Most hardy, easy keeping dairy breed

Frosted Mini's · #61 09/26/13, 09:22 PM

I believe Nigerians thrive in ALL climates, as far as I can tell.

They grow THICK shaggy coats in the winter, and are even pretty shaggy in the summer sometimes. The kids are up ready to nurse almost instantly (it is incredible to watch, really!). They come out "flailing". My Nigerians have wintered better than my alpines, even. And in the very hottest part of summer, I have had their production increase when the other goats decreased production. If I look in the pasture at any given moment, the goats that are eating pasture are Nigerians. Alpines would prefer to sit around like little princesses being fed hay for the most part. They do eat pasture, just not as enthusiastically.

saanengirl · #62 09/27/13, 03:28 PM

All breeds need good management. Some can thrive on less attention than others. Someone mentioned the Guernsey earlier. In general they are more efficient than other standard breeds. I wouldn't expect a milker to live on forage only, but they require less protein and less feed in general than my Saanens. Since they are new to the U.S. they are a bit more susceptible to the clostridial diseases than my Saanens, but I suspect that as we continue to breed them here they will develop resistance.

Regarding heat tolerance of Swiss breeds: Saanens and Alpines actually perform quite well in tropical areas.

wintrrwolf · #63 09/29/13, 09:29 AM

WOW had to do some reading to catch up on this thread! So there ya have it I told ya it was a loaded question.
Anywhooo I will reply with my experience and opinion...
I have had saanen (tons of milk), kinder (milked out more then my nigi's but was a pain) purebred nigi's from good stock (not enough milk) mini saanen (still not enough milk) nubians (good milk)
This year has been harsh for the first time I have had to deworm several times and that was across the board for all goats I have had here...
My nigi's and mini's fought harder to eat as much if not more then my nubian's and still gave me less milk then my nubian's.
Dairy breeds will not EVER look like meat breed and they shouldn't.
My nubians well I love em and I have some pretty decent healthy stock some of them I had to travel a fair distance for but it was worth it.
Will be selling my last mini baby have person already for her and that will be it. I prefer standard size IN MY OPINION I can keep fewer and get more milk, under normal circumstances I have had to do VERY little to maintain and keep my goats.
So you have your area, you see what sells best, and then you buy the best, the rest is management....

Pony · #64 09/29/13, 12:07 PM

Just for the record: My Nubians did very well in windy, cold NW MO, and their large noses didn't have a blessed thing to do with it.

Herd management (making sure those hay-burnin' bellies were filled with the right stuff, providing appropriate shelter and bedding, etc) had everything to do with it.

And Nubians crossed with Saanens is a good combination that's hard to beat.

But, as noted by Wintrrwolf, "you have your area, you see what sells best, then you buy the best, the rest is management..."

Of course, it doesn't hurt if you like the looks and attitude of your chosen breed.

Backfourty,MI. · #65 09/29/13, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chamoisee

Nubians (and keep in mind this is from the perspective of "hardiness" entailing not only disease resistance and vigor, but also cold tolerance, and that I'm only an hour south of the Canadian border): they aren't hardy. They are cute, they are emotionally needy, they have endearing long floppy ears and come in lots of colors, and they have nice creamy milk and the male kids fatten up nicely, but hardy, they are not, sorry. Those big roman noses which dissipate excess heat so effectively in hot climates, get nose colds in a climate like mine, and then they sling snot all over the barn. Those long appealing ears get frostbitten on the tips if they kid in February. Nubians are a lot of wonderful things, but they are not a breed I'd recommend for the northern states unless you want to coddle them (heat lamps for kids, beign present at every idding in cold weather because they kids will die or get frostbitten otherwise, etc). They are excellent for areas with warm weather as this is what they are bred for and adpated to.

I disagree, we live in Northern Michigan & our winters get pretty cold, maybe not as long as yours but still darned cold & we raise mini nubians. They have long floppy ears & roman noses & I've not had a problem with them being hard keepers in the winter or summer here. Even when I had a couple standard nubians I didn't notice them being harder to keep in the winter.

I've never had a goat, kid or otherwise get frost bitten ears or sling snot anywhere's! And I never use heat lamps!
BUT I do pick my breeding times & don't have kids born here in the middle of Winter, But when we raised nigerians I never had them kid in the middle of winter either.

southerngurl · #66 09/29/13, 09:50 PM

I'd say if you're going strictly standards, lamancha. Otherwise probably mini lamancha. They are efficient little boogers from all I've heard (never had minis here), just try to watch out for teat size with the small goats.

chamoisee · #67 09/29/13, 10:01 PM

Well, mileage varies. I am only speaking from my own experience. It isn't ideal to have a doe kid out on ice or in a cold driving rain or in the snow but I have had it happen, and they did OK. Definitely not a goal, but it was nice to know that they'd live through it. I breed them as soon as possible in the fall....because it is imperative, due to financial constraints, that any doelings born be old enough to breed their first fall. If they're born in April or May, they usually aren't big enough to breed that year and then I have to either sell them or pay for an entire extra year's worth of feed before seeing if their udders will make the cut. We all have different goals, priorities, etc to factor into our breed choices and breeding programs, and these were some of mine.

So. They were born in a drafty, 3 sided barn in February or March, maybe April, dam raised with just enough grain to make them tame, bred around October to kid as yearling milkers in the same sort of weather they were born in, pasture only during the growing season with limited grain (2-3 lbs per doe) and they still milked really well, some of them peaked near 16 lbs per day, and they milked into the fall and early winter, too. Hay was given only when pasture wasn't growing anymore. There might be animals that could outdo them, but these have done so well for me that I don't see any reason to look further.