Boer or Boer / Nubian mix?

CarolynRenee · #1 12/03/13, 05:01 PM

I just picked up this Boer gal today. Saw a picture of her online & messaged back & forth with the owner who said she was a Boer & bred to a full blooded Boer sometime between July and the middle of October (the buck ran with her). Very sweet girl, but after I got a good look at her, with the exception of the coloring, she seems more Nubian than Boer. Longer legs, longer ears than my Boers at least. Any opinions on her? She's a year & a half old, this will be her first kidding (if she is in fact pregnant).
Thanks!

parrotman · #2 12/03/13, 05:21 PM

There's a fair amount of Nubian in her as is seen in her face, especially. Depending upon the percentage of Boer in her, breeding her to a full blood Boer will certainly increase the Boer look in the kids.
Just curious, and all my goats have horns, so I'm asking if you have issues with your goats and the panels since it appears your goats are horned also.

**mygoat** · #3 12/03/13, 05:47 PM

She's a cross. The face markings (esp the facial stripe) and dark markings on her legs aren't 'typical' for boers and are very common in Nubians.

While I suppose anything is possible, I see a dairy influence there.

She's a nice looking girl.

trnubian · #4 12/03/13, 06:48 PM

Yep I definately see nubian in the face but she is a pretty girl.

CarolynRenee · #5 12/03/13, 06:51 PM

Parrotman, we were SUPPOSED to have only horn-less goats. Ha.

The only problems we've had are with the male Boer goat. He can get his head in & out of the panels UNLESS it's a a junction where two of the panels are joined together and overlapping. If the square is any smaller than the normal size, he gets his head caught. I probably have to manuever his noggin out of the fence several times a week. Not a happy camper about that. We've bought Red Brand 4" Sheep & Goat woven wire fence for our hopefully-not-so-in-the-future goat pasture so the cattle panels aren't really a permanant solution. But once again, when we put the cattle panels up, we had only horn-less goats. We also have a dairy doe with horns, but she is able to get in/out easily. I suppose it all depends on the size/shape of the horns.

I DO like the cattle panels though because I feed hay on the OTHER side of the fence and the goats have to stick their heads through the panels to get hay, and they can't sleep/poop/pee on it. It doesn't stop ALL the wasted hay, but does help a bit.

Pony · #6 12/03/13, 06:55 PM

She's a pretty Boer-Nubian cross.

She looks like a total love!

CarolynRenee · #7 12/03/13, 07:01 PM

Sooooo.....since it looks like the general consensus is that I am now the proud owner of a Boer / Nubian cross, does anybody MILK their Boer/Nubian does after kidding? Is it worth it, or does it just depend on the individual goat?

Pony · #8 12/03/13, 07:02 PM

Sure, why not? At least give it a try. She may be very milky, and even if she isn't a super high producer, if you can get her to hold still on the stand, you'll have some lovely fresh goat milk.

jcatblum · #9 12/03/13, 07:13 PM

Boer plus Nubian = fat healthy babies! She is a pretty girl enjoy her.

KSALguy · #10 12/03/13, 08:12 PM

Boer are SUPPOSED to have lots of rich milk and would make a good milk goat in their own right (when bred properly) except their lactation is not that long in comparison to a dairy goat, crossing in Nubian or any other dairy breed will increase output and duration in THEORY< you can always try it and see

**mygoat** · #11 12/03/13, 08:22 PM

Crossing a dairy breed with a boer breed often results in a genetic toss up. It rarely (but can!) leads to a happy medium of traits between the two breeds. Boers are designed to lactate for a couple months then stop. Most of my girls are pretty low in production around 4 months after kidding. An 'extended' lactation is like 5 months for boers. A dairy breed has a lactation that has been selected for length and persistency - 10 months. Offspring of the two often has good production and quality of milk, and may lactate for any amount of time - some may dry up around 5 months, and others may milk much longer. It can depend on the dairy lines, too. Not all dairy goats are created equal- some goats do not have good persistency to their lactation and get to about 6-7 months and lose all will to milk even if you're reliably out there 2x per day to milk.

The quality of milk of the boers is quite good and quite a good quantity too! But, the teats are not selected for hand milking - so long as they feed their kids, they're good enough.

Also, some boers have multiple teats - 2x2 is common, and the extra teats are non-problematic, common, and accepted in the boer goat world. There is a chart that the ABGA produces diagramming normal/acceptable, questionable, and 'cull' teat structures. Some may make it difficult/hard to milk.

The only way to know if it will work, is to try it. She may make a perfectly good home milker.

Doug Hodges · #12 12/04/13, 12:03 PM

She looks Boer to me. She's definitely got the Boer body. That's all dad raised for 20 years. Yes she has a Nubian face but Boers aren't all the same color and a lot of the Boers are percentage Boers. The breeder could of been selling her because she didn't conform to Show quality. Back when dad was raising them, the dark red color was the hottest, then the black, Now I see Spotted bucks for sale a lot. Look at this one.

Doug Hodges · #13 12/04/13, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Hodges

She looks Boer to me. That's all dad raised for 20 years. Yes she has a Nubian face but Boers aren't all the same color. The breeder could of been selling her because she didn't conform to Show quality. Back when dad was raising them, the dark red color was the hottest, then the black, Now I see Spotted bucks for sale a lot. Look at this one.

Oops. Look closely at the head color.

Boer or Boer / Nubian mix?-imageuploadedbyhomesteading-today1386180666.648623.jpg

Goat Servant · #14 12/04/13, 05:31 PM

She is a very pretty girl!!
I have milked my 50% for about 9 mos. Not a whole lot of milk but more than enough for us + makins for cheese.

Suzyq2u · #15 12/04/13, 07:46 PM

Isn't she pretty

where I want to · #16 12/04/13, 09:30 PM

I'm going to differ about some of the reasons. All my Boer girls from the 86% thru the full blood have dark on the legs. In fact the full blood is a paint. All have a white strip or blaze.
But all mine are much longer in the back than this girl and their heads seem broader.
As for milking- one lady I know has full bloods only and she milks them for cheese each year. They just don't stay in milk as long as the diary ladies.
If you are looking for meat kids, then a cross with nubian will be most likely to give you big meaty fast growing kids. At least that has been my experience. 3/4 Boer and 1/4 Nubian is my favorite.

GraceAlice · #17 12/04/13, 10:12 PM

Yeah, she's certainly got at least a little nubian in there. Looks as though she's got the Boer body and Nubian face. CUTE!

dozedotz · #18 12/05/13, 12:14 PM

Except for Kinder milk the best milk I ever drank was from a boer goat! Nubian milk is also excellent...just not as high in butterfat on average. Obviously, your taste buds will determine what you like the best. I would certainly attempt to milk her...she certainly seems very friendly and gentle and will probably cooperate with a little time.

Alice In TX/MO · #19 12/05/13, 12:24 PM

I know a lady here in Texas making money raising Nubian/Boer crosses. They raise better kids due to higher milk production.

Pony · #20 12/05/13, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dozedotz

Except for Kinder milk the best milk I ever drank was from a boer goat! Nubian milk is also excellent...just not as high in butterfat on average. Obviously, your taste buds will determine what you like the best. I would certainly attempt to milk her...she certainly seems very friendly and gentle and will probably cooperate with a little time.

Nubian milk is usually the highest in butterfat.

Unless you're just talking Nubian vs Boer. I have no idea how high their percentage would be.