# Too small to breed? We got her, pic added pg 2



## taraann81 (Dec 17, 2009)

I have recently found an opportunity to purchase a purebred nubian doeling from a commercial dairy in my area.  Usually of course doelings don't come up for sale as they use them for milk. 

The reason they are selling her is because she is such a small size.  She was born in April and only weighs about 50 lbs now at 8 months of age.

Could her small size be the result of her being one of a set of triplets?(the other 2 were bucks and slaughtered at birth) and Could she still catch up in size?

Or if she stayed small could we perhaps safely breed her to a pygmy buck and milk her(large quantities of milk are unimportant) and either sell the kids as pets or use them for meat?

She's the right breed, color and price I've been looking for.  We will probably get her as a pet regardless but who doesn't want a pet that could provide you with milk!


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## BDial (Dec 17, 2009)

Do you have a mini nubian buck in your area to breed her to? That way (if you wanted) you would keep the nubian type.
When breeding I always wait till they are a year old but thats me.


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## FarmerChick (Dec 17, 2009)

trips
yea sounds like the little runt

she should grow, just give her time

8 mos. is minimum age for breeding I use and then of course I look for stout gals.  (I have Boers)


I would wait a bit and judge size and stamina in about 2-3-4 mos.

then make some decisions
sometimes best not to breed if they are not up to standards etc. to improve your herd.     hope that helps some


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## taraann81 (Dec 17, 2009)

No mini nubians in the area.  I'm not worried about improving my herd with her offspring any ways, They would be slaughtered or sold as pets.  

So 50 lbs at 8months isn't ridiculously small for a nubian?  And if bred to a small buck it may be okay to milk her?

Thanks for the replies.


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## FarmerChick (Dec 17, 2009)

yes that is small for a nubian at 8 mos.

I have boer goat kids that are 40-50 lbs at 4-5 mos. easily.....LOL

You can absolutely breed her to any smaller buck like a pygmy and use the kids as you see fit.  And yes you could easily get some milk from her after she kids out.

Did you check her health also very good?  A high parasite load can keep goats from thriving in size also.   Just a thought.  Sometimes when you can handle their health care, the size kicks in and a strong kid results.


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## taraann81 (Dec 17, 2009)

I will find out more about her health when I go to look at her on Sat.  Regardless, she'll be quarantined and I'll bring a fecal to my vet when she gets here.

I like to assume since they are a commercial dairy that their goats are in good health and dewormed as needed.  But I guess you never know.


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## FarmerChick (Dec 17, 2009)

they probably are fine but when one doesn't grow to well it is always best to check all aspects....cool

and sometimes the individual goat is a parasite magnet or something...just happens.


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## miss_thenorth (Dec 17, 2009)

Nubians crossed with pygmies produce what is considered a kinder goat, who is smaller in size, but a prolific milker.  there offspring are considered good for meat, since they will be stockier from the pygmy.  I say go for it!!!!!!!
and if you have a doeling, maybe we'll have to talk then  

Oh, and there is a goat dairy near you?  Is it near me?  inquiring minds want to know, (and get raw milk until I can get my own)


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## taraann81 (Dec 17, 2009)

I will ask them on sat if they sell raw milk!  I thought there was strict laws about that?  Or is that just in the states?  

I guess my biggest concern was with such a stunted size perhaps she has internal abnormalities but I suppose there's no real way to be sure with out attempting to breed or excessive  vet testing.

First and foremost she'll be a pet but milk could be a very positive plus!!

Also the baby has pretty bad eczema and I have heard that goat milk can help but its so expensive in the stores!


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## Roll farms (Dec 17, 2009)

Most of my runts catch up to their siblings by that age BUT...That doesn't necessarily mean that's not why she's staying small.
I had a Feb. born quad doeling Nubian (the runt at 6#) who was 78# at 6 mos.
I've found the later my goats kid, the more prone the kids are to parasite problems (cocci and worms), my theory being they're being weaned (stress) at the time the parasites are coming on strong (June-July) in our area.
We started kidding earlier and the kids seem to do better.
I'd definitely have a fecal ran, could be stunted from cocci, that bug will slow growth down like mad.
If she passes the vet check, I'd say go for it, and breed her to a mini buck of some variety (pygmy, Nig, or mini cross.)


