What is the best goat breed for a small homestead?

[Latestarter]

Any cholesterol you get from goat's milk is by definition the GOOD cholesterol! I have that on good authority

Edit to add, forgive my poor manners... Greetings and welcome to BYH @June2012 ! Glad you could join us and hope you'll jump in on some of the threads. There's a real good group of folks here!

 

[June2012]

@Latestarter Seriously?! Is that only from goat's milk or in general? To what I know, drinking whole cow's milk is bad for your cholestrol... Really cruious right now!! XD

Thank you for your warm welcome. I definitely appreciate this.

 

[samssimonsays]

Welcome! I know many people who have Nigerians. I had originally wanted them but I visited a farm of someone local and the personality of her full sized goats, mostly Alpine, some Saanan, some boer and some crosses, won my heart over. So, I now have a Saanan/Nubian doe and an alpine doe. THey really don't take that much space and we let them outside of the fence when we are home to graze. The pen can be as big or as small depending on how much hay and grain you want to feed. The more foliage they have access to, the less you need to feed store bought feeds. This saves on cost of feeding them. We have found a smaller pen for us works but we have the time to let them out to graze on our property while we are home so they are still getting access to all of what they could even with a bigger pen. I suggest possibly even a mini mancha (Not sure if that is the correct name but they are a Lamancha dairy goat crossed with a Nigerian and they produce some awesome milk). I honestly think if a full sized goat isn't for you to go with a dwarf/full sized cross as you will get more milk for it. The lady my Alpine came from actually has outstanding bone and size in her herd and she brings they wethers to market and keeps some for herself as well. SHe has said they are not as meaty as the boer but you aren't getting that much less where it is an issue.

I am very new to all of this and only going off of what I have been advised and told so please take what I say with that in mind ha ha. But good luck on your new adventure with goats! You will not regret it. Oh, one final thing. I was able to go and visit farms in my area with goats and meet them and see which ones were a fit for me. They are very much like dogs where each breed has their own unique quirks and personality traits.

 

[Latestarter]

Seriously?! Is that only from goat's milk or in general? To what I know, drinking whole cow's milk is bad for your cholestrol... Really cruious right now!! XD

Thank you for your warm welcome. I definitely appreciate this.

I was (half heartedly) joking! IMHO, from study/investigation/logic:

There are those who want you to believe cows milk is "bad" for you (in general). In fact studies have proven this not to be the case. There are others who say raw cows milk is dangerous. It has been proven that this can be the case if the milk is improperly cared for/handled (un-clean environment) but in fact has many MORE benefits and is actually better for you than store bought pasteurized/homogenized milk. The minute amount of cholesterol in milk and saying it can/will harm you is to me laughable... Dangerous at what level? if you drink 500 gallons a day for 15 years? Seriously.... come on.

Goat milk has different proteins than cows milk has, cows milk can lead to lactose intolerance or even milk allergies. Most lactose intolerant folks and many folks with milk allergies CAN drink goats milk with no issues. Some folks say goats milk is nasty (wonder how many have actually tried it twice?). Most folks with experience will tell you that does have some to do with the breed of goat, but mostly happens based on what the goats have been eating (same thing happens with cows), and how the milk was handled. If the goats udder is cleaned before milking, the milk is handled in a sanitary manner and the milk is cooled ASAP after milking, it's as good or better than cows milk.

Different breeds of goat have different levels of milk fat (cream) as well. The more cream, the "richer" the flavor of the milk! One of the highest milk fat breeds is the Nigerian Dwarf. I've personally never read or heard anyone say they preferred the goats milk with LESS cream... Go figure?

Anyway, there's a wealth of "stuff" on the internet you can read and make your own decision.