So what's your favorite breed of goat ???

[fitwind]

Okay, I find it so interesting in what breed of goats people like. Why do you like that beed? Meat? Milk ? Fiber? Work? Dual Purpose? Pets? Brusheaters?What got you started in goats? How many breeds do you have? How many? Do you raise for meat,milk, or fiber for your family needs? Ohh so many more little things I could ask. I figured this might be fun !!!!


We got into goats accidently, someone gave my daughter a Boer/Kiko Wether for her Birthday. We soon found him to be a real pain in the keester. We decided to get 2 more goats for he wouldn't be lonely, he taught them how to be a pain..... So we sold them.
A year later my DH said boy those goats sure did keep those weeds away, maybe we should get more. I wasn't sure about this, he almost had a heartattck trying to keep those goats in. Then I thought back .... and remembered having 2 baby pygmy goats in my petshop. They were so good and didn't jump out of their small pens. I mentioned to him, and he said we would give it a try. I searched for a while and finally found some Nigies Nigie/Pgymy mixes from a HT person. We went and looked at them and took them home. They are WONDERFUL...PERFECT...for us. We have not had to many problems with jumpers. My daughter started to fall in love with these little things.
She has picked out Nigerians to raise. Why she wants to milk, and they are small and easy to handle. They come in many colors, and are sweet in nature. She now has a small herd, and registered with ADGA, and plans on breeding and showing her pride and joys.
For DH and me we still love our little brusheater pets they are so spoiled, and a lot of fun. I have enjoyed them so much. They have made me learn things I never thought of doing. Every goat has a name and a personality. They have added so much to our lives, who would have thought goats, could do so much. Our family has been blessed !!!

[HappyFarmer]

Okay, I find it so interesting in what breed of goats people like. Why do you like that beed?

*Myotonics.
Docile. Rarely challenge the fence. Beautiful colors. Wonderful temperments. Hardy. Good feet. Excellent moms. No kidding issues to date. Kids sell quick.

Meat? *Potential is there. Milk ? *Possibility depends on doe Fiber? *Slim pickings Work? Dual Purpose? *Yes Pets? *Yes Brusheaters? *Yes

What got you started in goats? *When my kids grew up & started moving out I replaced them with kids who will stay! Went on a business trip & a wonderful breeder introduced us. We fell in love & have been breeding ever since
How many breeds do you have? 1
How many? 23 today
Do you raise for meat,milk, or fiber for your family needs? *Breeding stock & pets, & eventually some milk for the table. We are growing our healthy herd to 1. Offer healthy, tested for breeders & replacements because we had such a hard time finding tested herds 2. Gotta do something with the land 3. Stress releif 4. Something for the pyrenees to keep watch over (because they are needed to keep predators of all kinds off our property). 5. Because it fills time in the empty nest. 6. To help educate owners & promote goats to help others see they are not *just livestock*, but can be excellent pets.
HF

[Natural Beauty Farm]

Nubians, Love those Floppy Ears, Milk for cheese and , Big pets, 127 (114 does, 13 bucks) Running future dairy


Started 20 years ago with mixed brush eaters that milked, spent 5 years of my life improving the animals before I got a registered animal and found ADGA. Registered my girls as NOA. Had Nubians and Alpines with a reg Saanen thrown in for 10 years. Bought a pregnant Cashmere doe and Angora buck at a swap, but did not like working the hair. Had all my goats stolen in the middle of the night, found out after the fact that they were at the sale barn the next morning, I never got any of them back. Took a break for two years, but really missed my goats.
Moved back to my farm and decided to get some reg Nubian stock. Spent the last three years traveling the country and purchasing bloodlines of herds I respect. Spent two months interning with one of the top Nubian breeders in the world. Spent a month interning to learn how to make cheese.
Just got a matching grant to help build a Grade A dairy and cheese room.
Just finished breeding all my girls for next spring kidding.
Working on web site.
Have almost 400 acres for my girls to roam on here and I think the biggest joy of my day is when I go for a walk and the herd follows me through the woods. Even the rolly polly about to burst pregnant does.

[Cyngbaeld]

Munchies, of course. Sweet and calm and quiet. Eager to get on the milkstand even if dam raised. Good sweet milk. AND CUTE!

[Oat Bucket Farm]

LaManchas, hands down. Wonderful goats with sweet, quirky personalities and quiet little voices. Love the adorable little ears. Calm animals that use the brains in their heads. Hardy milkers that produce plenty of milk and have long lactations. We have them for milk and because we discovered that we can't live without goats in our lives.

