So what's your favorite breed of goat ???

I started with your run of the mill unregistered pygmies when I was 10 years old. I started raising them when I was 11. I'm now almost 21, so that will be 10 years raising them this spring. )

I don't really have a favorite breed. I just have favorite individuals, really. I love my sassy alpines, my sneaky, sweet boers, and my silly miniatures. I rarely meet a goat I don't like (personality-wise at least) so I don't think I'll restrain myself to ONLY certain breeds except for the fact that it's easier to raise just one or two breeds (because I only need 1-2 bucks, lol)

I currently have 16 goats. I will have 15 this Wednesday, when a buyer comes to pick up one of the 'pygmy' doelings from this spring. I also have one more miniature doe that I will be butchering. I'm downsizing the miniatures to just 3 does and 2 bucks. I'm only keeping the does because they're my originals and I can't live without them. I figured might as well keep some unrelated bucks so they stay productive at least - even though unregistered pygmies aren't the most profitable. I usually don't have trouble selling bottle doelings for pets/breeding, and bucklings head into my freezer. After the does pass their breeding years, I'll butcher the bucks and continue to love my mini does till they pass away from old age. I'll miss them and always will love them, but it's time to go another direction. Thankfully, that likely won't be for several years yet. Maybe I'll get nigies to keep the tiny goats around... who knows.

I also have 5 boers and 2 French Alpines. I have to keep the diary herd very small for now because in a few years I'll be away at college and dad'll be around to do daily chores, so gotta keep it easy on them. Hopefully the dairies and the boers will be more profitable than the minis.

Pretty much the only things my goats don't do around here is fiber. I don't have time to take up crafting with fiber. Also, I've never seen a disease tested angora herd, so I'd likely never get started in them anyways.

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Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.

I'd have to pick the Oberhasli's, for looks and personalities, and LaManchas for dual purpose... Although, quite frankly, sometimes I get tired of their lack of ears... WHo bred them out of them, anyways? 'Taint natural.

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I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.

After years of research we chose Nigerians. Got my start 3+ years ago from a friend in our congregation. She has a few larger breeds as well, and after milking them when I was taking care of her place for her, I MUCH prefer the Nigerians.

Pros:
* avg 6-10% butterfat the highest of any of the dairy breeds. (Commercial half-n-half is 10%)
*You don't need a cream separator to make butter, just shake at half filled quart jar of room temperature whole milk.
* more cheese per lb of milk due to the high butter fat
* smaller size makes them easy to handle
* year round breeding is possible which means staggered breedings for year round milk supply.
* very people friendly - generally very safe for small kids to be around.
* easy on fences
* prone to having multiples (twins and triplets are more common than singles)
* less space/feed needed (generally 2 Niggies = 1 Nubian)
* easily transported in a large or xl dog kennel
* and while you don't milk color they do come in a wild variety of colors including eye colors.

Cons:
* If you don't purchase carefully you could end up with a pet quality doe instead of a milker with small teats and low production.
* They are so cute its hard not to end up with more goats than you intended - especially when they can get by with just a good solid dog house for shelter...

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

mine are i suppose saanens love britsh togg as well and of course the old english
my auntie kept goat in the south of england and i lived in london my parents spilt up and i spent a lot of time living with her in the end moving in full time

she had a steady flock of 4 goats, 2 toggs and 2 saanens ,we made cheese ect and i really enjoyed keeping them when we moved here 9 years ago after years of living in the city ,the first thing we did was set up for goats and went to see a herd ,no saasens ,
we get followed around by an old english
she was a cantakerous moo and was due to go to slaughter we brought her ,and so started my old english herd (they are not for everyone) very very intelligent ,which makes them hard to keep ,they are livestock here ,but we have a steady herd ,of 3 ,there are less than 100 in the country although numbers are rising again

Hmmm I have had the privledge of trying out a few of the breeds and have found that I prefer Saanen and Nubian's. Of course the 2 that I have, have great personalities so that might be a plus and neither spend every waking moment trying to figure out how to get out or over the fence. The nigi's and mini's I have aren't as friendly as I had expected them to be and are vertible escape artists. Inga my 4 yr nigi doe who was supposedly milked before throws a bigger tantrum then my Saanen Sugar did who had never been milked before.
I love Sugar's naa a aaa
and Pawnee's maaa ma
but Inga, Crystal, Piper and Scooter's naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa drives me nuts!

