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05/09/08, 10:07 AM
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Crazy about horses
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Texas Lake Country
Posts: 784
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I don't know what breed these kids are...
I got a BIG surprise this morning... my Alpine/Nubian goat just had twins! (Literally, the 2nd one came out as I turned the corner towards the goat pen!) We weren't expecting this until late June!
The seller said the sire is a "dwarf dairy goat"... I have no idea what that breed would be. All I know is that they are colored like Boers... but the sire is on the small side, nowhere near Boer-size.
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05/09/08, 10:18 AM
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Small scale homesteader
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Cary, NC
Posts: 728
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They sure do look like boers to me.. Especially that first one.. Except for the nubian type ears..
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Common sense is not so common..
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05/09/08, 10:32 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ok
Posts: 1,825
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I think the breeder was mistaken. those are boers. what are the odds that both twins that are nubian/alpine/"dwarf dairy" would happen to get the traditional markings of a boer.
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A mystery is not an explanation..... on the contrary....no sooner is a myth forged than, in order to stand it needs another myth to support it.
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05/09/08, 10:48 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Troy, Vermont
Posts: 1,695
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Dwarf dairy would be Nigerians, but boy if they are nd crosses they are hiding it well. But stranger things have happened. Head scratcher for sure.
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05/09/08, 10:57 AM
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Crazy about horses
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Texas Lake Country
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Here is the mama, I was told she's a Nubian/Alpine cross:
One buckling, one doeling. What can I do with a 1/4 Alpine, 1/4 Nubian, 1/2 Boer (or maybe 1/4 Boer, 1/4 something else) goat? I don't plan on raising them for meat, I was hoping to get more milk goats out of the doelings, and pack goats out of the bucklings.
Last edited by whinnyninny; 05/09/08 at 11:03 AM.
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05/09/08, 11:13 AM
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Disgruntled citizen
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Northeast Michigan zone 4b
Posts: 4,458
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I would guess the mama to be Nubian X Sanaan. Daddy a boer. That's just my guess.
Adorable babies though!!! 
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05/09/08, 11:16 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,662
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Your buckling should make an excellent pack goat -- Boers have a nice calm temperament, and are very sturdy goats. The doeling, if her udder turns out decent, will make a good milker -- Boers give very rich milk, so even if she doesn't milk as heavy as a straight dairy doe (and she could come close -- I had a doe who was 3/8 Boer who was milking fourteen pounds a day at her peak), she would still be worth saving for a milk goat. Check her teats, though -- some Boers are prone to double teats, making them impossible to milk. (When I bought my part-Boer doe, she was bred to a Boer buck, and had two beautiful doelings, but they both had double teats, from their sire's side.) If she's got that problem, you'll be able to spot it now. She would still make a packer, as long as she wasn't bred. (Does can be used for packing, they just don't get as big as wethers.)
Kathleen
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05/09/08, 03:28 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Donovan, Illinois
Posts: 1,376
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Momma looks an awful lot like a percentage Boer as well, possibly Alpine/boer cross. As for the kids, BlueJuniperFarm has some good ideas. Keep the doeling and milk her. As for the sire being a 'dwarf dairy' breed, I'd say it was probably either a Boer buck that was possibly still young and looked small, or a percentage Boer as well maybe crossed with something smaller. Not sure, but those kids look a whole lot like percentage Boer babies. Very nice though. Congratulations.
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05/09/08, 03:32 PM
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Crazy about horses
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Texas Lake Country
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This buck sired my now-7-month-old doeling as well, so I don't know how young he could be.
Here's another pic of Mama, from about 2 months ago:
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05/09/08, 03:54 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jun 2004
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Is that the seven-month-old doeling behind your mama goat in that last picture? If so, I would say she does have the same father as the two new kids, because she looks part-Boer also.
Kathleen
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05/09/08, 05:02 PM
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Crazy about horses
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Texas Lake Country
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Yes, that's her... she's 5 months in that picture.
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05/09/08, 07:03 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Donovan, Illinois
Posts: 1,376
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he could have been a spring weanling breeding in the fall for the first one, and then the next year bred your doe as a young yearling... some boers are quite large by a year, some don't get a real growth spurt until they're 2 or late 2. So he could have looked 'small' as compared to a full-sized 300 pound or so full-grown Boer. He could just also be a 'poor-ish' Boer (no offense, I know that sounds harsh, but hey, all breeds of animals have specimins in them that are varying degrees of quality, and I've seen some purebred Boers that are quite smallish, breeding without real regard to anything but putting a male in with a female will have that effect often.) Since he seemed to either not know what his buck was, or because he knew you were interested in dairy, decided to um, 'fudge' the truth, you really can't tell. That doesn't mean you don't have lovely animals who will do their best for you.
***On the Buck issue--I always go back to my Doberman breeding days, and seeing some of the 'Dobermans' listed in the paper I"d go look once in awhile, and some of them barely resembled Dobies... some characteristics, but it was vague, lol, oh, but they had papers... putting two Dobermans together WILL produce Dobermans... it doesn't guarantee GOOD Dobermans... same with any animals.***
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05/09/08, 08:56 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 946
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Someone once told me that a study was done that if you wish for large milking udders, you breed your FF to a dairy buck instead of Boer. I was going to try that once but didn't have access to a dairy buck. Thought it would be interesting.
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05/10/08, 05:53 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Michigan
Posts: 243
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I have a Sanaan/Boer X doe that looks just like the mama goat and I don't see any Alpine features at all in your doe. My guess is that she had to of been bred to a Boer or % Boer buck to throw kids that look like that!
The seller may not of known she was already bred and exposed her to the "dwarf dairy" buck, but..........
Anyway, my Sanaan/Boer doe is a great milker and very mellow, so you may have the best of both (milk & meat) goat worlds.
Good Luck
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05/10/08, 06:07 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: NY
Posts: 36
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Just saw your pictures. I have an alpine/boer cross doe that is the spitting imagine of your new mama. Ours is bred to a nigerian dwarf and due any time now. Will let you know what the kids look like when they get here.
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05/10/08, 09:24 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 9,208
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Kids are definiately Boer crosses and the dam looks just like an Alpine/Boer I used to have.
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Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net
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05/10/08, 10:37 AM
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Katie
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Twining, Mi.
Posts: 19,930
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They are pretty babies, but I think like everyone else......I also think they look like Boer's. Congrat's!!
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05/10/08, 10:40 AM
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Crazy about horses
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Texas Lake Country
Posts: 784
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Well, I guess the babies definitely are Boer crosses, then.
They are so gosh darn adorable, though!
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05/10/08, 01:18 PM
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Oregon, just West of Portland
Posts: 4,044
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They are stinking cute. I would have guessed saanen/boer for the Mom and that the kids have a full boer daddy. Can you go back to the breeder and ask if they have any boer on the premises? I'm betting that they do. 
The one thing I can say for sure is that the babies do NOT have an ND for a dad.
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05/10/08, 01:41 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,662
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Is that the doe's udder hanging clear down between her hocks in that last picture? If so, I wouldn't keep the doeling for a milker, as she's like to end up with her mother's udder! If you are keeping that doe, look around for a buck to breed her to that throws exceptionally good udders, and then save a doe kid from that breeding (or just buy a doe with a better udder to breed from). It would be hard to milk such a low-hanging udder, and between hanging low and being poorly attached and swinging around, it will be much more prone to injury than a well-attached udder would be.
The kids are cute!
Kathleen
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