Our first goat was actually a Nubian that was given to us. We had Nubians and Nubian crosses for a while until we spent time in the company of a LaMancha and that was it for us. We went all LaMancha and haven't looked back. Love,love,love my Munchies.

[KimM]

Okay, I find it so interesting in what breed of goats people like. Why do you like that beed? Meat? Milk ? Fiber? Work? Dual Purpose? Pets? Brusheaters?What got you started in goats? How many breeds do you have? How many? Do you raise for meat,milk, or fiber for your family needs? Ohh so many more little things I could ask. I figured this might be fun !!!!

Nigerian Dwarf. They're small, easier to handle and house, and eat less than standard size goats. I raise them for milk, companionship, and to sell. If times get really bad then I'll also have a meat source.
I just wanted an animal that would be easy on the ground (horses made a mess of the ground), something that would interact with us, but also be productive. We started with Boer goats but quickly realized we didn't have the barn space for very many. Then I found my little Nigerian jewels! So my biggest reason for having them is barn space as I do like other breeds and would love a Nubian or an Oberhasli. ND milk is soooo rich and sweet too!
Right now we have 14 does and a buck with 8 does bred currently and 2 more in the plan.
This year I'm trying to plan my breedings to have an assortment of goats for different classes to show at the MODGA Nigerian Specialty show in June.
I think it's just awesome that you're whiole family likes goats and especially your daughter getting into them like that. It'll keep her out of trouble and teach her so much! How old is she?

[Kye022984]

We only have three for milk. One Snubian, one LaMancha, and one Oberhasli. We are housing a mini-mancha for our neighbors. All my three girls are super sweet and friendly. The mini-mancha is very sweet to us but to the other does she is awful. I love all the girls though.

[goatkid]

I mainly have Nubians, but also have a Snubian and her half Alpine daughter and two recorded grade La Manchas. I got into goats when I worked at a commercial goat dairy. I fell in love with the baby goats I cared for and got a couple of doelings. One, a Saanen, constantly won blue ribbons at ADGA shows and I was hooked. Though I lost my champion Saanen to a trainwreck kidding, I still have her daughter, the Snubian.
Nubians are really my favorite. I love their long ears and sweet faces. My goal with them is to produce a home grown champion. This is a challenge as I have a top Nubian breeder to compete with at shows. These folks have all their kids presold before they even hit the ground for lots of money and I'd love to be able to do that as well, retaining what I think are improvements. We use our milk to make cheese for us, friends and family. We occasionally slaughter a wether for meat for us, but our wethers are usually either sold to 4-H kids or to a meat goat buyer. The goats also help clean up weeds. I run a base herd of 25 goats, which I sell down to each fall.

[RedSonja]

Originally Posted by fitwind

Okay, I find it so interesting in what breed of goats people like. Why do you like that beed? Meat? Milk ? Fiber? Work? Dual Purpose? Pets? Brusheaters?What got you started in goats? How many breeds do you have? How many? Do you raise for meat,milk, or fiber for your family needs?

We have Nubians, for several reasons. First off, purely sentimental reasons - my family had Nubians and Nubian-crosses when I was growing up. I knew when we had land for it I'd have goats again, it was a requirement for me! I love the floppy ears and Roman noses, I love the pocket-goat personalities and the variety of colors. I also love the high butterfat of their milk - our Viola gives milk that is like drinking ice cream. And the wethers have enough meat on them to make them nicely dual purpose.

Our goats are also pets, and definitely part of the family. Even the wethers we know are bound for freezer camp get the best of care and attention until time for them to go.

They're our resident bush hogs as well, and do a fine job of turning overgrown pasture to horse grazing. We have about 17 acres of pasture and the goats get first pass, then horses, and rotate around the entire place.

Okay gotta go pet some noses now. We're headed out of state for a funeral. My parents are staying here to take care of things while we're gone so I know all will be fine. But 4 days away from our goats... (and horses, and chickens, and ducks... Even the PITA Great Pyr pup Leia) I'm gonna miss 'em.

[Kshobbit]

I started with two mixed breed slightly stunted does, back in 1976. I have raised almost every breed since then. I was herd manager at a dairygoat farm and raised Great Pyrenees dogs too. I was herd manger at Benz Farms Boer goats too. For many years my favorite breed was Nubians but the LaMancha goats have stolen my affection.
I now have all LaMancha goats now, some are grade and some are registered. My favorite time of day is when I am milking Rocky, my grade LaMancha, she is so sweet and gentle.
My most favorite doe was Satin, a huge black Nubian whose sire was Cold Comfort Hawthorne and gave the sweetest best tasting milk, buckets of it for many years. Goats Rule!!!!

