What Breed Would You Recommend? (Dairy Goats)

[Illia]

They originated as Nubian x Pygmy but are now an actual breed, however some people do sell just hybrids claimed as Kinders.


Mine I got from the creator of the breed, most of them were several generations away from just a hybrid or mutt.

 

[pinkfoxfarm]

i think given what your looking for id go with a lamancha, there the most easy going and typically "quietest" of the dairy goats, alot more puppy dog like. i LOVE nubians, but they tend to be drama queens and a little "needy" togs from what im told are the "jumpiest" of the group and tend to be a little on the skittesh side. ive met a few alpines and all were nice but a little "indifferent" to humans, they only cared to be around people if there was food involved...and im told the sannens tend to be similar...the lamanchas though are supposedly incredbly sweet, frinedly, good producers with a nice middle ground on the milk, good production nice for milk and yogurt/cheese.
a wether makes a great pack goat too!

ive heard some good about kinders but i dont know how theyd do size wise for cart/packing...there aessentially a small stocky nubian...

another option might be a MINI cow...look into Dexters!

 

[ke_ben]

Nigerian Dwarves actually have the highest butterfat content but probably don't produce as much on average. I don't like the milk from standard dairy breeds because of the (standing next to the buck in full rut) aftertaste. That is because of the lower fat content. Kinders do sound interesting though.

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[zzGypsy]

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we have lamanchas, and don't have any goaty taste to the milk, even keeping the buck and the does sharing a fenceline... in fact you can't tell it's goat milk until the day before it turns (usually it keeps 7-10 days before it starts to go... if there's any of it left by then...)

not sure why some folks have goatier tasting milk than others, but we have had a bunch of folks sample our milk and the usual comment is "tastes like milk!"

 

[pinkfoxfarm]

ive always been told that "goaty" tasting milk is typically the result of a buck in rut too close to the milk or not properly cleaning the udder/equiptment...

 

[zzGypsy]

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I've been told that keeping a buck where the does can smell him causes musky / goaty taste in the milk too... but... ours share a fence and in our case it wouldn't seem to be true.

 

[Illia]

Yep, tis what I've always been told. We kept our buck on the opposite end of the property, and the milk was always sweet, creamy, and after-taste free.

 

[pinkfoxfarm]

i doubt the musk could penetrate the skin of the udder itself, but i could definatly see if the buck was kept too close to the milking supplies or milking shed/area that his musk could definatly get into the milk itself...

 

[zzGypsy]

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the theory I heard was that the does produce something in response to the smell of the buck, not that it's the buck's musk directly.
but, regardless, we have found that it doesn't make any difference with our goats. buck, no buck, same taste.

 

[Debbiesflocks]

La mancha goats are great. I had both lamancha and Nubian's. The Nubian's were very loud. I sold all the Nubian's and kept the nice quite La manchas. If you have close neighbors i would go with La manchas.