Meat vs. Dairy?

[ChickenPotPie]

Will you tell me the differences you see in raising/keeping meat goats vs. dairy goats? I'm thinking it might be nice to keep a meat goat but I'm just thinking about it. It'd like to hear comparisons and pros and cons.

 

[freemotion]

Really, the bottom line is....what do you want in the end, meat or milk? If it is one or the other, the answer is clear. If you want both, you can breed dairy does to bigger meaty bucks, or raise bigger bodied dairy goats like Nubians, or tolerate a smaller amount of meat and just eat the dairy offspring. This is what we did when I was a kid....the dairy offspring (after keeping/selling doelings) would be wethered and raised on pasture until about November and then into the freezer they went, basically no cost involved.

Not sure exactly what you are asking, so if this didn't answer it, can you clarify the question?

 

[ksalvagno]

Goats are goats. You would raise them basically the same way. The only difference is if you would milk or not. You can milk meat goats but lactation is not as long.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Thank you for your response, freemotion. I hadn't thought much about using the dairy goats as both a meat and milk source. My brother's family does that. Smart, practical.

Since my son decided to sell his dairy goat herd, I'm thinking we'll need something to keep the grass in the orchard down. Whatever we choose should give back in some other way, too, in order to justify vet care it will need (and hay during the dry season). I'm not looking for meat or milk. I'm just considering options and wanted to get opinions from others.

I guess I was thinking specifically about Boar goats vs. dairy goats (we have Toggs). Sure, they're both goats but they might be different in many ways. For example, we have chickens. You might think chickens are chickens but our multipurpose chickens are definitely farmyard birds - very dependent on us, leave destruction in their wake (you should see my flower bed), and seem dumb as posts in comparison to our other flock (Sumatras) who I liken more to natives - with keen survival skills (they're excellent foragers and don't eat smack in the middle of open space waiting for a hawk to pick them up) and they barely leave a footprint in their environment. We barely have to look after the Sumatras and they're gorgeous lawn ornaments that lay pretty, pinkish eggs. Their eggs are smaller but I've come to prefer this "ornamental" fowl to multi-purpose or even layer breeds.

So, I'm looking to find out what people like or dislike about keeping Boars and dairy goats. What are the specific benefits or concerns? Health concerns may be different. General temperaments might be different. Dairy goats a LOT of time being cared for/fed/worked w/for milk (twice a day like clockwork), while meat goats *might* just need to be put out to pasture until it's time for harvesting the meat. Do dairy goaters feel tied down w/their milking responsibilities? Do Boar keepers feel tied down for other reasons?

I'm looking for all sorts of comparisons and insights from both meat goat and milk goat keepers. I'm sure someone will bring something up I hadn't thought of.

 

[DKRabbitry]

In my opinion and young/newbie/inexperience eye....

No matter what type of goat you get, how YOU choose to manage them is really the determining factor. You can have the most wonderful dairy goats in the world, but if you are not interested in milking/showing and you just keep them out on pasture and let them dam raise their kids and just vaccinate/worm when needed, then you are not any more or less tied down then if you had a meat herd that you were managing in the same way. So, if dairy goats sell well in your area and you don't care to milk, just breed them and sell the kids. There would be your kickback for feeding & taking care of them. Same goes for meat goats.

ALSO, if you really want to look into it and put as little maintenance as possible into it, check into different bloodlines. I have one doe that is just GORGEOUS. She is a lamancha, but she isn't very friendly. So... I catch her ever couple of months to give her a once over, then let her go about her business. She is hardy and happy just being there, so I don't worry about it. She will be bred this fall, and I will be doing whatever I decide to do with her kids, but unless she has a change of heart and all the sudden decides she likes people, I don't think I will bother milking her. I get plenty of milk from my other girls, but she is still worth keeping because of her hardiness, bloodlines and conformation (just breed her to a friendly buck). I have some other goats, still Lamanchas but from different bloodlines, that just need more attention. They are not as easy of keeper, more likely to get ill/parasites, and just weaker genetically. Breed also can play a factor here in terms of saaaaay Kikos are going to be just a little bit easier keep with very little maintenance, but if you like the friendly factor you may want to look elsewhere.