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## taraann81 (Dec 17, 2009)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> Most of my runts catch up to their siblings by that age BUT...That doesn't necessarily mean that's not why she's staying small.
> I had a Feb. born quad doeling Nubian (the runt at 6#) who was 78# at 6 mos.
> I've found the later my goats kid, the more prone the kids are to parasite problems (cocci and worms), my theory being they're being weaned (stress) at the time the parasites are coming on strong (June-July) in our area.
> We started kidding earlier and the kids seem to do better.
> ...


Actually rolls I doubt that being one of a triplet was the reason she was staying small( the more I think about it the more I think that being from a commercial dairy they would know that a triplet would be smaller)the are selling this kid as a hobbyist pet only, 

I just assumed that that meant what might not be good enough for a dairy would be good enough for me!  If her size may detrimentaly effect her ability to kid safely I may chose differnttly about her future!

But I am sure she will be a cute pet!


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## taraann81 (Dec 19, 2009)

Well here is what I now call my teacup nubian   She is so tiny her back only comes up to my knee my guess is she weights closer to 35-40lbs instead of 50.

She is current on vaccinations and deworming, I will still have a fecal run on her to be safe.

This is a bad pic.  We definately won't be breeding her this year(prob too late anyway??)  And with good feeding and good care perhaps we can get her a bit bigger.  If not she sure does make a cute little pet!

Here is Maizie, Better pics to follow.


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## ksalvagno (Dec 19, 2009)

She is adorable. You can always see how big she is next fall if you want spring kids.


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## taraann81 (Dec 24, 2009)

She has some of the weirdest quirks.  SHe still ast 9 mponths of age sucks on my fingers.  Olliver stopped doing that about 2 weeks after he was weaned.  Her fecals all came back negative!  But I think after christmas we will take her to the vet as I am curious to see what he has to say about her small size.

She is like a perfect Nubian in miniature, I assume if it is some sort of dwafrism she would be out of proportion but she is not!  She's a real sweaty!


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## mavrick (Dec 24, 2009)

If you didnt want to breed her with a pymgy, breed her with a nigerain dwarf, there a milk type and  give lots of good milk for there size


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## taraann81 (Dec 24, 2009)

mavrick said:
			
		

> If you didnt want to breed her with a pymgy, breed her with a nigerain dwarf, there a milk type and  give lots of good milk for there size


I think that will wait until next fall.  She is just so tiny now.  I will try to get a pic with a size comparison soon.  I'm worried about when I finally introduce her to my goats.  When they hear her bleting across the yard the hair on the back of their necks and backs raise up and my doe butts anything near her!


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## lupinfarm (Dec 25, 2009)

Aww isn't she sweet! We have 2 Pygmy's, my biggest girl is 60lbs and kidded once before with no problems to my knowledge.

I had no idea that a nubian/pygmy was a kinder. Interesting. Perhaps I'll get a couple nubians from the farm a town over (very nice milking lines, registered, and local) to breed to the Pygmy buck we're getting this spring.


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## Freeholder (Dec 25, 2009)

If you have a bathroom scale, you can pick her up, weigh yourself with and without her, and get a more accurate estimate of her weight.  She looks quite stocky, and might actually be heavier than you are thinking.  Still, I think you are right to wait to breed her, and give her some more time to grow.

Sometimes there's just a small one.  She may actually be a very good milker -- size doesn't have a lot to do with that.  It's the amount of feed they take in.

Kathleen


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## Ariel301 (Jan 10, 2010)

She sounds like a doeling we have...we bought a bred LaMancha doe from a dairy farm, but she was bred by accident (she got into the buck pen) and so they didn't know what the sire was, it could have been anything, really, they had 10 or more bucks of several breeds. The doe kidded with twins, a 5 pound buckling and a 4 pound doeling. That's a good deal smaller than the buck kid we had just ten days earlier, he was about 7 pounds at birth. 

 Now, at 8 months old, our girl is barely 40 pounds--and that's with being pregnant! (stupid sneaky buck went over the fence some time this fall and got her! We don't know when it happened, but she is pregnant for sure...) We can't find anything wrong with her, or her brother, who is only slightly bigger. Both look like perfectly proportioned LaManchas in miniature, they don't look stunted or dwarfed or anything. We don't know what is going on, maybe they're just miniatures. The other one we had born around the same time as these two is already as tall as our older goats, and about 75-80 pounds, and we raised them all together, so if something was wrong with two, it should have been wrong with all three.


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