Goats? Sheep? Both?

[kroberts]

Beekissed, you beat me to it. I was just coming over to correct myself. I was doing some more reading yesterday on Icelandics and they are, indeed, a wool breed. I'm not sure what I had in my mind, but I was a bit off.

Freemotion, we really love cheese and yogurt so I am excited to begin that whole process. (my son is the ultimate cheese-head; he could live on cheese and be a happy camper) You have a good idea about only having a few dairy does with the rest being for meat. I think that would be a more logical balance.

That said, I was reading more on meat goats and found someplace that many farmers will raise a Boer-Nubian cross because Nubians are good for meat as well. So that was my gameplan. Do you think it would be better to have mostly Boers with just a few Nubians for milk?

I was also reading that Icelandics have excellent milk for yogurt. It said it is naturally sweet so no sweeteners are needed for a thick dessert yogurt. Sounds yummy to me.

So, the down side of all of this is the time it will take to build a herd (or herds). I don't have the funds to purchase numerous animals at once, so I will have to build it up gradually. That's probably better though. It will give me time to learn what I need to know about everything. But I am not the most patient person so waiting will be hard on me.

I'm so glad I found this forum so I could discuss this with all of you. You have all been so helpful. I appreciate your input.

 

[freemotion]

You could buy a couple of bred Nubians this fall, second or third fresheners, and keep a couple of doelings if you get them. That would give you two experienced does and maybe a couple more to raise up. Maybe a buckling to keep if you want to cross your Boers.

But I would think that if you want to produce the heaviest meat goats, you would not want to breed them to a dairy animal. It will reduce their market weight. If you want to build a meat herd, get meat-type goats to breed.

You could start with a few bred Boers, too, and then buy an unrelated buckling the following spring to breed everyone with the following fall. Your herd could double every year until you figure out how many you want to keep.