I do use my lamanchas for both meat and milk as well. I DO plan on doing some crosses to boers eventually, but right now, I am just using the purebreds for both and it is working out good enough for what my family needs. Okay, I feel like I am just blathering on and I really need to do chores... hope I at least got some more wheels turning LOL

 

[Hickoryneck]

I have a small dairy goat herd and have been thinking it would be nice to add a Boer doe to cross to my dairy buck her kids would be bigger then the dairy kids so we could use them for meat. She would be my only meat doe and would hopefully provide us with 2 kids a year.

 

[kstaven]

Thank you for your response, freemotion. I hadn't thought much about using the dairy goats as both a meat and milk source. My brother's family does that. Smart, practical.

Since my son decided to sell his dairy goat herd, I'm thinking we'll need something to keep the grass in the orchard down. Whatever we choose should give back in some other way, too, in order to justify vet care it will need (and hay during the dry season). I'm not looking for meat or milk. I'm just considering options and wanted to get opinions from others.

I guess I was thinking specifically about Boar goats vs. dairy goats (we have Toggs). Sure, they're both goats but they might be different in many ways. For example, we have chickens. You might think chickens are chickens but our multipurpose chickens are definitely farmyard birds - very dependent on us, leave destruction in their wake (you should see my flower bed), and seem dumb as posts in comparison to our other flock (Sumatras) who I liken more to natives - with keen survival skills (they're excellent foragers and don't eat smack in the middle of open space waiting for a hawk to pick them up) and they barely leave a footprint in their environment. We barely have to look after the Sumatras and they're gorgeous lawn ornaments that lay pretty, pinkish eggs. Their eggs are smaller but I've come to prefer this "ornamental" fowl to multi-purpose or even layer breeds.

So, I'm looking to find out what people like or dislike about keeping Boars and dairy goats. What are the specific benefits or concerns? Health concerns may be different. General temperaments might be different. Dairy goats a LOT of time being cared for/fed/worked w/for milk (twice a day like clockwork), while meat goats *might* just need to be put out to pasture until it's time for harvesting the meat. Do dairy goaters feel tied down w/their milking responsibilities? Do Boar keepers feel tied down for other reasons?

I'm looking for all sorts of comparisons and insights from both meat goat and milk goat keepers. I'm sure someone will bring something up I hadn't thought of.

If your primary purpose is lawn mowing the sheep may be a better answer. haired breeds are less maintenance and the young can be sold for meat. In many areas they will fetch $2.00 per pound live weight. Sheep typically don't do the damage to fruit trees that goats can.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I'll second sheep for mowing. Sheep will prefer to eat your grass, goats will prefer to eat your trees. Probably not what your looking for in an orchard.

My goats have clipped the paddock shade trees high enough I can walk under them. No way they are getting near my orchard. I'm actually deciding between geese (noisy but pretty) or Muscovy ducks (less pretty but silent) for my orchard and will probably go with the ducks because the orchard is next to the house.

 

[Roll farms]

Almost every tree in the front of our pasture has been killed / skirted by the goats over the last 15 - 20 years. So, as the others said....if you care about those trees in your orchard, get sheep.

I prefer goat personalities to sheep but if you're just going to turn them loose to mow, that doesn't matter.

As far as goat personalities, unless they're handled a lot, boers are pretty stand-offish (compared to dairy goats) and Kikos are downright indifferent. A feed bucket changes that, of course. If you decide to go for goats and don't want much maintenance, I'd get kikos. They really do make better mothers, and there's less hoof-trimming, deworming, etc.

I *hate* chasing down goats, I won't buy any more that are 'wild'...(she says....again....until she sees another one and falls in love...and says it...again.... )

 

[kstaven]

But the wild ones have so much more character, aren't as boring, etc...