show to CH Kickapoo Valley Respect Sequel's 2X Best In Show.
Our dry does competed very well with the Saga girls strutting their stuff - at the National Show Saga sired the 1st, 3rd, and 4th place Junior Kid, the 3rd and 5th place Intermediate Kids, the 2nd, 6th, and 16th Senior Kids, and in the dry yearling class they were 6th, 7th, and 8th. In the yearling milker class his daughters placed 4th, 5th, 6th,10th, and 12th. A mark of a very consistent buck. The highlight for us this year was our beloved Music winning her class...for an eight year old, she looked amazing on show day. The Lamanchas did not disappoint either with our dry yearlings topping most of the dry classes this year along with a number of beautiful junior kids sired by our Tempo Iron Cross. At the National Show, we were elated that almost all the Lamancha milkers placed in the top ten - Sequel did return to the National Show, but placed 3rd behind two beautiful does. We hope that a later freshening and a more fruitful freshening (multiple kids) will not leave her slightly uneven as she was in 2007. However, despite her rough year, we are still very proud of her.
The next generation of Kickapoo Valley Cameron and Evan Jodlowski with two of their favorite does - both placed in Intermediate I Showmanship. We are proud of their hard work and dedication in showing and working with the animals this year. Also, their brother Kenyon made the most improvement this year in showmanship, placing 11th and just missing a ribbon. We also are proud of their hard work helping others clean pens and washing goats at the National Show.
This year we plan to freshen approximately 50 does; a number of doe and buck kids as well as MILKERS will be offered for sale. We generally like to milk around 20 does, so obviously there will be a number of mature animals available in the spring. We do reserve the right to decide to not offer an animal for sale if we choose to retain it for our herd. However, we do strive to find quality animals for those interested in purchasing Kickapoo Valley stock.
We will not sell any animal that we do not feel meets our standards of excellence. Not every animal sold is going to become a permanent champion or produce permanent champions, but it should compete well as a mature animal. Furthermore, once an animal has been deemed sellable and in good condition by both Kickapoo Valley and the buyer, it is the obligation of the buyer to assume responsibilities for the animal. We will not replace quality stock that is sold and deemed as not quality at a later time.
For those purchasing young stock, all animals are raised on a CAE prevention program. We encourage those who purchase young stock from us to continue the practice of CAE prevention. We will be happy to test an adult animal for CAE at the buyer's expense or have the buyer test the animal immediately upon taking it into his/her herd; however, WE WILL NOT REPLACE AN ANIMAL AFTER IT HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO ANOTHER HERD AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME AND LATER TESTS POSITIVE TO CAE.
A $100 deposit will hold an animal; we do reserve the right to keep any kid born despite the fact that we may be holding a deposit. Prices on animals are found at the end of an animal's description and do not include shipping and/or health certificate. We also have a Sales List Page this year that also gives information regarding doe, who she is bred to, price of kids, and her due date. Prices on milkers in the spring will vary dependent on what is available. For those interested in milkers, we ask you contact us as soon as possible to reserve your choice.
We at Kickapoo Valley wish you and yours a happy, healthy kidding season and hope you consider an animal from us.
Ed and Byron Jodlowski and Family
2452 2050th Avenue, Atlanta, IL 61723
(217)-648-2708 (Ed), (217) 871-1040 (Ed's Cell) (217) 648-2086 (Byron)
edjod1@verizon.net or byronjod@juno.com