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My Niggies throw a fit for a day or two when they first freshen and then settle down. My son learned to navigate uneven ground holding on to the back of my herd queen. She was so gentle and patient with him, walking slowly and stopping if he lost his balance and waiting for him to pull himself back to his feet. If he was out in the pasture with me and cried for any reason she would come running to check on him. And I've never had one of mine escape - well other than the babies that can fit through the cattle panels but they never go far.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

I love my Alpines. They are tame, friendly and quiet (they don't scream at the gate). Sweet faced, large frame and have the conformation to last.They are not fussing eaters, good hay, grazing--yes mine graze- they have access to good hay and in summer choose the graze their small rotated pastures....A simple grain mix and they produced tons of milk. A bit bossy at the bunk, but what good milker isn't?



both were shown by the neighbor's sons in 4-H
Shilo age 6 2010 Senior Reserve Grand Champion


Anna age 4 2010 Reserve Grand Champion

Wags what a sweet doe you have!
Moorland can you post some pics of your Old English?

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Bob and Nancy Dickey
Laughing Stock Boer Goats
"Seriously Great Bloodlines"
and the meat goes on....
Near Seattle

Here is her thread that has her Old English goats in it.

hello

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Saanens. What else? LOL

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Camille
Copper Penny Ranch
Copper Penny Boer Goats (home of 4 National Champions, 4 Reserve Champions)
Copper Penny Pyrenees
Whey-to-Go Saanens


www.copper-penny-ranch.com

Whoa, that's a lot of questions!!

I don't think I have a favorite breed. I have favorite colors and personalities.

Alpine and Nubian, for the most part. Oberhasli comes in next, followed by Togg and Saanen. Munchies have wonderful personalities (so sweet) but I tend to prefer my goats with ACTUAL ears (although in Munchies, I prefer the gopher ears to elf ears - weird, huh?)...

I think that the fiber goats are really cool, but have zero interest in dealing with keeping one clean just for some fiber... (But who knows, the future is an interesting thing!)

Milk goats are obviously my breeds of choice, as I don't eat goat, so I don't need meaties or dualies. Every goat should be a good pet and brush eater! I've never had cart goats, but my mother had a lovely Togg cartgoat when she was younger... That could be an option! As well as packing... That looks fun too!

I currently own 0 goats, but in the past have had almost every breed there is! I do have an interest in Nigies, but feel like I can get the same cool colors in a goat that is larger, so although I could have 2 minis instead of 1 standard, I prefer the standards. More milk for less work, and they can't walk right through fences the way the minis can. Also less back strain because you don't have to deal with working bent over.

I took care of goats for a long time in 4-H, so when we moved out to the country, it just seemed natural to get some! Our first two goats were an Alpine and the Alpine's half-Nubian daughter. My first registered goat was a Munchie. Cost me $500. Most expensive purchase of my teenage life... other than my truck.

I'll see if I can remember all of the questions, LOL!

I have four goats, one buck and three does. We only have one acre, or I'd gladly have more, but that's enough to produce all of the milk we need. The buck and one of the does (Sky, born March of this year -- the buck was born on Valentine's Day and his name is Ring) are reg. Oberhasli. Sugar is two and half Ober and half Alpine. Sage is one and a half and she's 3/4 Oberhasli and 1/4 Alpine (Sugar is her mother -- I bred her back to her own father, then had to sell him because I didn't want to keep doing that). Actually, I'm not sorry that I bred Vic (my old buck) back to Sugar, because Sage is a really good milker for a yearling and has a very nice udder. But I didn't want to breed Vic to Sage for a third generation in-breeding. So I got a new buck.

I first got goats in 1983, and have had almost every breed except LaMancha, Pygmy, and Kiko. I like the Obers best, and plan to stick with them. I keep them for milk mostly, but we do put surplus bucks and culls in the freezer. My first goats were culls from someone else's herd -- I wasn't experienced enough at the time to know that. But I learned! These that I have now are very good quality, although I don't show. It's just satisfying to me to know that I have good animals, and they last longer if they have good conformation and good udders (and they are easier to milk).

What do I like about the Obers? I fell in love with the first Obers I saw, two doe kids about three months old. But it was years before I got any. Not sure why -- I guess just because I had my mind set on Nubians at the time. I like the way they look, with the red-bay coloring. I like their temperament -- they talk to me while I'm doing chores, but are pretty quiet the rest of the time. I like the milk quality; never had any off-taste from their milk (did have a little from the Togg does I once had, and some very minor from the Alpines and Saanan). I like that they are one of the favored breeds for goat packing -- I've packed a little with mine and hope to do some more this next summer. (Ring the buck will have to earn his keep, as I don't have room to keep any wethers.)

