# What is your "favorite" large breed of dairy goat?



## greenfamilyfarms (Oct 24, 2010)

We went to the NC State Fair yesterday and I really lit the fire under my husband when we walked through the dairy goat barn. We met a nice lady who was milking a LaMancha doe and my husband really has an interest in getting a couple of dairy goats... he even said, "Let's sell your Boers and get milk goats." Umm, not ready for that quite yet, but we need your input on which breed you favor. I never would have thought he would have liked the looks of the LaManchas since they don't have ears, but he says they have a humble face.

1. Alpine
2. LaMancha
3. Nubian
4. Oberhasli
5. Saanen
6. Toggenburg


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## Roll farms (Oct 24, 2010)

You could always get a few Nubian does, cross them to your boer buck, have the milk and make nice "market" kids....Nubians cross 'best' to Boers since they have a lot of the same characteristics.  Just get 'old school' Nubs, the bigger, taller, less "dairy character"...not the fancy, skinny, new-style ones.

Oberhalsi are probably my 'favorite' because they're smart, polite, and not LOUD.  Lots of good milk.
Wouldn't be a good boer cross, though, IMHO....too fine-boned and wouldn't 'improve' anything....(The boer wouldn't help udders, the Ob wouldn't increase height / frame for meat.)

Alpines and Toggs and Nubians are all loud....Saanens are pretty polite (some say boringly so) and make lots of milk....but I'd be bored to tears w/ nothing but all white goats.

I can't get past the 'no ears' w/ LaManchas but I have a friend who breeds them and adores them.  She bought a Boer buckling off me to breed them to.  This'll be the first year for kids.

Toggs make nice BIG crosses when mixed w/ Boers....but man are they ugly kids.
I prefer not to cross Boer to the short eared breeds, I dislike airplane ears and light-colored heads.

In order, my favorites....Ob, Nub, Saanen, Togg, LaMancha, Alpine.

(I've never met an Alpine I 'liked'....and the crossbred Alpines I've met were all nuts, certifiably so.)


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## lilroo (Oct 24, 2010)

well I grew up with Nubians, Alpines and sannans. Nubians have a nice rich milk and they are great milkers for volume Alpines milk is less fat and sannans are quieter and have good milk volume but the milk is not as fat as nubians, which is about 6%. It depends on what you want to do with the milk or you just want a good milker and meat animal. I'm trying my hand with Kinders which are supposed to be the best of both.  I'm only wanting the milk and the smaller animal that does'nt eat huge like the bigger breeds.. SO...


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## mabeane (Oct 24, 2010)

Nubians....such personality!


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## poorboys (Oct 24, 2010)

Nubians for sure, but they can get mouthy, love their personalitys !!!!!! next would be the boer cross nubies.


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## MidnightChickenLover (Oct 24, 2010)

I love my Saanens! They are very personable, quiet, and are very calm. They have great milking attributes and very well. I have larger ones than at our county fair though, but everyone stops by and pets them. They are such sweet hearts. We cross them with Boers and they usually are wonderfull crosses. They gain weight almost at the same rate as boers for the fist few months, then they start adding lenght and height. We usually have kids around March, and show in August and they are around 75lbs. Even though they are usually born with an off white color, we also have had an all brown (even though the bucks head was black), roans, and light brown spots. They have charming friendly personalities and are very healthy. It's fun watching their ears bob up and down


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## freemotion (Oct 24, 2010)

Don't discount La Manchas based on their ears alone.  I ended up, due to poor planning, with a La Mancha buck last fall and the resulting doelings are the sweetest things ever!  The buck was a sweetheart and still is.  I sold him to a family with small children and at a year and a half old, during rut, he is trustworthy around the little children.

My new little Alpine buckling, although adorable, is not safe around anyone, as a youngster not even quite six months old and in a raging rut.

My Alpine doe "puts it in the bucket!"  My Nubian cross is LOUD and so is her daughter, who is also part Boer, Alpine, and half La Mancha.....only 25% Nubian and she has a mouth on her.

Still, it is more important to look at the individuals and what you want.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Oct 24, 2010)

la manchas all the way.. i cant stand a screaming goat so no way on the nubies for me.  

my lamancha and minimancha are nice and quiet....and really really good milkers, laid back, easy to be around. but they do look kinda funny

;-)


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## Heavenly Springs Farm (Oct 24, 2010)

I love my Nubians. They are great goats.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 24, 2010)

I've got a Nubian, Saanen and Alpine right now, and my favorite is still probably the Saanen. She's not all that quiet, but she's patient, sweet and easy to work with. She also put almost a gallon in the pail for me as a FF.

My alpine buck's a sweetheart, too. Even in full rut, he's been wanting nothing more than to rub up on me and get his ears scratched. He's still got his little kid yell, so he's not really loud, but he yells a lot, especially when he first sees you. He's also scheduled to breed a herd of boer does, since Alpines are supposed to cross nicely to boers (and they always throw paints, and they don't *always* throw the funny half and half ears...)

The nubian....well, she sounds a lot more like a goose than a goat, and she yells ALL the time. She can be stubborn, but she's very sweet, and I can eventually convince her the milking stand isn't going to eat her...

I did have a LaMancha before, he was obsessed with sitting in my lap, but he was very easy to work with, but I noticed he didn't grow as fast as Saanens did, and if I'm not wrong, LaManchas never get to be as big as other dairy breeds.


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## greenfamilyfarms (Oct 24, 2010)

It looks like it is going to be a toss-up between the Lamancha and Nubian. Mainly because I cannot find a Lamancha breeder (well... any "good" ones) in NC, SC, TN, or VA. My husband has been looking at Lamancha info all afternoon and he is just drawn to them, but we found a TON of Nubian breeders within our driving radius.


