The Winora Boer Goat Stud at Farnham near Stuart Town recently took about 10 goats to the Canberra Royal Show where they walked away with a number of winners.

Winora’s Zoe Lacey said while the wins were unexpected, she and her husband Phil were over the moon by the success.

“We entered two weight groups in the junior doe section and won both classes as well as receiving a second place in the heavyweight category,” Mrs Lacey said.

“Out of the does that placed first and second in the heavyweight, the doe that came first went on to be named junior champion and the second placed one was the reserve junior champion.

“We only entered two weight categories in the junior bucks and we won both of those.”

The Laceys began breeding goats about three years ago and have not looked back since.

They originally bought their first animals when living at Mullion Creek as a way to keep the grass down, but after falling in love with the goats, made the move to Farnham where there was more room to start a stud.

“One of the first reasons we got into them was because they are low maintenance - they don’t need milking or shearing and they are hardy,” Mrs Lacey said.

“Now we have found a number of different markets and want to increase our productivity.”

In the short time the Laceys have been breeding goats, they have not only tasted success at the recent State show in Canberra, but have also on a national level.

“We took a baby buck to a show two years ago and he was named national reserve champion buck kid,” Mrs Lacey said.

They will be looking for more national success in the coming month when they take nearly the same team of 10 goats they took to Canberra to Sydney in three weeks.

“A lot of judges look for a number of different things, but the ideal boer goat has a high meat carrying capacity. In stud animals they are looking for a sire with masculine features and feminine features in a doe.”

While Mrs Lacey is unsure how they will go in Sydney, she is already certain the boer goat industry is something the family will be involved in for a long time to come.

“What we have achieved so far has shown us we made the right decision to go into boer goats and change our lifestyle for them,” she said.