goat people....Cross breeding goats....boer/nigerian?

[PuppyBantamCochin]

Hi, I just had a question about crossing a boer buck and a nigerian mix doe.
I've heard some pretty scary stories about mini-breed does that were (accidentally) bred to large breed bucks and died during kidding or had to have a c-section or just had a really hard labor. But I also have heard of some goats that did fine. What do you guys think?
The doe I was thinking about getting bred to a boer buck is 22inches/55-60lbs. I don't actually know what breed she is (probably some pygmy and nubian along with the nigerian), but she's kinda small. She's already kidded once, bred to a 85lb+ nigerian buck, and kidded without any assistance with a large buckling.
Is it too risky to get her bred to a boer buck? I was just curious because she's not going to make the best milking doe, but she's a really good mom & her son grew really fast so I think maybe boer x kids out of her would be good meat goats.

Thanks!!

 

[protodon]

It's probably better not to risk it. I've already have a nigerian to nigerian breeding and the mom had to have a c-section not fun at all especially since you can't plan ahead for something like that. You only find out when momma goes into labor. The best would be nigerian buck to boer doe.

 

[KinderKorner]

Not a good idea. Boer is like the worst you could breed her to. I would breed her to a little bit bigger of a goat but not much if you really want bigger kids.

 

[RiverOtter]

To put your question another way.
Hey guys, doing this will have a 70% chance of a horrible outcome, but 30% of the time they don't die, so do you think that lightning won't strike me because I'm special?
(trying to sound humorous, not harsh)

If you want meatier kids from her, Pygmies and Fainters are both small meat breeds. Boers kids are sometimes born with HUGE heads. Especially since she's had a single in the past, if she were to give you a single, Boer cross buck it would not be pretty.
But why don't you just sell her and buy a doe better suited to your herd? One man's trash is another man's treasure and dairy goats are selling pretty high right now.

 

[lasergrl]

Newborn boer kids are suprisingly similiar in size to a full grown nigerian. I had alpine kids born this spring and they were very large next to my 2 year old nigerians. It would be the rare case that is worked, and it would have to be multiples and a very seasoned doe.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I wouldn't do it.

I recently bought 2 bred pygmy does. I never dreamed they would have been bred by a Boer.
One had twins without too much difficulty, she tore while kidding and she is recovering, but the other one had a single, and we had to do an emergency C-section. The kid had already died, it was larger than my Nubian kids when they are born! It was taller than the doe, and had a huge head that had gotten turned backwards and she couldn't deliver it. We lost the doe also.

I had wondered why they were so cheap. Now I know, the owner wanted to unload them before they kidded and possibly died.

It was sad, she was a beautiful and friendly doe.

Jean

 

[PuppyBantamCochin]

breeding my doe to a boer definitely sounds too risky. I think I'll look into getting her bred to a pygmy or fainting buck.
Thanks for your input!

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Considering the size of Boer goats and the Size of a Nigerian doe - even a mixed Nigerian doe...it's a very bad idea. Why would you even want to do that? For the sake of the doe and her babies, please don't.

Ideally, she should be bred to an adult buck that is her size or even smaller.

 

[CuddleBug Ranch]

I bought four nigerian and nigerian/pygmy cross that had been bred to a huge boer buck. Those kids were born fine, however, the kids of the nigerian/boer cross had difficulty delivering their fist kids. I crossed them with a pygmy/boer cross buck and the kids were huge. One doe had such a huge buckling and she died when her kid was about two months old. We never did find out what happened to her, she was fine and then the next day gone. The only doe who didn't have problems was a bigger doe to begin with and she is a cross between Nubian and Boer. So, from my experience, I would say don't do it. Breed her to a buck who is about the same size as her and doesn't have the boer blood in him.

 

[mekasmom]

It wouldn't matter if you did it the other way with the Boer being the doe, but I wouldn't do it this way. I had a dainty Alpine who was bred to a larger Sanaan. She had a really hard time with the kidding. The buckling kid had to be pulled. I just wouldn't suggest breeding a small doe to a larger buck at all after that experience.