which kind of dairy goat?

[Anderson farms]

We are new to goats and want to get a milk goat to milk and feed bottle calves. And maybe drink the milk? I have never drank goats milk how does it compare to cows milk? Is it safe to feed to human kids? What breed or breeds do you guys like? Also are there any that are "dual" purpose? Where we could sell the weathers for meat or use them ourselves. I have never ate a goat is it any good? Sorry for all the questions thanks for any help.

[sungirl]

We are new to goats and want to get a milk goat to milk and feed bottle calves.

Welcome! Here we go, my first answer would be Alpine or Saanen.

I have never drank goats milk how does it compare to cows milk? Is it safe to feed to human kids?

If you have clean milking buckets & pails, along with good care of the milk you should have a very very small difference if not none. Most will say Obers for cows milk taste. What you need to remember is goats are not related to goats in any way and compairing them together just makes more goat milk haters.. I can't taste any difference in our goats & cows milk.

What breed or breeds do you guys like? Also are there any that are "dual" purpose? Where we could sell the weathers for meat or use them ourselves.

I have Alpines, Saanens, and Boers. I like the swiss breeds over Nubians & La Manchas because they milk better even when it is very cold out. A dual would be the Nubian or La Manca but you won't get as much from them compaired to a swiss breed. I don't have a problem getting alot of meat off our dairy wethers, they don't carry as much meat but do make a bunch of meat.. (I just got back a Dec 29, 2007 wether who had 35+ pounds of meat from him.)

I have never ate a goat is it any good?

It tastes like deer, but every meat has their own taste. Try compairing Beef to Pork, or Chicken to lamb. All taste good!

Patty.

[Alice In TX/MO]

1. You must have two goats. They grieve by themselves.
2. The best kind are the ones you like to look at.
3. Get healthy, tested, CL and CAE disease free goats.
4. Have fences ready before you get the goats. Net wire, electric net, cattle panels, etc. Have shelter, too.
5. Read a lot first.
6. More people drink goat milk in this world than drink cows milk. It's wonderful.

[DQ]

don't buy the meyenburg goat milk from wm and think that that is what goat milk tastes like. the milk from my does is all indistinguishable than the whole cows milk I was used to.

[Freeholder]

Originally Posted by DQ

don't buy the meyenburg goat milk from wm and think that that is what goat milk tastes like. the milk from my does is all indistinguishable than the whole cows milk I was used to.

I always warn people about this, too. I haven't tried store-bought goat milk, but have heard that it tastes nasty. Fresh, raw goat milk from healthy well-fed goats, using clean equipment (have to put those qualifiers in there, because sometimes people think they don't have to be careful of those things) should be, as DQ said, indistinguishable from whole cow milk. Usually, when I let people taste goat milk who've never had it before, the only difference they can tell is that it's richer than the store-bought milk they usually drink (because most of them drink 2%, or even worse, skim milk!).

You should buy does in milk, if you can find any for sale, and be sure to taste the milk from the goats you are considering purchasing before you buy them (along with the health tests). Don't drink it warm (warm cow milk tastes cowy, too); let it chill first. There ARE goats who have bad flavored milk (there are cows with bad-flavored milk, too). Toggs are known for strong-flavored milk, although not all strains are like that, but if you look at Toggs, be sure to taste the milk -- the ones we had for a while in Alaska did have strong-flavored milk.

My personal preference in the full-sized goats is Oberhasli. I think they are the prettiest breed (get something you like to look at!); they are quiet and calm; good milkers; and have good-tasting milk. They also work well for packers, which is a consideration for me, and the reason I no longer have Kinders, even though I think Kinders have the best-tasting milk I've ever had.

Kathleen

[juliew]

I just started with goats, but my family drinks goats milk exclusively now, including my 3 year old. In fact, he drinks a lot more of it than he did cow's milk. We can't tell a difference at all between goats milk and whole milk (though it is much richer than 2%). I have Nubians.

[sammyd]

We have an Ober a LaMancha and a Nubian.
The LaMancha and Ober are good producers and relatively quiet.
The Nubian does not produce as much and is quite noisy but I think she is the prettiest.
We had an Alpine that was a dear. Gave plenty of milk and had a good disposition.
Our oldest kid won't drink the goat milk but the wife and I and our youngest love it and the wife's folks are asking for a half gallon quite often. If you are used to store bought cow milk it may take a bit to get used to whole goat milk. Even the whole milk at the store has been skimmed some and is not really "whole".
As mentioned good sanitation and proper cooling of the milk go a long way towards having it taste good. Stainless Steel buckets are preferred but we milked into plastic buckets for 2 years and never noticed any problems. We used regular milk strainer pads which can be found at a farm store or sometimes at the feedmill in a sieve to strain our milk into glass jars and put them in the fridge. I finally got the vacuum pump hooked up so now we milk with a regular milker bucket and use the strainer pads in a big old milk strainer on top of a SS bucket. Then we still pour the milk into glass jars.
Of all the things we have tried out on the place I think the goats are the most enjoyable. However to make them enjoyable you must make sure you have some idea how to handle them. Make sure your fences are in good shape and you have good feed and fresh clean water available for them. If you are going to hand milk, find a doe that is all ready being hand milked. Trying to tame down a doe that has been running loose with her kids can be a pain.
We read a number of goat books and talked with a bunch of people before we got heavy into goats. There are a lot of opinions on how you need to do things. We basically kept the info in mind and came up with a way that works for us. There is no one "right" way to raise goats but plenty of wrong ones. Keep an open mind and never stop learning.