Little land, little animals, what do ya think?

Boonehillbilly · #1 02/10/10, 11:29 AM

Here is my grand scheme, let me know what ya think.. I have hillside that I am in the process of clearing and thought to myself why not let the critters I am wanting help

I want to pick up some goats and sheep, but with the amount of room the sheep will need I will need a smaller breed of goat. I want the goats for both meat and milk so would breeding pygmys or nigerians be the way to go or just get fewer of a different breed? I realize there will be less meat and milk from a "dwarf" breed but that is fine, I beleive I can make up for that in numbers.. Thanks in advance!!

PS is it even possible to milk the little ladies?

Jay27 · #2 02/10/10, 12:47 PM

Very possible to milk Nigerian Dwarf... You get a surprising amount of milk too if you buy the right lines.

suzyhomemaker09 · #3 02/10/10, 01:07 PM

Absolutely nothing at all wrong with the mind-set of breeding smaller animals for meat & milk. I've been playing with Mini-Manchas and love them. My MiL does Babydoll sheep which are actually the true heritage breed before the bigger better mentality took hold.

rosepetalwi · #4 02/10/10, 01:17 PM

I think Kinders would work out well for you.
Here is an article about them:

www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanderson95.html

You might have to cut an paste.

Boonehillbilly · #5 02/10/10, 03:47 PM

The kinders look perfect for my needs. Thanks for the suggstion!!

deineria · #6 02/10/10, 04:49 PM

We just bred first generation Kinders, and demand in our area, Va, Oh, and NC seem awfully high because we have been flooded with requests to be on waiting lists.
If you can find them, they are probably ideal, but honestly, you might want Nigerians for milk and Pygmy goats for meat. The Pygmy goats we have are impossible to milk, and I am not sure Nigerians are used for meat at all. . .but both are easier, it seems, to come by in this area than Kinders. . . If you don't have a lot of land, there is a fair difference in size, too.
You might be in an area where you can get Kinders easily, but look at their adult size verses the sizes of the miniatures.

**mygoat** · #7 02/10/10, 05:30 PM

Pygmies make EXCELLENT meat animals, with very high dress out amounts for their body weights. Nigies, as most dairies do, aren't quite as good as the meat types.

Nigies, however, are EXCELLENT dairy does IF IF IF You buy from good milking lines! I've seen some TINY teats on some nigerians that I wouldn't dream of trying to milk. But then, I've also seen some beautiful udders on nigies. I would dread milking all those FF nigies, though - I had enough trouble with my FF full size Alpines, LOL!

Levonsa · #8 02/10/10, 06:21 PM

I think Little Animals for a little farm is a great idea! We have a little bit of everything now.

FrontPorch · #9 02/10/10, 06:26 PM

I'm getting three Dwarf Nigerians for exactly that reason.

marcuscarr · #10 02/11/10, 01:00 PM

I have Nigerian Dwarfs and love them.

stevenryals · #11 02/11/10, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Levonsa

I think Little Animals for a little farm is a great idea! We have a little bit of everything now.

HEY!! We bought out ND's from you!!

They're doing great by the way