Looking for goats

[Chickygirl55]

Thanks for the advice Ive tried both of those with no success. I emailed the adga and havent heard back from them as of yet.

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
You do need to vaccinate, depending on your area and if you plan to show, etc. We vaccinate ours once a year with the "C, D,T" shot (clostriduim perf. C & D, with Tetanus- you give cows this too, but you need to read onthe label to make sure you can give it to goats and sheep.) and we deworm them twice a year with injectable Ivermectin (Ivermec)- you can't drink the milk for a week afterward, and we NEVER deworm pregnant does, we do it after kidding and before breeding. Speaking of breeding, we typically do that in November, for April kids. We milk the does until February, dry them up, then they kid (freshen) in April- this works best for us because our winters are VERY harsh.

You do need to trim their hooves, too. We do this by putting them on the milking stand and using a pocket knife, or hoof nippers if the hooves are bad.

Nubians are my least fave dairy breed, as they are extremely athletic (hard to keep contained) and VERY loud. But that's personal taste! LOL They are good milk goats, and produce more butterfat, but they typically produce the least amount of milk compared to other dairy goats. I prefer Saanens and Alpines, both breeds that give the MOST milk of all dairy breeds.

One thing you will want to MAKE SURE of is the goat's udder. No matter what breed, if you intend to milk her, you NEED a good udder with long, comfortable teats- not too big, and DEFINATELY not too small- I would take a goat you have to milk with 2 hands on one teat than the ones that you milk with 2 fingers and your thumb. And DO NOT believe the person that says "Yeah, her teats are little right now, but as soon as you start hand-milking her, the teats will "pop" and get bigger." They RARELY do that. The teats will be bigger when the doe is milking than when they are dry, but not a huge difference. The length will stay relatively the same, milking or dry.

Also, if the goat kicks and will not let you try touching her udder, etc, PASS! Get one that won't kick and fight. You do not want to be nearly done milking with a gallon of milk in your pail and the goat starts kicking!!! And if they kick when you are just trying to touch, they are EXTREMELY hard to train NOT TO KICK!!!! Get one that DOES NOT KICK.

Getone that is already milking if you can- harder to find, but you know what youa re getting and can try milking her, to see if you like the size of her teats and if she kicks. THIS IS IMPORTANT, as you will be milking TWICE a day, every day. Get one you LIKE TO MILK!!!!

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
Where are you located?

 

[Chickygirl55]

Thank you for all the info. I appreciate. In not really dead set on nubians due to the fact it depends on what i can find for sale in the area. I do really like the way they look though i think all goats are cute lol. Definitely want something that will let me milk it lol so no kicking for sure. thanks for the info on teats.


Im located about in the panhandle of texas near amarillo.

The adga is sending me a breeder list in the mail.

 

[blaundee]

http://swdga.com/members.htm

Southwest Dairy Goat Assoc is the one that covers your area

 

[Chickygirl55]

ok Thank you! Will definitely look into it. Seen some pygmys for sale on craiqslist emailed and asked for more info.

 

[Chickygirl55]

How are pygmys as far as milking?

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
Pygmys= not for milking

Nigerian Dwarf= good for milking

 

[Chickygirl55]

oh but could you milk them?
They are all ive been able to find for sale in our area. Ive been looking nonstop.

 

[Chickygirl55]

ok for get the pygmys lol found a better deal.
This lady is going to give me a great deal on some nannies. 1 Alpine and 3 lamanchas that she bought for bottle calves all for $100 bucks woohooo!!!!!

lol. Going to get them tommorow will post pics when we get them home. May keep 2 and sell the other 2 not sure yet may just keep them all for that price lol

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