what breed/s for me?!

[foxywench]

ok so heres the goal.

im planning on buying 2 1/2-5 acres in tn at somepoint in the next 12 months...
on that land im planning on becomming a little more self sufficient.

im a HUGE milk drinker and dont want a cow...
and i do like goat meat...once in a while...
which led me to thinking...hey why not get goats.

ive worked with goats in the past, alpines, nubians and pygmy...but not enough to consider myself a "expert"
so figure hey, i should start looking, planning and learning NOW.

so

in isle 1:
im looking for a good dairy goat, something generally good natured, and a good milker.
i drink about a gallon a week just me...
i also like goats milk icecream...
goats milk cheese is also popular with myself, friends and family...
and would love to be able to produce some goats milk soaps for me, friends and family and mabe to supliment income to cover their food...
im not talking production run sized batches of course...

i love the look of nubians and nigerians...
ive heard good things about mini nubians from nigerian (not pigmy) breedings.
ive also heard good things about lamanchas...though im not sure about the lack of ears lol.
im thinking either 3 larger dairy does or 5 mini nubians or nigerians.
im not opposed to a mixed herd either...does this sound like it would give enough milk to take care of 1-2 adults dairy needs.

in isle 2:
im looking for the occasioanl meat goat. i eat goats meat infrequently but having the option of sending a couple off to slaughter for meat is definatly something im considering, especially with that whole, trying to be a little more self sufficient.

now i like boers, and was thinking a trio (2 females 1 male) of boers, with the idea of slaughter 1 or 2 kids at market weight (which is usually about what age) and then selling any remainding to others who want their own of for their own personal slaughter ect.
but ive also heard some good things about boer mixes.
as i said, we eat goat meet irregularly now, potentially more frequently if were raising our own...but still...ive NEVER delt with meat goats and am having trouble finding "meat goats for dummies" lol.

in isle 3:
the pygora...
im inlove! i currently have 2 angora rabbit does whome i pluck and spin...of course it takes a long time to get enoguh fiber...and id love a pair of pygora goats.
whats folks experience with them?

now, the other issue would be housing them.
of course i wouldnt want my dairy does housed with a male for sake of keeping the milk clear...
would a single dairy buck be ok living in a bachelor pad or should i give him a castraited male buddy to live with?

and for the fiber and meat goats, can a male be kept with the females year round (assuming hes not a bully)? as i wouldnt have to worry about tainiting the milk in meat or fiber goats.

sory for the long post...
theres ALOT of info out there, but hearing peoples one on one thoughts is definalty easier for me to decipher.

these goats would be sharing a small "farm" with dogs, rabbits, chickens, turkey, geese and a couple of orchard pigs.

i plan on doing as much with a smallish plot as possible while still givign everyone and everything the growing space it needs which is what drew my sight to nigerians and mini nubians.

 

[no nonsense]

There's a lot of questions there for one post, but here goes.

It sounds like you'll use a lot of milk. Don't waste your time with Nigerian Dwarfs. They give too little milk, some of them have teats which are too small to milk quickly and easily, and, you'll only use slightly less room, feed and pasture for them than a normal sized dairy goat. They are very inefficient. Their only benefit is that they are a fad. Add mini or dwarf to a name, and everyone thinks that they want it. Same with so-called mini-Nubians. Waste of time and money. They're mutts. Nubians are load and obnoxious. You really want Alpines or Saanens. Many varieties of Alpine are just plain ugly, or look like mutts, and they can be flighty. You can't beat Saanens for milk quantity and dairy character, generally. LaManchas are very nice overall. You'll get over the ears in no time, and learn to love them. Milking ability is genetic, and is governed by management. You may find an excellent milking LaMancha, or a poor milking Saanen. Feed either one poorly, and they'll both milk badly.

It's generally not economically efficient to keep one buck for only two does. I suggest using a Boer buck on your dairy does, and putting the kids in the freezer every year. They won't grow as qucikly or efficiently as pure Boers, but they'll be better than dairy kids. You'll be producing extra kids one way or another. Might as well make them somewhat useful rather than completely useless. You could always breed your does to a pure dairy buck every three or four years, if you want to keep a replacement doe.

Pygora, again, don't waste your time on mutts. Their fleece quality is all over the place. I should say that fleece quality when referring to a pygora is an oxymoron. If you want fleece, get a pure Angora. They're cute too, and really not that much larger than those pygmy mixes.

 

[Roll farms]

Our Boer x dairy kids out-grow our pure dairy kids consistently (that's w/out dumping extra feed down them).
Breeding a boer buck to your dairy does would make fast-growing meaty kids in no time...and I milk some of our Boer x Nub does. They don't produce as long as pure dairy, but they do produce well for a while.
I have a Kiko x Boer doe who puts out a gallon a day.

Not all Nubians are loud idiots...the idiots don't get bred here, they get sold....in your case, they could be eaten.

I can't take LaManchas...they look like goat x praying mantis to me. Ugly. *shudder*
Alpines are the loud obnoxious breed I can't abide...escape artists, screamers, just all around not worth the effort.

Our Oberhasli produce more than our Nubs, and are quite smart, ladylike, and quiet...just all around perfect goats, IMHO.
Second to Nubians. Saanens are ok, but I like variety...with the other breeds I get that.

We have Toggs as well, b/c my husband wanted them and when he's happy he helps out more ...but I don't care for them. Milk's not as sweet and they're also loud.

There's my 2 cents worth....

 

[foxywench]

see this is the exact kind of information i need
thanks so much guys, im gonna look into the breeds suggested so far.

you knwo, for some reason i didnt even consider mixing a boer with dairy...thats a perfect way of having meat without having to have a seperate meat heard.

now in terms of keeping a boer buck, of course i still would have the issue with a male "tainting" the milk, would i have to keep him alone when the does arnt breeding time and are in milk...i know goats are social and id feel bad keeping a social animal alone...
but ive also tasted milk from a heard kept with a buck and milk form an all girl group and the group with the buck definatly had a mildly musty flavor to it...
from the no buck group it was pure and sweet and just lovely! (same breed girls.)

ive loved the nubians i have worked with, but they had a very strict "culling" process, any goats that proved "trouble makers" were quickly sold on because it was a very small farm (a homestead on an acre) and they didnt have room or time for loud or obnoxious animals
ill definatly be looking into the other breeds too.

again thanks and if theres more thoughts, definatly keep them comming.

 

[Roll farms]

We keep multiple bucks together, to keep them happy, but I know others w/ small herds (and only one buck) who keep a wether w/ their buck...*or* you could rotate your breedings so that one doe can always be w/ him as a buddy.