[IndyGardenGal]

I think all breeds are great, and don't have enough experience to say I have a favorite. In fact, I could probably find a reason to have every breed of goat here on our little homestead, but DH won't let me.

I currently have a Saanen and an French Alpine. I love the Alpine, but she's got more attitude than my Saanen. The Saanen is very patient on the milk stand, will follow us around even outside her fenced area, and her milk is delicious. The Alpine will run if she has the chance and is a bit more testy on the milk stand. Hopefully, she will calm down when she freshens in the spring.

I've been working on getting him to let me have Lamanchas since the very beginning (the no ears freaks him out), but I think I'm finally making headway. I've never "met" a person that owned Lamanchas and didn't love them.

[fitwind]

Originally Posted by KimM

I think it's just awesome that you're whiole family likes goats and especially your daughter getting into them like that. It'll keep her out of trouble and teach her so much! How old is she?

My daughter is 13.... and is so into her goats, she goes out with them everyday. She has them all named Butters, Oylmpia, Lindsay, Hydee, Cinnamon, and Cocoa. She is hoping to start selling some babies next year. She has learned a lot and it does keep her out of trouble, finding Nigies for her was one of the best things

[KimM]

That's wonderful. Is she is 4H?
Well as Minelson would say....we want some pictures! (yes she does have a reputation! )

Originally Posted by fitwind

My daughter is 13.... and is so into her goats, she goes out with them everyday. She has them all named Butters, Oylmpia, Lindsay, Hydee, Cinnamon, and Cocoa. She is hoping to start selling some babies next year. She has learned a lot and it does keep her out of trouble, finding Nigies for her was one of the best things

[Goat Servant]

I kind of envy you all with the smaller breeds, just pick them up & load a whole herd in back of a VW Beetle

When our children were small we had a few Nubians for milk & meat. Empty nest syndrome combined with a graveyard shift job gravitated me back to goats, only this time it was Boers for meat. But I had to have at least one Nubian.

Now we have the mostly Boers & the one purebred Nub & some of her offspring whose sires were Boers & those offspring also bred to Boer.
The half asses as Bob calls them affectionatley, are his favorite.

The kicker is that one reason I got the Nubian was to supplement any Boers if needed. Dumb goat outsmarted me on that one, keeps having quads & will even quit nursing any kids if I sell a male for meat at weaning time.

[Bret4207]

Nubians and LaMancha. We had a real nice of milking Nubes that we let degrade over the years. Ended up with smaller and smaller animals that didn't milk for nuthin'. Got a fair buck and we've started getting better does. We also got a LaMancha along the lines after worrying about frost bite on the Nubes ears- a completely baseless fear BTW, we've never had anything close to a frozen ear. The LaMancha and Nube-La crosses are real nice.

Our Last buck is all leg and little body, but he was an improvement over the one before him. Now we have a decent looking 3/4 LaMancha 1/4 Alpine buck. I dislike him personally, but my wife loves him. We'll see what he does for the herd. Sadly I found a perfect male Nubian right next door to us (1/2 mile). When I first saw him I couldn't believe him, his conformation is perfect! He's a wether of course......

[fitwind]

Originally Posted by KimM

That's wonderful. Is she is 4H?
Well as Minelson would say....we want some pictures! (yes she does have a reputation! )

I will post some pics of her and her goats.....LOL I will have to wait till I get home..... I still have to get pictures of 3 of her goats Lindsey,Hydee, and Cinnamon.. they are the newest additions
Yes she is in 4-H this year she is doing dairy and meat goats, she is so excited. She went to her first goat show in Neosho Mo it was for bucks only she entered her goat Cocoa, I heard she did pretty good... I wasn't there most of the time....though I had to work...

[fitwind]

Originally Posted by Goat Servant

I kind of envy you all with the smaller breeds, just pick them up & load a whole herd in back of a VW Beetle

Hey have you been watching me How did you know I put my little goats in the back of my car

[Goat Servant]

Fitwind you know how goats like to gossip, news travels you just cant keep secrets from them...they communicate through the wind & occasionally whisper it to thier humans

[ne prairiemama]

I love our nubians!

[Backfourty,MI.]

Nigerians are my favorites I THINK... but I seem to love all kinds of goats. We got 3 mini nubians this summer & then added a pure bred Nubian now too along with our Nigerians.

We actually started out with Pygmies & then sold those & switched to Nigerians.

We got into goats because Dh just really wanted a goat, talked about it all the time when we still lived in the city. I got tired of arguing with him all the time on why we didn't need a Goat so we got 1 & as we all know you can't have just 1. We have now had goats for over 6 years & I think I love them more than he does but were both crazy about them & can't imagine not having them around, all though they can be a real pain in the butt sometimes!