Is there an animal that will provide me with meat, milk and fiber?

[Guitartists]

Am I overlooking something? I'd like to add some kind of livestock next year but I am at odds on what to get.... I would like goats for the milk and meat.... or sheep for meat and wool... or cattle for milk and meat.... is there something that provides ALL 3?

If you had to chose only one...which would you find most useful/ abundant? What are your favorite breeds? Tell me about your livestock.... I've never really owned any mammals other than rodents, cats and dogs.

 

[FrenchHen]

Angora goat?

 

[mamaKate]

Angora goats. I've never had them but did some research a few years ago. You can sell the wool if you have extra.

 

[Linda in San Diego]

Personal opinion only - I would go with Nigerian milking goats - for milk, I am not sure I could do the meat part - but if I got enough bucklings, well, maybe.

An animal that would give me milk to dring and to turn into wonderful things like cheese, yougurt, and soap - that would be my first choice. I recently read a very compelling article comparing care of cows for milk and Nigerian milking goat - the goats won hands down. Even just the comparison of cow patties to goat pellets had me choosing goat!

Good luck with your decision. Maybe I can get my mayor to allow goats in our little city....I will have to check, and when you live in a city small enough that anyone could walk to her house - better chances right?

 

[Southernbelle]

There are such things as dairy sheep - doesn't Miss Prissy have some?

 

[FrenchHen]

I was going to say sheep, too!
Sheep cheese is supposed to be awesome.

 

[AussieSharon]

What about cashmere goats?

 

[griffin45]

The Cashmere goat is not a true breed. They are or were feral goats in Australia and the SW United States. We recently bought 2 Spanish goats with the Cashmere trait. One freshened about a month ago and she has a wonderful udder and the other produced some reasonable Cashmere. The Spanish goat is also a good meat goat, so they are the best of all worlds as far as I am concerned. Meat, Milk and Fiber!

Chris

 

[BeardedChick]

You need a Yak!

http://www.yampayaks.com/sale.html

AND you can ride a yak like a horse. So there 'ya go.

 

[MissPrissy]

It is going to be hard to get all 3 in the same animal.

I have dairy sheep and wool sheep and meat sheep. I have some meat x wool sheep that were crossed with freisians for milk - We got 125lbs of meat from the first ram and a 4 ft wool hide. We haven't milked any of the ewe yet as the lambs are new and nursing alot but we do know we could get a quart at a time from some of the ewes - the milk makes excellent cheese but we have never drank sheep milk.

Goats - I have angoras - small thin boned animals - lots ofhair but not much meat to them. I have saanan x nubian dairy goats - gallons of milk daily. We also have a boer buck I want to cross with my biggest milking doe. Milk and meat but no hair.

If I was limited I would run 1 or 2 cross bred ewes for wool and meat and have 2 dairy goats for milk. I say 2 each because even though they can run together they need an animal of their own species for companionship. You can always find ram and buck juice to the deed you want for the females. A sheep just doesn't have the friendly personality and idividuality of the goats. Goats are like your nosey neighbors. Sheep are like cows.