# Newbie help to compare breeds please



## johnsons-r-us (Nov 8, 2011)

Hello! 

I have been on the BYC site for several months and got my chicks last Easter.  Finally getting eggs everyday!  We want to add a couple of goats to our hobby farm.  This is where I need some help.  We only have 2  acres.  We do have a barn, an old barn that came with the house.  I was looking into the Dwarf Nigerians, but wondered if they would be able to produce enough milk?  We have a wonderful breeder of Nubians near us that have said they would mentor us the first year or two until we felt comfortable.  But they are larger goats, from excellent milking lines.  I was told to expect a gallon at each milking.  How much do the Nigerians give?  I know we have to have two.  I would like to make soaps, yogurts, cheese and such with the milk for our family/friends, not a business.  Those are the only two breeds I have looked into.  I would just like to keep two girls, alternate on the milking/breeding.  

Can some of you help me with the personalities and milking qualities to make my options a bit clearer?  We have small children and grandchildren that would want to help.  They love to feed the chickens and get eggs.  I like to plan well in advance..and I want to do something this spring with a couple of babies.  My girls may want to join 4H at some point..but they are not old enough yet.  We are not open to meat goats at this point. 

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge!


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## Roll farms (Nov 8, 2011)

The offer of mentorship would make me lean toward the Nubians, simply b/c you cannot beat having someone in the know to go to when you have problems.

Having said that, I love, love, LOVE oberhasli.  Their milk is sweet and delicious, they are polite, quiet, mannerly does, and I have one girl who gives 1.5 g of milk a day.  That's not typical, around 3/4 to a gallon a day would be 'normal' from an Ob.

Nubians are a bit loud, but I love them as well.  Nothing cuter than a floppy eared newborn.  Their milk is wonderful (high butterfat) for cheese and cooking.

The only other breed I have much experience w/ are Toggs and I prefer the other two to those.


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## DKRabbitry (Nov 8, 2011)

My experience is pretty limited breed-wise.  I have lamanchas and love them dearly for so many reasons.  I do have a Nubian buck kid who is a riot, but he is way immature from having coccidiosis and is still on the bottle so he is pretty much like a little puppy dog right now 

Maybe get one nubian and one ND?  That way, you would have the nubian for quite a bit of milk, then the ND for a buddy that will add to the milk yeild but not take up as much space/eat as much as another nubian.

ETA: And someone close by helping/mentoring is PRICELESS!!!


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## Queen Mum (Nov 8, 2011)

You can milk a mini, but you will not get enough really to do all the things you want to do.  One or two acres will be plenty for two goats.    Any goats really, if they are hand raised, i.e. bottle fed are usually really easy keepers.  If you have a mentor, I would go with whatever they recommend at this point.  However, the suggestion of a Nubian Dairy goat and a smaller breed is also a great one.  The Nubian can be your primary milker and she can be bred to a smaller breed and produce kids for your children to raise and care for.  The mini's are great for children to handle as first goats.  

Nubians are a bigger breed.  And they are a little noisy.  Their milk is top quality, creamy and lovely for cheese, drinking and everything in between.

Oberhauslie's are quiet and very mild mannered.  They give great milk and some of them are smaller.   (but not all.) 

Nigerians are beautiful goats with lovely characteristics.  The dwarf version can be anywhere from extremely small to almost full sized.  Reputation has it that they are a bit naughty.  

La Mancha's have no ears or very small ones and the mini's can be very tiny and anywhere on up in size.  They are a good all around breed and really quite sweet, but full of life and "piss and vinegar".  

Alpine dairy goats are short haired, elegant in conformation.  They can be medium to large and many colors.  They are good milk producers, (the Holstein of the dairy goat)  but have a lower fat percentage in milk.   

I don't know much about Saanens.


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## Chaty (Nov 9, 2011)

I have had everyting except Ober's and Togg's. I love my Nubians, La Manchas, Saanens, Alpines and Nigi's. I basically got out of the Nigi breed as they were hard on my back milking and on my knees. My Grandsons like milking the larger type goats as they like to stand and milk. When you get a goat try milking her first before you bring her home. I love the Nubians ears and even though some are loud not all are. Mine are really only loud when they are in heat or hungry. I take mine out for walks pretty much each day. They love it. I guess what it all boilds down is what your prefer. Good luck


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## ksalvagno (Nov 9, 2011)

If you don't plan to have more than a couple goats, then I would go with the breed that is close to you and you have a mentor. Not to mention that you would have a way to breed your girls without buying a buck  yourself.


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## johnsons-r-us (Nov 9, 2011)

Thank you all for replying.  I really love the small ones, but yes the thought of having a mentor with exceptional milking lines and years of experience is too tempting to pass up.  They have invited us out and will sample all of the goodies and learn about the goats.  We need to make arrangements for housing and such.  I'm going to enjoy all the reading on this forum.  Already started!  I already know I don't want a buck! :/ I've read they are kind of skinky and like to pee on themselves??   And yes, they would help us with the breeding when it's time.  The babies are all bottle fed.

The Obers look like a nice breed....have never heard of them.  I like the description of their personality.  If the nubians are noisy that's OK.  I think my (what do you call human children here ) daughters would love that.  I had my heart set on a mini breed, but really I'm ok with a good quality, healthy, friendly pair of goats.


