I can't believe we are going to own goats!

[DownHome]

Tonight we are going over to pick out our first does. She has Oberhaslis, Alpines, and Nubians I think. I really like the looks of the Obers. I absolutely loved the temperment of all of her goats. We will be doing a taste test and watch them on the stand.

Do any of these breeds have advantages or disadvantages to them?

[pookshollow]

And the adventure begins!

I have no experience with Oberhaslis, so I can't help you there. Nubians can be noisy - my 3/4 Nubian is quite the drama queen at times! She isn't the world's greatest milker, but then I bought her as a kid from a breeder who doesn't milk his goats. She does raise very nice, well-muscled babies and she's a great mother.

My grade Alpine is a FF and I'm very pleased with her milking capacity. Not the world's greatest mother though - she rejected her doeling and didn't even complain when I weaned her buckling. In her defense, she was a bottle baby herself. I've been told that they can be mean to other goats, but not as mean as one of my Nigerians!

Pick the ones you like the look of - you'll be looking at them for a long, long time, I hope. I'm sure the people who are selling will be able to give you an idea of the best goats, personality-wise, for you.

[Gailann Schrader]

I miss my Obes. You will like them. Beautiful goats...

My property didn't like them. Or at least the blood lines I tried to raise.

[Sweet Goats]

congratulations down Home. you should post pictures after you get them. Like it has been said before. "they are like Potato chips, You can't have just two".

[Emilea]

aww i like obies... the are so pretty.. i have alpines and i love them... they wanted me to hold them in my lap while i bottle fed them... they are older now and they still like to jump on my lap and be held !!! and my nubs are rotten!! they argue alot.. i love watching them and their ears!! my son cries to them and he thinks its cool because the nubs are the only ones who call back... ( he calls it a secret ear lang)

[Feral Nature]

Congrats, I hope we will be seeing you around here alot! With some pics!

I have LaManchas and MiniManchas now for dairy goats, but have had Nubians and Alpines. I have never had Obies....but have seen them at shows ant think they are beauties.

I love the way Nubians look, regal, elegant, long beautiful ears that make the babies easy to sell....however, they are just too loud and demanding for me, and frankly, the bloodline I had was not real heavy on milk production. I have seen other Nubians though that looked to be really nice milkers.

I only had 2 Alpines so had very limited experience with that breed. They were pretty and had more milk than the Nubians but they did not seem all that personable. They were aloof. They had beautiful udders though.

Look for good manners on the milkstand and ease of milking. Find a goat with personality that clicks with yours. Goats are SO intelligent and each one is a unique individual with plusses and minuses of their own. Know what a good dairy goat should look like. Make sure the udder is healthy, check it for lumps and defects, ask questions, don't be shy. You don't want to get home and then kick yourself for not being more aggressive with your questions or concerns. I prefer it when a buyer questions me to no end because then i feel like they are really interested in taking care of the goat.

[Lizzieag]

I personally like the Oberhaslis. Pretty easy keepers. Not too needy and not bad tasting milk.

I don't like the taste of the milk that Alpines produce. Of all of the goat breeds, Alpine milk has the most "goaty" flavor in my opinion. It just just tends to get off quickly and needs to be handled much more carefully to avoid smells and flavors

I love Nubian milk and I think they are just lovely. But Nubians are just a little too "needy" for me. They tend to be vocal and crave human attention a lottle more than I can handle. Don't get me wrong, I like my goats to be friendly, but I don't want them to not be able to function without my constand attention.

[DownHome]

Well we went to pick them out. I REALLY wanted the Oberhaslis because I just love how they look, but it really came down to milk taste and my husband is the final decision maker on that. We tasted like 8 different goats and the Ober won hands down. We bought a FF and a little doeling to be her friend, both Obers. The FF was an easy milker, her teats were a little small, but for some reason she was easier to do then some of the other ones with nice hand sized teats. Her personality on and off the stand was awesome. I am soooo looking forward to having these two beauties in my pasture.

We will probably pick them up on Thursday, so I will post pics on Friday, if I can figure out the camera

OH I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!!

[pookshollow]

Yay!!! Another convert to the Dark Side!

Looking forward to pictures of your new girls. You're going to wonder how you ever lived without goats all these years, now.

[Feral Nature]

Congrats again and how much fun that must have been! Read everything you can about goats and ask even the simplest of questions, start by underfeeding grain rather than overfeeding if you must do one or the other.

Here is an excellent dairy goat forum:

www.dairygoatinfo.com

go there and read the goatkeeping 101 section, some really good articles.

Also, there is the main page where you can ask questions and talk to others about dairy goats.

[allenslabs]

I love my obes. I have 2 going on 3 and a buck. Their milk tastes good and their personalities are great. Although mine seem to be hyper as kids they burn all that energy out as once they freshen they are total babies. They'll do anything to make you happy it seems. I love em.
I also love my saanens as they are the same way although more lazy. HAHA! And they generally give more milk than the obes but I love em both. And the obes look so beautiful and elegant whereas my saanens are like big ole hosses. But I still love em. <G>