The only downside is that, since they aren't the most common breed out there, it can mean a long trip to get a new goat -- I have to periodically replace my buck in order to not inbreed too much. Other than that, they are pretty much my ideal goat.

Kathleen

Well I am finally posting pictures....... YAY !!!!!

Oh I love that last pic!

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I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I will have to get some Nigerian Dwarf goats soon.

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Living the good life in Kansas.

Horrible, just horrible, Kshobbit!!

*lol*

I do find the draw of "But I can have MORE cool colors on a smaller piece of property!" and "Ooh, BLUE EYES!!" somewhat loud in the back of my head.

Only time will tell!

There is a breeder of Myotonics around here too. I had no idea that the Myotonics came in the crazy variety of colors that Nigies do until I saw her website! I'm not sure how I would feel about Fainters on a homestead though...

Goat: "OMG, it's a coyote, everybody run!" *tips over*
Coyote: "Look everyone, pot luck!"

Silver, that was the main purpose of fainters, they were cheap and people bought them so they would faint, get eaten by whatever and the rest of the expensive herd took off to safety. They became something of a novelty which made them pricey. But if they get use to you, your place and etc they do not faint all that well. they still may stiffen up and walk dorky but not fall over into a "faint". I had one, she never fainted once she got use to us, was a nasty little thing to goat kids so I sold her, and was not sorry.

Fitwind I love that last picture. Since your daughter shows and etc I have to ask, they allow horns on the goats? They are a huge no-non here. They are either not allowed to have them period or they get disqualified for having them. I mean dairy, not Boer or Pygmy.

My favorite breed of goat is goat! lol I love my Nigies, Nubians, LaManchas and minis. There are some I like more than others and most are well behaved, but then again they are goats I like dairy and not meat, I get too attached, I have no time for fiber.

Of course everyone needs Niges and blue eyes make them twice as cute, lol.

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Well quite to the contrary I've seen the Myotonics pummel dogs just like any other goat. The advantage they have over diary goats is the sheer weight behind them when they decide to protect, their ability to forage and thrive, worm resistance, and easy kidding. There really is no comparison to dairy breeds, no more than you'd compare a boer or kiko to a dairy breed. As far as running, well that's silly to begin with. Goats by nature are not runners, they are sprinters, and tend to choppily run a bit then turn & face their threat if they aren't gaining. Other breeds fall prey to predators just as easily as a fainter.

Fainting can be a deciding factor but certainly not THE reason for them, they can put on some serious meat for slaughter purposes or the lighter pet quality animals are just as nice a pet as any other goat. As a matter of fact there was a study that proved one particular line of myotonics had a meat to bone ration of 4:1 vs a boer comparison of 3:1. Not too shabby for a breed that gets slammed on this list every time the name comes up.

Couple years ago a Myo buck killed a dog who was attacking. Do they faint? Course they do, if startled. Are they totally helpless? of course not. One of my does pummeled an lgd that got too close to her kids. She didn't stiffen up and fall over as many would believe from the stories, she took that pup on just as any other mother would have.

As with any breed you have individual personalities, strengths & weaknesses. We don't see many of the issues seen with the dairy goats as seen on the list, that's because those breeds have issues too.

Many a breed of goat has been posted to be mean & nasty, and as with any goat those are the ones culled.

Lets face it ALL breeds of goats are considered disposable & dispensible; why we have not the research and meds specifically developed for the species.

HF

"Fitwind I love that last picture. Since your daughter shows and etc I have to ask, they allow horns on the goats? They are a huge no-non here. They are either not allowed to have them period or they get disqualified for having them. I mean dairy, not Boer or Pygmy."


Thaiblue12, I believe that is a Unicorn Costume on that goat! hahahaha!
CUTE!

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LoL Cheribelle, I meant in picture 2 there is a white and black goat with horns and in picture 5 there is a young white and cream doe with a red collar and horns. Thank you for phrasing the unicorn thing in a nice way and not like
" Hello smarty it is a goat in a unicorn costume!" Even though it was not what I meant you said it in a nice way

I think if I tried to dress mine up they would tear it off each other or try to eat it. The most I have done is put a Santa hat on mine for holiday pictures. This year I am going to try to get a tiny one for a chicken and make it sit on a goat's back. We'll see how that goes He does not mind when chickens sit on him but the chicken might not like the Santa hat, lol.

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