Trying to find the right buck.

[ajneal30]

I have two does (two year old and her 1 yr old daughter) that I am looking to breed. They are Nubian/boer/?/? I really want to incorporate the Nubian genes into my herd but have been unable to find a buck in my area. A friend of a friend just offered to let me breed to his Alpine buck. I have only seen pictures of him, I haven't actually seen the goat. Would that be a good cross for producing milk goats? How does an Alpine compare in size to a Nubian?

[Frosted Mini's]

Alpines and Nubians are pretty similar in size. The alpine, if it is a well-bred buck, should help to dairy up the Nubian/boer nicely. If you really want milkers, though, you should probably just get a different doe that is all dairy, and you could breed both of them to a boer. Then you'd get meaty kids from both, the Nubian cross can raise her kids, and you can milk the all dairy breed goat. That's what I'd do anyway. But yeah, alpines are good dairy goats. Mine milk 1+ gallon their first freshening as yearlings and 1.5+ gallons thereafter.

[mygoat]

My french alpine does sit around 140-145lbs as adults... but my wether and bucks are all WAY too big to do a weight tape on, lol. (it goes to 220lbs). American does tend to be a bit bigger than french, and of course a lot of size has to do with ability to manage coccidia and feeding.

[Pony]

My Nubians are a bit larger than the standard Alpine. Looking at the breed standards for both, I'd say the difference is significant - for me, at least.

My herd queen is about 175#; former herd sire was ~250#. Of course, those are "tape" measurements, so +/- a bit.

Are you looking for size, meat, or milk?

[Clovers_Clan]

If you are looking to add milk production, the breed doesn't matter as much as the individual. Provided you aren't breeding up to registered Americans, you might be best off to pick the best genetics/price in your area whatever breed that might be.

[Frosted Mini's]

Originally Posted by Pony

My Nubians are a bit larger than the standard Alpine. Looking at the breed standards for both, I'd say the difference is significant - for me, at least.

My herd queen is about 175#; former herd sire was ~250#. Of course, those are "tape" measurements, so +/- a bit.

Are you looking for size, meat, or milk?

Those are about the sizes of alpines, at least the ones around here and at my place, when full grown. It may take a few years to reach that size, but they generally are when all the way grown.

[ajneal30]

Originally Posted by Frosted Mini's

Alpines and Nubians are pretty similar in size. The alpine, if it is a well-bred buck, should help to dairy up the Nubian/boer nicely. If you really want milkers, though, you should probably just get a different doe that is all dairy, and you could breed both of them to a boer. Then you'd get meaty kids from both, the Nubian cross can raise her kids, and you can milk the all dairy breed goat. That's what I'd do anyway. But yeah, alpines are good dairy goats. Mine milk 1+ gallon their first freshening as yearlings and 1.5+ gallons thereafter.

I can't have more goats where I am at so won't really be keeping any this year. I saw the buck today and he's not much bigger than my 2 yr old. I am worried that he might be a little to big for my 1 yr old though. How much weight can a yearling handle anyway? I am too attached to my girls to part with either of them and the hubby isn't going to let me get another one unless we move, so that's not really an option. Sigh.

[ajneal30]

After seeing him, I realized that my doe's mother was at least half alpine. My father in law claims she came from a purebred Nubian I gave him, but to me she looks all alpine. So who knows, this might be a really good cross. An alpine buck with an Alpine/Nubian/boer doe. Unless there is something else mixed in there too. Who knows.

[ajneal30]

My doe:




Her mother:




The buck I want to breed to:

[GoatGirl123]

Your doe is at least part Nubian because of the floppy ears. Her mom, however, does look a lot like an Alpine.

[Frosted Mini's]

Maybe your doe is boer x alpine. She probably will make enough milk to make you happy, and hopefully her daughter if she has one will do even better.