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## johnsons-r-us (Nov 9, 2011)

Queen Mum said:
			
		

> You can milk a mini, but you will not get enough really to do all the things you want to do.  One or two acres will be plenty for two goats.    Any goats really, if they are hand raised, i.e. bottle fed are usually really easy keepers.  If you have a mentor, I would go with whatever they recommend at this point.  However, the suggestion of a Nubian Dairy goat and a smaller breed is also a great one.  The Nubian can be your primary milker and she can be bred to a smaller breed and produce kids for your children to raise and care for.  The mini's are great for children to handle as first goats.
> 
> Nubians are a bigger breed.  And they are a little noisy.  Their milk is top quality, creamy and lovely for cheese, drinking and everything in between.
> 
> ...


LOVE that picture....goats in the tree   Are those yours?  I've seen chicken in trees....but goats??


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## Queen Mum (Nov 9, 2011)

The goats in the tree are Moroccan.  Although I had a Nubian who would climb trees to the very top like that.  Here is a video on YouTube with pictures of similar goats.  Caramel was her name.  She liked to climb on window sills, houses, trees, other goats...


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## johnsons-r-us (Nov 9, 2011)

Queen Mum said:
			
		

> The goats in the tree are Moroccan.  Although I had a Nubian who would climb trees to the very top like that.  Here is a video on YouTube with pictures of similar goats.  Caramel was her name.  She liked to climb on window sills, houses, trees, other goats...


  That's good!  I wonder if when my new nubians arrive will they prune my apple trees for me? 

Thanks for sharing that video.  Nobody believes it!


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## lilhill (Nov 9, 2011)

johnsons-r-us said:
			
		

> Queen Mum said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They will eat the trees up if you let them.


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## johnsons-r-us (Nov 9, 2011)

Ok, guess I have more reading to do......

Do I need to actually protect the trees from the goats?  We have a couple apple trees, pear trees, grapes vines.  Will any of it make them sick?

Nice info on your website lilhill


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## enolderman (Jan 27, 2012)

The Nubians sound great with the mentor and the quantity/quality of the milk.

We just got a few Nigerian Dwarfs cause they are less to feed since they are bit smaller. I have been reading that they are great for milking but they do give less milk but surprising for there size. Good luck sounds like a great endeavor with the grand-children and all. Thanks for sharing!


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## ThreeBoysChicks (Jan 27, 2012)

I have an alpine / boer cross doe and a Nubian doe.  While I always read that Nubian's were load, our Nina is very quite.  And while she was not bottle raised, soon after she got her, she was sleeping in my arms.  So I think you should definitely go with the breed that provides a mentor.  And enjoy them.  I love mine.

As for your apple tree, they do more than prune.  They will eat anything they can reach.


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## ragdollcatlady (Jan 30, 2012)

I vote for both! We only have those 2 breeds. 
   We got nigerians for milk goats, just haven't had babies yet.... After we had our first 2 nigis, we were offered a beautiful little nubian. Now we have 5 nigerians and one nubian. Our nubian is only loud when we go outside, but so are the nigerians....but only for myself and my son that feeds them. When they see everyone else, they'll holler for a sec just to see if they can get some attention or food and then go back to being quiet. Bambi (Baylees Nubian) is so sweet, She went to our towns Farm day to teach 3 thousand kids about dairy goats. One of our wethers is hopefully going to be our therapy goat because he's so mellow and will just stand there to be loved on. Bambi is only about half my sons weight, but when she would rather eat the trees or stay with the herd, its almost all he can do to keep her moving, with the nigerians, he just pics them up (to be honest, sometimes he cheats and just picks Bambi up too) but the smaller goats are easier to handle. Our nubian is a clown and the nigerians are just plain cute. And they're all the same amount of naughty, being goats and all  

























Good luck deciding, I'd probably go with the nubians myself though if I had the chance at a mentor....
Kat


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## lilhill (Jan 30, 2012)

johnsons-r-us said:
			
		

> Ok, guess I have more reading to do......
> 
> Do I need to actually protect the trees from the goats?  We have a couple apple trees, pear trees, grapes vines.  Will any of it make them sick?
> 
> Nice info on your website lilhill


You need to protect the trees only if you want to keep them alive.  They will strip the bark off of them.  On the trees we want to protect from these evil tree killing monsters, we just put a wire "fence" around them so they couldn't get to them.  Oh, yeah, thanks for the compliment.    I have never fed fruit to my animals so I can't tell you whether fruit will make them sick.


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## dwbonfire (Jan 30, 2012)

being new to goats myself i would love if someone close by would mentor me. theres so much to learn and its hard when your new to it all, thank goodness for BYH because i'd be up the creek many times without everyones help on here.
i would maybe go with 2 nubians and get the help in learning all kinds of stuff about them. you can always get a different breed down the road if you want to and by then you will have some good knowledge behind you. i think thats a great opportunity and i would take up on the offer. good luck with what you decide


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## marlowmanor (Jan 30, 2012)

johnsons-r-us said:
			
		

> Ok, guess I have more reading to do......
> 
> Do I need to actually protect the trees from the goats?  We have a couple apple trees, pear trees, grapes vines.  Will any of it make them sick?


I can tell you that apples and bananas are one of the favorite treats of our wethers. We have done oranges too, but only one will eat them. I think the three fruits you mentioned should be fine in moderation. They may cause runs if they eat too many at one time though, but that applies to any new food really.


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