What is your "favorite" large breed of dairy goat?

[greenfamilyfarms]

We went to the NC State Fair yesterday and I really lit the fire under my husband when we walked through the dairy goat barn. We met a nice lady who was milking a LaMancha doe and my husband really has an interest in getting a couple of dairy goats... he even said, "Let's sell your Boers and get milk goats." Umm, not ready for that quite yet, but we need your input on which breed you favor. I never would have thought he would have liked the looks of the LaManchas since they don't have ears, but he says they have a humble face.

1. Alpine
2. LaMancha
3. Nubian
4. Oberhasli
5. Saanen
6. Toggenburg

 

[Roll farms]

You could always get a few Nubian does, cross them to your boer buck, have the milk and make nice "market" kids....Nubians cross 'best' to Boers since they have a lot of the same characteristics. Just get 'old school' Nubs, the bigger, taller, less "dairy character"...not the fancy, skinny, new-style ones.

Oberhalsi are probably my 'favorite' because they're smart, polite, and not LOUD. Lots of good milk.
Wouldn't be a good boer cross, though, IMHO....too fine-boned and wouldn't 'improve' anything....(The boer wouldn't help udders, the Ob wouldn't increase height / frame for meat.)

Alpines and Toggs and Nubians are all loud....Saanens are pretty polite (some say boringly so) and make lots of milk....but I'd be bored to tears w/ nothing but all white goats.

I can't get past the 'no ears' w/ LaManchas but I have a friend who breeds them and adores them. She bought a Boer buckling off me to breed them to. This'll be the first year for kids.

Toggs make nice BIG crosses when mixed w/ Boers....but man are they ugly kids.
I prefer not to cross Boer to the short eared breeds, I dislike airplane ears and light-colored heads.

In order, my favorites....Ob, Nub, Saanen, Togg, LaMancha, Alpine.

(I've never met an Alpine I 'liked'....and the crossbred Alpines I've met were all nuts, certifiably so.)

 

[lilroo]

well I grew up with Nubians, Alpines and sannans. Nubians have a nice rich milk and they are great milkers for volume Alpines milk is less fat and sannans are quieter and have good milk volume but the milk is not as fat as nubians, which is about 6%. It depends on what you want to do with the milk or you just want a good milker and meat animal. I'm trying my hand with Kinders which are supposed to be the best of both. I'm only wanting the milk and the smaller animal that does'nt eat huge like the bigger breeds.. SO...

 

[mabeane]

Nubians....such personality!

 

[poorboys]

Nubians for sure, but they can get mouthy, love their personalitys !!!!!! next would be the boer cross nubies.

 

[MidnightChickenLover]

I love my Saanens! They are very personable, quiet, and are very calm. They have great milking attributes and very well. I have larger ones than at our county fair though, but everyone stops by and pets them. They are such sweet hearts. We cross them with Boers and they usually are wonderfull crosses. They gain weight almost at the same rate as boers for the fist few months, then they start adding lenght and height. We usually have kids around March, and show in August and they are around 75lbs. Even though they are usually born with an off white color, we also have had an all brown (even though the bucks head was black), roans, and light brown spots. They have charming friendly personalities and are very healthy. It's fun watching their ears bob up and down

 

[freemotion]

Don't discount La Manchas based on their ears alone. I ended up, due to poor planning, with a La Mancha buck last fall and the resulting doelings are the sweetest things ever! The buck was a sweetheart and still is. I sold him to a family with small children and at a year and a half old, during rut, he is trustworthy around the little children.

My new little Alpine buckling, although adorable, is not safe around anyone, as a youngster not even quite six months old and in a raging rut.

My Alpine doe "puts it in the bucket!" My Nubian cross is LOUD and so is her daughter, who is also part Boer, Alpine, and half La Mancha.....only 25% Nubian and she has a mouth on her.

Still, it is more important to look at the individuals and what you want.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

la manchas all the way.. i cant stand a screaming goat so no way on the nubies for me.

my lamancha and minimancha are nice and quiet....and really really good milkers, laid back, easy to be around. but they do look kinda funny

;-)

 

[Heavenly Springs Farm]

I love my Nubians. They are great goats.

 

[TheMixedBag]

I've got a Nubian, Saanen and Alpine right now, and my favorite is still probably the Saanen. She's not all that quiet, but she's patient, sweet and easy to work with. She also put almost a gallon in the pail for me as a FF.

My alpine buck's a sweetheart, too. Even in full rut, he's been wanting nothing more than to rub up on me and get his ears scratched. He's still got his little kid yell, so he's not really loud, but he yells a lot, especially when he first sees you. He's also scheduled to breed a herd of boer does, since Alpines are supposed to cross nicely to boers (and they always throw paints, and they don't *always* throw the funny half and half ears...)

The nubian....well, she sounds a lot more like a goose than a goat, and she yells ALL the time. She can be stubborn, but she's very sweet, and I can eventually convince her the milking stand isn't going to eat her...

I did have a LaMancha before, he was obsessed with sitting in my lap, but he was very easy to work with, but I noticed he didn't grow as fast as Saanens did, and if I'm not wrong, LaManchas never get to be as big as other dairy breeds.