what kind of buck?

[key west chick]

While Im waiting for my password for BYHerds to come, I need some help deciding what kind of buck I want, IF we get some land soon. Right now, I have 5 Nigis. 3 does, never bred and 2 wethers. All are about 4 years old. i got the does, eventually wanting milk, but never did it. I realized it would be to hard to get them bred without owning a buck and didnt want to risk taking them somewhere to have serviced. Now that we are looking for land, Im wanting to buy my own buck for them. My problem is, I dont know what I want. I think I have pretty good goats. Little Tots Estate lines. I could get another little tots buck and breed pure Nigis. Orrrr, I could get me a kinder buck, a breed I would have gotten if they had been more available back then. My girls have papers, but I never sent them in. I guess I still could if I wanted to spend the money. I dont think Im really in this to sell kids. Of course, I would have to sell them since I cant keep them all. For most people wanting a pet goat, are they that interested in registered or pure bred or just something cute and not as pricey? Any one with Kinders?

 

[farmchick897]

I personally like my miniature silky fainter buck. He crosses well with my Nigerians and Pygmies and so far the kids have sold quickly.

 

[key west chick]

Ive seen pictures of mini silkie fainters. Do you have to do anything special with the long hair? Comb? Shear? I love the fainters but DH says it looks mean, lol. He knows it doesnt hurt them, he just feels sorry for them.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Your does are very senior to be first fresheners - you may want to check with their breeder to see if she'd still recommend breeding them at their age. It can be dangerous to kid for the first time in what for a goat is middle age.

If you do decide to use them, the question becomes what you envision for the future of the kids. If you just want to sell $30 bottle babies as pets, you can breed the does to anything. However, in my experience the chance of those babies having long, healthy, spoiled lives is not very high. People looking to spend $30 or $50 on a kid are not the ones educating themselves on feeding and hay and forage and worming and copper and all the other hundreds of things you have to be aware of to give goats an ideal life and help them thrive. Those owners tend to lose interest and either throw the goats out back or bring them to the auction when they're not cute anymore.

What I've honestly seen is that the higher the price, the more value the owners assign to it. It's one of the reasons my puppies are either $1200 or free; I do not give discounts or try to chase the puppy mills lower and lower. If I know the owner is outstanding, I'll often give a show puppy away, but I will not ever give the impression that the dogs are not extremely valuable and VALUED. When I was breeding goats I did the same thing; the very best-bred show goats often went to the Heifer Project (back when they accepted live animals and sent them overseas) and I always had tons of market for well-bred milkers.

So - to make a long story short - there's a reason you bought your goats for hundreds of dollars each instead of buying a baby at an auction. And you've treated them accordingly, as very valued and valuable animals. If you want your market to be more of "you" - register them and breed them very well to a beautifully bred buck and market them well.

 

[key west chick]

I didn't even think of them being to old. I did pay a pretty penny for each of the does when I got them. The more I think about it, the more I think i want to stay with good lines and stick with pure Nigis. Maybe if things go well, and we get land, I'll get in touch with their breeder and see what he thinks about it. I know his bucklings start around $300 so I need to make sure this is something I really want to do.