Goat Breed Question

[sweetshoplady]

I'm on the market for a buck for my Saanen, and Saanen/Nubian crosses.

There is a nice Saanen buck available where I got 2 of my goats. ADGA Registered.

There is an Alpine buck available from another person.

I do like the looks of the Alpine goats. Would an Alpine/Saanen cross make a nice baby goat? A nice dairy goat? Or an Alpine/Saanen/Nubian or Alpine/Saanen/Nubian/Toggenburg cross be nice?

Would the color come through in the babies?

Are bucks with horns hard to deal with if the buck is nice? Would he hurt the does or try to butt heads with them?

 

[Chatychick]

If you want color then go with the Alpine buck. yes they are all dairy and it works well. I have a Nubian that i bred to a La mancha and my alpine doe is bred to him also. I bred my La Mancha doe to him also and there is a chance for what they call elf ears with the does that have ears but then again they might take after him and not have ears.
Bucks that have horns are easy to handle if he is well mannered, also it give you something other than his beard to hang on to. He shouldnt hurt the does just because he has horns. Dont think I would go with teh togg as its just me as I dont care for their milk.

 

[Nikki28]

Wow this has nothing to do with your post but I was born and raised in Venice, Florida We just moved out to AZ last November. Just thought that was neat. Where do you have goats in Venice?

 

[greyfields]

There is a lot of hidden color latent in the Nubians (since there are not standard colors). If any of that expresses itself you could have any color possible. Crosses make fine milkers. The only issue is if you plan to sell the kids, it's always harder to sell grade animals over purebred. But, autions don't care.

I find the horns on a buck make them easier to handle, since you can you can just move them with their horns. But, all my goats are bottle raised, so they're all like big dogs without a mean streak in them. This includes my buck who likes to cuddle.

 

[sweetshoplady]

Technically I'm in Nokomis. I'm in the county. I'm East of 75.

Nice to meet you! A fellow Venetian Cracker! Very cool stuff!

 

[MissPrissy]

I am sooooooo jealous! I have been hunting a large saanan to breed my big girl with! Lucky you!

 

[Nikki28]

Quote:
Ah I never really counted Nokomis or Osprey as real cities there's Venice then Sarasota that's it. I used to work at Nokomis Vet Clinic.

It's nice to meet you too.

 

[wjallen05]

Well, I raise Nigerian Dwarf goats so I would recommend Nigerian Dwarfs.

We do have a few meat goats (that stay no where near my beloved Nigerians) which are Nubian/Boer and Kikos. They do have horns (only because we purchased them full grown with horns) but I do not let my children anywhere NEAR them, although they are tame and gentle.

We disbud all of our Nigerians. A great article about disbudding: http://fiascofarm.com/goats/disbudding.htm
Would highly recommend reading it. Fiascofarm is also a great source of information about anything and everything related to goats. It is my "goat bible"

I've heard that Toggenburg milk tastes "funny". Sanees are too big for my liking, and they only come in white. If I were you, I'd get a Nubian buck. But that's just me! Good luck!