# Suggestions Pease



## KDailey (Jan 10, 2012)

I am doing some research on different breeds of livestock so I can make plans for my farm. 

I would like everyone's opinion on breeds of goats that you think are best for each category:

Meat
Milk
Dual purpose
Pets
Most colorful (I like lots of color and variety)

Thank you


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## elevan (Jan 10, 2012)

KDailey said:
			
		

> I am doing some research on different breeds of livestock so I can make plans for my farm.
> 
> I would like everyone's opinion on breeds of goats that you think are best for each category:
> 
> ...


Well...gotta say that I'm gonna say that my fave all purpose that I'm breeding on my farm is "pygerian" (pygmy / nigerian dwarf cross). 
Good meat - though not as much as a standard size goat
Great milk - as long as you pay attention to milk lines on the ND side you'll get plenty
Dual purpose - definitely!
Pets - they make great pets
Colorful - the ND side throws plenty of color


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## Roll farms (Jan 10, 2012)

Nubian /  boer cross for all of the above.

Get pretty Nubian does to milk, then cross them to a boer buck for bigger, meatier kids....hybrid vigor....

Some of the female offspring can be kept and milked (keep the best-uddered doelings).
Male offspring can be butchered or sold as market wethers for more $$.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jan 10, 2012)

I would say nubian/boer cross if you have enough space. They are good sized goats and although you will get lots of milk and meat they do need more room and will eat more than a kinder or nigerian dwarf. 
If you want more milk use does that are 100% nubian or maybe 50%nubian/50% boer and breed them to a full-blood boer buck to get meatier kids for butchering. If you want more meat, then use 75%boer/25%nubians as your main does for milking and breed to a full-blood boer.  The more boer you have in them the shorter their milking duration would be. A nubian being able to milk for 10 months to a year and a boer goat milking for 3 or 4 months. But boer cross does will breed all year round. So if you had 6 does that are 50% boer/nubian you could breed 2 of them every 4 months. NOt sure if you were talking about that many animals. 

some boers don't have the best udders, so careful selection of udder quality would be important.  Infact anytime you are talking about a meat/dairy dual purpose animal, you are going to need to really look hard at their udder. there is a reason livestock are often considered dairy or meat and not both. It is hard to get all the great attributes into one animal. 




If you don't have a lot of room, you would have to look into something like what Elevan is suggesting.


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## KDailey (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks guys! Those are great, very informative replies. 

We have a little over 100 acres so space really isn't an issue. I had been considering the Pygmy/ND cross but I think I'm going to want the larger breeds, where I had been considering Nubians which I knew were dairy goats but wasn't sure because I wanted to be able to use them for meat as well. I love the idea of purebred Nubian does and purebred boer buck. That is definitely a good option.


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## Mamaboid (Jan 10, 2012)

KDailey said:
			
		

> I am doing some research on different breeds of livestock so I can make plans for my farm.
> 
> I would like everyone's opinion on breeds of goats that you think are best for each category:
> 
> ...


Meat:  Myotonic or Fainter 
Milk: Nubian
Dual Purpose: Fainter/Nubian Cross
Pet: Fainter (Very easy to fence, loving sweet natured, easy keepers, parasite resistant)
Most Colorful: Fainter (they come in all kinds of colors, sizes and hair lengths)


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## 77Herford (Jan 12, 2012)

Kiko for all or Kinder is good too.


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## Missy (Jan 13, 2012)

from what I have observed here and through research of my own:
Good meat - boer/boer crosses
Great milk - Nigerian dwarf-highest content, Saanen, nubian, Oberhasli
Dual purpose - nubian
Pets - Nigerian dwarf, pygmy, Oberhasli
Colorful - Nigerian dwarf, nubian

Obviously everyone has their own opinions.


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## KDailey (Jan 13, 2012)

Missy said:
			
		

> from what I have observed here and through research of my own:
> Good meat - boer/boer crosses
> Great milk - Nigerian dwarf-highest content, Saanen, nubian, Oberhasli
> Dual purpose - nubian
> ...


Exactly and that's exactly what I want!  I want to hear everyone's opinions because "so and so" might not think like I do but "so and so" does. lol. I appreciate everyone's replies!


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## SmallFarmGirl (Jan 13, 2012)

elevan said:
			
		

> KDailey said:
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> 
> ...


Agree that is the goat for YOU!


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## RPC (Jan 13, 2012)

Meat- Boer
Milk- Nubian
Dual purpose- boer nubian cross or maybe just nubian
Pets- Nigerian Dwarf
Most colorful (I like lots of color and variety)- Nigerian or Nubian


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## austintgraf (Jan 13, 2012)

I've raised most of the common breeds of goats and i've studied the breeds ever since I was old enough to read and my parents bought me a book. I enjoy learning about the different breeds but anyway....

Meat- Boer or Savannah are for the most part the largest weight wise, though true mytonic goats do have thinner bone structer which mean a higher meat to weight ratio.

Milk- the highest yielding milker is primarily one of the swiss breeds and out of them the highest yield would come from a saanen typically, highest butter fat however would be a nubian but the yield is lower typically. That is why saanen/nubian is such a populary cross.

Dual Purpose - most dairy breeds will provide both good milk and plenty of meat. Though crossing a meat breed and dairy breed can make an even better dual purpose. Problem being its not always a sure bet on the milking abilities though i've herd 25% meat 75% dairy makes an excellent cross.

Pets - all goats are is extra useful dogs in this essence. Goats if handled regularly will eventually be great pets. LaMancha, however, hold the reputation of "world's friendliest goat".  I personally don't know the truth in that statement. Bucks should NOT be pets, they can be dangerous in certain situation, even when the rest of the time they are like dogs. If children are involved it is safer for them to be with hornless animals cause though a goat may not mean to hurt anyone accidents happen.

Color- I prefer the colorful goats myself  Nubians, NDs, Lamacha, and fainter all can and commonly have exceptional color patterns. The first and last both are know to have the ever elusive "moonspots"!  Nubians are probably the most common breed you will find the big large colorful circluar spots on them which is one of the reason I got into them in the first place.

Hope this helps a bunch!


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## SmallFarmGirl (Jan 13, 2012)

KDailey said:
			
		

> I am doing some research on different breeds of livestock so I can make plans for my farm.
> 
> I would like everyone's opinion on breeds of goats that you think are best for each category:
> 
> ...


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