February 9, 2010

Dear Friends
It is with tremendous sorrow that we let you know that we had a barn fire on Saturday evening, January 30.  Our lossses were huge.

For those of you that had not had the chance to visit us in a while, we sure which you could have see our barn!  We built a new barn two years ago and have worked tirelessly on improvements ever since.  It was a fun, warm, inviting gathering place for family, friends, neighbors, and customers.  There was always hot coffee, cold beer, and happy kids (two-legged and four-legged) in that barn! We had just put the finishing touches on the bathroom, kitchen, and office not more than a week ago!  And, on Saturday afternoon about 2 hours before the fire broke out, we had just hung a beautiful picture in the barn kitchen that Tim had given Misty for our 17th anniversary earlier in January.  The picture showed a couple of little country kids feeding two baby goats.  It was a gorgeous picture, double matted in red and blue (our barn colors) and framed in a wide, beautiful oak frame.  That picture was the icing on the cake of our two year barn project! 

We had our barn packed with mommas and babies on that Saturday, as we were just wrapping up the most joyful, successful kidding season we'd ever had.  The fire spred so fast and furious that we were unable to get all of our animals out of the barn, and we lost approximately 1/3 of our herd.  Most of our best does were in the barn, as were some of the best babies we've ever seen born on our place.  The financial losses are huge and staggering, as we were underinsured on the barn and completely uninsured on our goats, all our goat supplies, our hay, our hay equipment...the list goes on and on.  However, overcoming the grief and regret of not being able to get all of our animals out of the barn is proving to be the most difficult aspect of this nightmare for us to handle.  The point at which we had to stop trying to go into the burning barn and just stand and watch and listen helplessly and hopelessly while our animals parished was most definitely the worst moment either of us has ever known in our lives.  When we start to slip back into that moment, we just keep reminding ourselves of how lucky we are...our family is safe and we did manage to save many animals.

As we now begin the daunting tasks of cleaning up and trying to develop a plan for rebuilding, we must also face the reality that we are completely unequipped to care for the number of animals that remain.  We lost all food and hay, all equipment, all supplies, and a large amount of shelter when the barn went down.  Therefore, we are offering for sale several of our remaining goats.  Please see our "For Sale" page.

Were it not for our family, our friends, our neighbors, our vet, and all of the complete strangers who have taken the time to express condolences, offer words of encouragement, and lend a helping hand, we honestly don't know how we would have made it through these last several days.  While we continue to struggle with feelings of sadness, grief, and an overwhelming sense of despair, our hearts are filled with appreciation and gratitude to everyone for the support.

Sincerely,
Tim and Misty Borrowman

Welcome to 1st Ave Acres in Illinois...your source for 
Colored Fullblood Boer Goats in the Midwest!



Offering...
Fullblood BLACK Boer Goats for Sale
 Fullblood RED Boer Goats for Sale
Fullblood PAINT Boer Goats for Sale
Fullblood SPOTTED Boer Goats for Sale
Fullblood TRADITIONAL Boer Goats for Sale
& Percentage Boer Goats for Sale

Check out our Boer Goats for Sale page now, and pick out the next additions to your herd!  But hurry...they go FAST !!!

Also, check out our New Arrivals page for a sneak peak of our new babies, like these...


We breed to strengthen the attributes truly  important to the boer breed...fast muscle (meat) mass, hardiness, fertility, and mothering ability...and we have lots of fun with color along the way!  

At 1st Ave Acres, we breed 'em like you need 'em!

1st Ave Acres
Tim & Misty Borrowman
2370 N 1st Ave
Sorento, IL 62086
618-420-8364 or
618-795-0591
mistyandtim@dishmail.net