Looking to expand

[Fish sticks]

 

[TAH]

What type of goats are you looking at getting Fish sticks?

 

[norseofcourse]

Welcome from Ohio! Are you looking to get goats for milk, or meat, or both, or just pets? Sheep are nice, too

 

[Fish sticks]

Milk is my main purpose because of my daughters allergy to cow milk and everything that happens to have milk in it. I've only just started looking at breeds and which produces the tastiest milk and enough to make ice-cream, cheeses and such. So far it seems like I'd want either a Nubian or la mancha (?). I've heard of Nubian before but nothing on temperament, health or anything just that it's a goat. Lol I'm definitely starting this journey with ZERO KNOWLEDGE about them. Hopefully I'm on the right track

 

[Latestarter]

I have my druthers, but really, the first thing you need to decide is HOW MUCH milk do you really want/need daily. A full sized dairy goat (2 of which breeds you listed) should provide a gallon or more per day at peak. Typically production will drop a bit over time and they are typically milked over an 8-10 month period, then re-bred to have kids and go back into production again.

The 2 breeds you listed normally only come into heat during the fall; say Sept-Jan. There are other smaller breeds that are breed-able year round, which kinda helps to keep the milk flowing year round... but they don't produce as much milk (but don't cost as much to feed and maintain either). You've kinda opened a bit of a can of worms as to "best breed" as everyone seems to have favorites But if you spend some time browsing the various threads here, you'll be able to make a better determination as to what will work best for you

And don't be afraid to ask questions! You'll glean all kinds of great info from the answers! Oh, and there isn't always one "correct" answer either, just to keep things a bit more interesting.

 

[Fish sticks]

Smaller would be great, less intimidating to my city slicker children! I was going with those because of what some other site said the milk tastes like. Thinking back it was a silly way to go about it, but now I'm here so I'll have much better advice and information on hand.

 

[TAH]

Here are some websites that might help.
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/how-to-raise-nubian-goats-for-milk-3/
http://thefreerangelife.com/best-dairy-goat-breeds/

 

[Latestarter]

Well, There are a few on here with multiple breeds. The first that come to mind are @Southern by choice and her partner @Goat Whisperer who own Lamanchas, Nubian, Nigerian Dwarf, Alpine, and minis of the afore mentioned breeds (full sized doe bred to Nigie buck). @babsbag has Alpine crossed with I believe boer... But has also had other breeds. We have a new member who is milking NDs and Oberhaslis (which many claim to have a stronger/goatie taste but he says not so). and there are many threads on here dealing with which breed is best...

 

[WingAcres]

I started out with 6 chickens in the city until we put them out morning a little to early and a evil little raccoon had to make him self lunch. He only ate 1 and killed 4. After that we moved to 2 1/2 acres. I did a lot of research on chickens and we got 8, Then my chicken math started. We went from 8-74, That is when chickens get annoying. Then we got 3 ducks. I love ducks. Then we got cats. But we had always wanted a dog so there our search went. We went to pounds shelters we searched CL and nothing. So out of no where our friends called and asked if we wanted there 5 month old Pit-bull Blue Heeler Lab mix, We said yes. So then Boaz joined our farm. I still wanted a bigger animal than chickens, ducks cats and a dog. We went and got our to first goats Naomi and Hawk. Then we got 2 hair sheep. Then Tasty came and joined our farm. Our farm name is Tasty Acres Homestead. He is the mascot of the farm. He is the goat that will never be tasted. Next we got 12 rabbits that didn't go very well. We Then traded our sheep for a purebred supposedly registered Oberhasli billy. He was not registered. His name is Leader. But my goat math just keeps getting bigger. Then we got Stella and Sophie as a pair. We just welcomed a mom and her baby to the herd. They are purebred Alpines, We have to sell the baby tho. We butchered Hawk. We plan on adding a few LGD to our farm when we move.

I thought we got chicken math going from 6 to 21 but 74, that's really addictive chicken math lol can't say we won't end up there too though haha

 

[TAH]

can't say we won't end up there too though haha

Oh you will. We thought the most we were going to have was 50 LOL. I really enjoyed doing chickens and can't wait to get back to it.