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Choosing goats - help

post #1 of 8
Thread Starter 

Hi there,

 

I am pretty much ready to get a couple of goats and I wanted to see what the experts think about this.

 

There are 2 goats, one 4 years old and a 5 year old available. Each have 2 kids with them. One has 2 girls, one has one of each gender.

 

I like the idea of having a kid with the goat so I can milk in the am and the kids can take care of the rest of the day until they stop nursing and then we can milk 2 x per day. (I think this makes sense!)

 

Anyhow, they are pygmy goats, and I would like your feedback on which 3 I should buy. She is asking $200 for the three.

Thanks!!
H

post #2 of 8
Pygmy's are meat goats. If you want a mini goat for milking go for a Nigerian with large teats.
post #3 of 8
Thread Starter 

Wow - thanks for telling me that. I did do some research last night and I read that Pygmy's are good for milk too. I will see if I can find some others. :)

post #4 of 8
Thread Starter 

Okay so I am so glad I learned that. I have kept looking and found another potential or two. Here is the ad: Can someone please help guide me in the right direction on the best option here for long term?

 

We have 4 female dairy goats for sale, plus their 3 kids.   They kidded about 6 weeks ago. The 2 saanens are just turned two years old.  They each have a kid by their side born the beginning of Febuary. and are priced at $350 each with their kid.  The Alpines are 3 years old.  One has a kid by her side.  She is $350, the other Alpine is 200.   The kids are a doeling and 2 bucklings .
 
 
Thanks so much!!
 
post #5 of 8

I don't know which I'd get, but wanted to say that my goat book says for just a homestead goat, any goat will be just fine as long as it produces enough milk.  I'd check out the teats of any of them for sure.  We'll be milking goats for the first time in a couple of months.  We have 2 Nubians.

post #6 of 8
Saanens are the highest producing dairy goat. For the biggest bang for your buck get a dairy breed. They are also nice goats personality wise.
post #7 of 8

I think Saanens and Alpines are both very good dairy breeds.  I don't know if it matters to you, Saanens are (almost) always white, whereas Alpines have a few more colors.  I think I would go and look at them, and decide among the ones with a kid at their side based on how their udders look and feel, and partly on temperament too.  I hear it's a bit hard to learn to milk (I'll be learning in May), so you want girls who are not going to fight you on the milk stand.  It's also just easier to manage goats that are more tame, and it can be a personality thing to some degree as well as a training thing, so do try to get ones that are acceptably tame/friendly.

 

As far as the long term, what matters here is your plans for the long term.  Do you want to get a large herd eventually?  You have to breed them (probably every year, but some exceptional individuals can go nearly two years) to get milk - what do you plan to do with the kids?  Do you want to eat them, sell them for meat, sell them as dairy animals, sell them for pets (check your area carefully before you decide you'll do this), keep them?  This will determine your breeding plans.  The reason that this matters now is that it would help you to figure out what you're going to try to sell before you get them.  If you're planning to breed them to a meat breed (like Boer or Kiko) and eat them or sell them for meat, then it doesn't matter whether you get two of the same breed.  If you're planning to sell them as dairy animals, you might be better off getting two of the same breed so that you can sell purebred goats by only breeding them to one male in any given year (whether they're registered or not, you'll probably get a little bit more from purebreds - of course, you'll get a lot more if they're registered, as long as there's a market).  If you're going to sell them as pets (assuming there's a market for that where you are) then I would think Alpines would be better, since they have more colors than the Saanens.  Anyway, I'm sure you're getting the idea.

 

They're all pretty close in age, so their "years of useful life" are pretty similar.  I would be a little concerned about why the one 3-year-old Alpine doesn't have a kid - goats almost always breed every year . . . is she in milk?  Did they sell the kid?  I probably would avoid her unless there was a good explanation for her lack of a kid AND she's still in milk.  That's just me, but it's possible that she's not fertile, and then you'll just have a $200 pet goat.  Also, depending on where you are, that sounds like a pretty good deal to me, I just got a yearling last summer for $250.  As long as they have good milk production, that sounds like a reasonable price (to me) for goats of that age with kids at their sides.

 

I have a LaMancha (with the little ears) and an Alpine.  They're both pretty good as far as temperament goes, and I haven't gotten to milk them yet, so I'm hoping they're both good milkers.

 

Good luck with your goaty endeavors!  They have a lot of personality . . .  and are pretty good at escaping if they want to.  I hope you have a good fence smile.gif

post #8 of 8

When you're looking at your goats, try to get a dairy goat (or meat goat for that matter) that's wide across the chest and wide across the hind legs.  It makes for good longevity to get a goat that is not too narrow across her withers so there's room for her lungs and heart and whatnot.  When you're looking at the udder, you want a good smooth udder that is large when full and takes up the space between her legs without hanging past her knees, especially if she's two years or younger.  The teats should be large enough to grasp with the full width of your palm with just a little bit at the end peeking out.  This is the easiest teat to milk, though you'd get the hang of the other shapes eventually.  As far as conditioning goes, the goat should smell pretty good (unless they have a cud, which should smell pretty rank), especially around the head and shoulders, the eyes should be bright and opened wide, no droopy eyelids!!  They should be alert and curious, with ears cocking forward when you approach the pen.  Their fur should be smooth to touch, even if they haven't been bathed all winter, their fur should have a shiney smoothness going on with very little residue coming off on your hand when you pet her.  As far as breeds, Saanens are high capacity milk producers.  Alpines are also big time producers.  These are big boney milk breeds so if they appear wide and boney, not skin and bones mind you, this is good.  I always found Saanens a bit boring, personality-wise.  Alpines are fun.  Toggenburgs are my favourite dairy goat.  They're like the Jersey of the goat world, compact and fat-rich tasty milk.  Cute babies too!!