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## Cindiloohoo (Oct 24, 2010)

greenfamilyfarms said:
			
		

> It looks like it is going to be a toss-up between the Lamancha and Nubian. Mainly because I cannot find a Lamancha breeder (well... any "good" ones) in NC, SC, TN, or VA. My husband has been looking at Lamancha info all afternoon and he is just drawn to them, but we found a TON of Nubian breeders within our driving radius.


Look at www.fiascofarm.com for LaManchas. I think they are in East Tennessee and offer Spring kids for sale.


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## Ariel301 (Oct 24, 2010)

I like the LaManchas. I wanted Alpines when I first got goats, and the lady I bought my "starter herd" from had both...but the price was so incredibly great on the LaManchas and high on the Alpines that my husband thought we should just get the cheaper ones. So we did. I thought they were ugly at first, but now we really like them so much we're getting rid of everything we have that isn't LaMancha. 

The ears grow on you. Now I think Nubians look weird with their floppy ears and long gangly legs. I also don't like how loud Nubians can be, and it seems like most of the ones I have met are...well...sort of idiots. 

The best thing about the LaManchas is their temperament. They are easy going, quiet, and love their people. They are like a golden retriever dog, always happy to see you. Mine all know their names, and if I call them by name from across the yard, they will each answer me to let me know where they are. I take them camping with me, and do not ever have to pen or tie them while we are at camp, they just hang around with people all the time, and curl up outside the tent to sleep. (They love campfires, surprisingly!) They are also excellent milkers, my does average a gallon a day each, and their butterfat content is pretty high, giving you a richer, sweeter milk, and I also think it makes better cheese. 

I have seen a good deal of LaMancha/Boer crossbreds around here. They would be nice meaty kids, plus if you dam raise you get the plus of having a really milky mom to feed them good and grow them fast. When I have the room to expand into Boers as well, I will get a Boer buck and cross him with LaMancha does, so that I can keep a smaller herd, still milking my Manchas but have meatier kids, as the Manchas are not all that great for the freezer, too bony. 

Fiasco Farm is no longer selling kids, I think they shut down. The last updates on the website are several years old.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Oct 25, 2010)

> They are like a golden retriever dog


ha! i've never thought of it like this but yep - that kinda describes them

and yes the fiascofarm site is just maintained not updated - the farm has closed. 

have you checked the http://www.adga.org/   ?? for breeders?


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## ohne (Oct 25, 2010)

I'm going to say that Toggs are by far my favorite. I love their personality and they milk very well. Not to mention Togg kids are adorable, they look like little fawns. Plus Toggs are known for having excellent udders as a whole. 

LaManchas are also wonderful, they were the first breed I raised when I was in 4-H. They have excellent personality's and are very comical. They will be into just about everything that they can get into. 

Next would be Alpines. Perhaps not the best personalities but still a wonderful breed. I showed for an Alpine herd and the goats were gorgeous which is my attraction to them. I appreciate any animal that is well bred and I really wouldn't mind owning one. 

Nubians are just to loud! I keep my Toggs at a farm down the road that I help with their Nubian string, and you can  hear the difference between the two before you even enter the barn. The Nubian scream would just drive me crazy if I had to hear it everyday. However their are some amazing Nubian's out there and a lot of people really love theirs. So if the breed appeals to you I say go for it get some nice ones and enjoy them. They just aren't for me. 

The last two for me would be Saanen and Obers. Saanens because they are white and I wouldn't want to deal with a white goat. I do love their size scale and power though. Obers, ober people please don't hate me, but I have just never seen an Ober that I was impressed with. 
My order of preference is: 
1) Togg 
2) LaMancha 
3) Alpine 
4) Nubian 
5)Saanen 
6) Ober

This is just my personal opinion on the breeds. I say pick a breed that you like and enjoy them! Every breed has animals that are good representatives of their individual breed.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Oct 25, 2010)

Toggies, of course!!  My fav!!!  Love em!!


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Oct 25, 2010)

OBERHASLI'S!!!!!!!!

They're so smart (One of my friends's can open a latch with her mouth!) and they're VERY quiet! They're so nice, and are good for showing! They have big, beautiful brown eyes, and are pretty good milkers. The buck has a great personality- Skittish, yet protects the girls and never "tries" any humans!!!! You should get them! Perfect backyard goats.... I LOVE them! Ok, but it's up to you!

*** Edited for udderly bad spelling!


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## greenfamilyfarms (Oct 25, 2010)

We found a couple of LaManchas breeders within a 3 hour drive - yay! Hopefully their gals will give us a couple of doelings!


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## Kenneth Flippen (Oct 25, 2010)

http://love-r-goats.com/

 she has Lamanchas and nubians in virginia I have bought goats from her this past year and like them. Terry Barr in Taylorsville, NC I thiink has Lamanchas.

my nubians aren't any louder or more noisy than my alpines or lamanchas

my lamanchas and nubians have a much better personality


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## chandasue (Oct 26, 2010)

Sort of a toss up between toggs, obers and munchies for me. I have nigerians but wanted a standard. I broke down and put a deposit on a spring bottle baby lamancha. You tend to focus on their eyes more than other goats and their personality completely wins me over.


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## ohne (Oct 26, 2010)

if your having trouble finding LaManchas locally and that's what you want have you considered having kids shipped? many breeders will ship kids.


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## Slightly Cracked (Oct 31, 2010)

I HAD to chime in here for the Nubians!! I have 2 FB Nubian does and 2 Nubian/Boer crosses. I LOVE them! They have a lot of personality and are not loud as long as their "needs" are being met! LOL


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