What breed to choose for second goat?

thekibblegoddes · #1 12/11/14, 05:43 PM

I am getting goats in the spring. One will be a nubian cull from a dairy herd just up the road from me. The owner has some great goats, but she is pushing hers to give a gallon a day, and some just don't. I've met these goats and LOVE them - great personalities, good conformation and whatever i receive would be on their 3rd freshening so plenty of milking records behind them. The owner suggested i get a wether for my second goat as they are less expensive to buy and don't need to be grained, and so are less expensive over all. But i can't decide what i want: a pygmy? a dairy type? a nigerian? just a goat? Does anyone have any advice?

arnie · #2 12/11/14, 08:05 PM

every ones place is differint with fenceing ability to grow or buy feed ; and of corse your personl likes . heres how i'd choose , a tame dairy goat may be easyer to settle in to your place if one of the girls she grew up with comes along or a weather if only want one to milk ,getting pigmi may be an issue with the size difference from the fenceing and hay feeders , also finding a bottle raised extra tame easy to handle animial in one of the other breeds may be hard to do , and require lots of shoping on your part as well a vet bills quranteen time and all if your introduceing animails from differint places .the dairy goats likely already have all the vet checking done . I kept a lone doe without any troubles all summer . the old saying also come to mind - " the worst animal from a good line and breeder is better than the best from a bad one " OH and don't forget you have a great buck right up the road to use so why get a differint type of doe and have another thing to worry over

Clovers_Clan · #3 12/11/14, 08:15 PM

A wether of any breed or cross will work. Just a suggestion though. Assuming they are selling these does newly freshened. Could you make an arrangement to get one that has just birthed a buckling and get them as a pair? This would be the easiest way to ensure they get along well and not introduce new parasites and pathogens.

Just a few suggestions whatever breed you choose...
-Steer clear of auctions, buy from tested herds
-Stick with hornless/disbudded goats

And just personal experience. I've had both standard and Nigerians in the same herd with no problems getting along. However, I have had difficulties keeping ND fenced without super tight fencing.

**mygoat** · #4 12/11/14, 10:49 PM

Personally...

I wouldn't get a newborn as a companion for a full grown 3rd fresh doe. They'll need to be separate until that kid is a few months old, because goats are not nice and gentle. At least an older kid will be able to get away and/or take some hits without breaking. Some does will not be overly pushy - I wouldn't trust nice goats with a young kid that wasn't theirs, however. Even goats used to each other have a pecking order and if they see a lower animal in a corner, that's a great opportunity for the boss to go over and ram her a bit just to solidify whose boss. It's no big deal because the boss is not trying *that* hard, mostly just showing off and the other animal just scoots away, but with a little kid, a hit like that could kill.

I would get a healthy disease free wether pygmy or nigerian because they also take up less space and food. If they get sick, they require less drugs and are easier to handle... whereas my huge 'too big for the weight tape' alpine wether who is probably around 240lbs will make my life difficult if he ever decides to get sick (thankfully, that hasn't been the case).

I have 3 geriatric minis in with my french alpines (including ginormous wether) and the herd queen is a horned pygmy doe that is 12 years old. I've also kept mini bucks in with full size boer and alpine bucks and the darn little stinkpots kept riding around the big ones and harassing them nonstop. They were older, but the full size bucks were at least 2x their size the first season. :P

Or better yet, get 2 dairy does. If they're making less than a gallon per day at peak, come the end of their lactation, they aren't going to be making much... you may want 2 does in lactation. Plus, you can also stagger the lactations that way by kidding one out 2 months after the other, so you have milk all year (if you desire - does do need to be dried off 2 months before they kid again).

SeaGoat · #5 12/12/14, 09:33 AM

Breed?
Obers are super sweet and manageable.

It will vary from goat to goat obviously, but I love my ober buck and ober x doe. They will be here for life.

togg75 · #6 12/13/14, 08:27 AM

Everyone needs a saanen in their herd. 😜

marusempai · #7 12/14/14, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by togg75

Everyone needs a saanen in their herd. 😜

They reassure me every day that not all goats are out of their minds, just Sundae.

No, I love Sundae, really I do. But I never know what she's going to do next either.