Newbie help to compare breeds please

[lilhill]

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!

They will eat the trees up if you let them.

 

[johnsons-r-us]

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

 

[enolderman]

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!

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

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.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

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

 

[lilhill]

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.

 

[dwbonfire]

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

 

[marlowmanor]

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.