Trying to pick a dairy goat breed

[Haviris2]

I have nigerians, nubians, and an alpine. Personally nigerians and nubians are equally my favorites.

Nubians can be pretty big, I don't know how a normal child can handle them, but when I was a kid we had some nubians, our favorite was a wether named Jack (he was not bottle fed by the way). That goat was so much fun, and so tolerant! We'd tape deer antles to his head (don't know why), we'd tie him to a wagon and have him pull us around, we had a tiny saddle we strapped to his back and tied a cabbage patch doll to it. We had a little family parade once and he was one of the stars. He was probably 150+lbs.

Nubains were my first favorites, and I've owned alot of different breeds (never an angora though). But nigerians wiggled their way right up there next to them. They are small and good natured, easy to manage and be around. Not sure specifically what to say about either breed, I guess like someone else said you need to deside what size you want, and what you want them for.

 

[genuck]

I have a few pygmies, I like them ok, they were a little wild when I got them and have never really taken to people.

This year I got 4 new kids, angora doe, pygora doe, toggenburg x pygmy and a pygora buck. I was told the pygoras have more milk and the kids are stronger than straight angoras. I can see it in the kids they are much more vigorous than the angora kid. The tog mix I got because I didn't want a full size (already sold one noisy obnoxious nubian) or noisy milker, or one that is 4 inches off the ground like a nigerian. Trying to milk my pygmy when I needed to bottle feed left little space for my hands and a bucket.

Good luck and tell us what you get!

 

[arabianequine]

I tried posting on this earlier and lost what I had wrote and got fustrated. I will try again here.

I am still learning too.

I have 3 does.

One is a milker breed....toggenburg. She seems very timed.

2 boers meat goats.

I have saanen buck that will breed them all this fall.

Sannen is a milk breed too.

The reason breeding him to the boers is I heard they make big babies and they grow fast. Obviously for meat.

I know a lady that has angoras. She is using the coat for natural insulation in her chicken coop. She says it is really good for that.

I am not sure if she milks them. I could ask. I will be getting a hold of her soon for something else anyways.

I heard from the lady that has the angoras that nubians have attitudes and she would much rather have a toggenburg or saanen for milking and/or a buck.

Great goat resource is www.fiascofarm.com

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Hi! I dont have them anymore... i miss them though. Sorry i rehomed them.

I had the one Alpine wether... and a Pygmy doe and a Nigerian doe...
Honestly..they were all really easy to handle...... maybe because we bottle fed them and handled them a lot?... i dont know. But they all were gentle like dogs... but with just a bit of silly sass added in.....
Love love LOVED goats... they are the comedians of the farm yard.

 

[macnugget]

We got to Nubian Does that we are bottle feeding and my 3 yr old daughter handles them just fine on a leash. We walk them down main street with the dog

 

[dutchhollow]

I had about 8 angoras at one time, you have to shave them twice a year. If you have barbed wire or stickery bushes, wild rose, locust or anything you are forever looking for them and untangling them. I wouldn't count on much milk, but probably as much as a nigi.
As far a a nice calm milk breed you can't beat a saanen, they are large, but the easies going IMO of the dairy breeds (I have had nubians, alpines, mixes of both and know people with togs and lamanchas). I did love my big white girls and if I ever get more dairy they will be saanens. I have one nubian and her two kids left (they are for sale) I do like the nubians, they are characters, lots of personality, but not nearly as easy going as the saanens.

 

[michickenwrangler]

I'm partial to LaManchas, and yes you do get used to the lack of ears

 

[allanimals21]

My Alpine wether is 110lbs.

This is him next to my 80lb fainting doe.

 

[10 point]

we have two nigerian x pygmy and they are the friendliest goats I have ever seen. They jump on our laps to get pet and love to be around people.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

My hesitation on getting a full size goat was with how hard it would be to handle them. I know full size goats can be quite large and heavy. I don't want something ill-tempered that could possibly harm my nieces (or myself!). I thought the Nigerian dwarf goats might be easier to handle as they weigh less than 50 lbs. I had also heard that they give a surprising amount of milk for their size and that three of them eat about the same amount as one full size goat and take up about the same amount of space. I thought with two of three smaller ones I could stagger when they freshen (is that what it is called?) so that we would have year round milk.

I like the look of Nubians, but I have heard that they are really loud and can be cantankerous. I think they are supposed to have the most personality, but can be impossibly stubborn sometimes.

The more I read of Saanens the more I like them. They have made the short list.

There don't seem to be many Toggenburg breeders around here. I don't want to keep a buck and will need a breed that I can find local so I can "rent" a buck when he is needed.

I asked about the angora because I have heard of people breeding the angora to a Nigerian or Nubian and making a dual purpose fiber/milk goat. I had thought to get a few sheep as well, but if I could get a hair goat it might simplify things.

I've sent an email to a local Nigerian dwarf and LaMancha breeder to see if I can come visit their farm for some hands on tutorials on goat care. Hopefully she will be willing to help me. I'd also like to see her goats so I have an idea of size.

Sooooo... my short list to research further is Nigerian Dwarf, a Lamancha mix (mixed cause I like floppy goat ears!) and Saanen for milk and perhaps an angora or angora mix for wool. We are still working on finding a farm, so I have a bit of time before I can actually bring them home.

Thanks for the help!