getting Nigerian Dwarfs soon!!

[fatguyaz]

Couple questions, though... we plan on getting a pregnant doe from a breeder and keeping her female kids (to use for milking later). We're keeping them for milking, so we don't need/want to keep any males... has anyone that has done this before had trouble getting rid of the males? Will we be stuck with them for a while? I'll probably put them on Craigslist for free, or very little $$. Thoughts? Also, since i'll be raising the goats myself and will know exactly what they eat and will know their overall health, will i need to pasturize the milk before drinking? Does it change the taste much, if i do?? Thanks for the help!!

Chad

 

[Godsgrl]

Does produce milk after they have a kid. If I understand this correctly, they have to be bred repeatedly to keep in milk. So if you don't keep a male for this purpose, you will have to have access to one somewhere to keep the milk flowing.

 

[fatguyaz]

yeah, that's why i'm asking, because everytime i breed her, i will have kids to get rid of. I will just breed them using someone elses stud, i don't want to keep a Billy just to breed once a year. Something about owning something that pees on it's beard to impress the ladies doesn't sound so charming.

 

[Chirpy]

Yippee! You will just love your NDs. Yes, you need to breed a doe once a year to keep her in milk. Some does will maintain their milk through the year until they are bred again. You always want to dry your doe off two months before she's due to deliver her kids if she hasn't dried herself off before that.

No, you do not want to keep a buck at your place. Unless you have at least ten or more does that you would breed with the same buck it's just not usually worth keeping one. You are right, they pee on themselves during breeding season and smell awful and are often even harder on fences than does (who are hard on fences). When my doe came home from being bred to the buck - she smelled like him for almost a week! Yuk!

Make sure you have a goat vet lined up before you bring your goats home. Many vets don't 'do' goats so you want to make sure you have one that does before you have an emergency and need them.

You need to ask around and watch Craigslist in your area to see if you will have trouble getting rid of the male kids. Some areas they are in hot demand and in some areas of the country people can't give them away. If you are willing to let them go for meat, that may help you get rid of them.

You don't need to pasteurize your milk before drinking. I suggest you don't - it's far healthier for you if you don't. The biggest thing with milk is how it's handled (meaning how quickly you get it cold, really cold) and how clean your equipment is. You need to read up on and educate yourself on milking procedures before starting. I highly suggest
http://fiascofarm.com/. You can spend a lot of time learning on that site.

Good luck and have lots of fun.

 

[helmstead]

I'm with Chirpy on this one...with so few does, you'll be fine driveway breeding your doe(s).

Yep it can be very difficult to get 'rid' of larger dairy breed males. Mostly, they go for meat purposes, however demanding a much lower price tag than a real meat goat. You can help your odds by breeding her to Boers, increasing your meat yield but decreasing the chance of getting dairy doelings from her.

I've only had to give away one goat, ever. He was given to me. He was wild as can be, mean when cornered, and a mature wether. Useless. He went to market...I just gave him to the market owner in order to get him away from my farm before he hurt someone.

I don't pasturize my goat milk. Again, with Chirpy on this. However, if you are feeding very young or any elderly people, you might consider it for their sakes.

 

[mirime]

Can't wait to see pics!!

 

[Henrietta23]

May I add a question here rather than starting another thread? I'm interested in getting a small number of Nigerian Dwarf goats in the not too distant future and I'm gathering as much information now as I can. Tonight's question is approximately how much time does it take to milk the average ND doe, let's say once you've got a little experience? I mean the actual time to milk,not including the time to get her where you need her to be etc. Does that makes sense? One of DH's concerns is how much extra work that might be for me. Thanks

 

[Chirpy]

I haven't started to milk my ND's yet but I am milking two Alpine does. There will be a big difference in milking a small breed like ND's. They have much smaller teats and generally their orifices are smaller and less milk squeezes out.

It takes me 30 minutes from start to finish (I know that's not what you asked) - that includes getting the buckets out of the dishwasher and putting the cloth over them, getting their teat wash ready, getting to the barn and the goat on the stand, milking and putting them back, coming back into the house and straining the milk and then getting it into the freezer to get as cold as possible quickly.

The actual milking time is about 3 to 4 minutes right now - I'm getting 3 to 4 cups from one and 5 plus cups from the other right now. When I was getting a 1/2 gln. from each goat it took me about 7 minutes to milk each goat.

 

[Henrietta23]

Quote:
It's very helpful, thanks!

 

[helmstead]

I'd say for my girls, giving 2 to 4 lbs a day (being half that amount twice a day) it takes me 3 to 5 minutes per goat for the actual milking part.