Best Milk?

joshmod

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Okay, so I know this is a loaded question but I am okay with stirring the pot. I am curious to hear what breed you think has the best milk. The best part is, I will leave you to define what "best milk" means.

Really we are just on the front end of looking at dairy goats and I would love to just hear some different opinions.

Thanks friends!
 

OneFineAcre

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Nigerian milk is good
Sweet and rich
It's good for making cheese because of the high fat content
I can't say it's the best since I just have Nigerians
My grandma had goats when I was a kid
I think they were Alpines
That was all I ever drank so it must have been ok :)
 

Southern by choice

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We have :
Nigerian Dwarfs:)
Mini-Mancha's:)
Lamanchas :)
Nubian:)
Kiko :)(meat goat technically) but great udder and milker
Mini Nubian:)- Not freshened yet
Alpine:)- Not freshened yet but did have an Alpine we cared for so will base it off that

So... since we have a good variety I can say so far all the breeds we have picked have been great.
Leave out the Alpine for a second...
The rest all have very good butterfat and all have great tasting milk.
Out of all our Nigies I have one that just simply has great milk- just not alot of it. One of our Lamanchas has the sweetest milk.
Nubian is pretty creamy and so is the Kiko. We have a good deal of cream that is on the top with all the breeds we have.

The Alpine we cared for had very good tasting milk not as rich but very good and consistent.

We try each goats milk separately and sample individually from time to time. Recently we took the Nubian, mini-mancha, one of our Lamancha's, and a little Nigie milk... mixed them together, took 6qts and 1 cup and it produced 3lbs 12oz Cheese. That was a great yield. Cheese was great.

All are great tasting so no particular there but the volume is a big issue for me. If I would have known about the Miniature goats when we first started out I would have gone that way. We like the Nigies and their milk is great but I rather have a goat that is similar in size but produces considerably more. I do have more standards now after selling off many of my Nigies but I need 3-4 gallons a day. Nigies add a great deal to the crossing for the mini's.. I think the milk is great.

I think most of us starting out go small... I can say our big goats are no issue, harder on the land though. Personality is awesome... none are snotty. LOL

The Nigie is known for the best feed conversion and I have seen that:)... maybe we are lucky our Standards don't really eat that much feed. Our Mini's no real difference than the Nigies. Yet I have seen some standards that are eating machines.:eek: We have one Nigie that eats fast and too much on the stand... she gets real fat... then we stop milking her because she get s obese breathing the smell of feed. We tried just doing alfalfa on the stand... no difference. This goat's milk is my favorite... sadly she doesn't turn feed to milk but to fat. :\ Some of our Standards are real slow eaters and don't eat as much as sometimes I think they should.

I like the variety of goats. As far as milk... I can say all the goats we have are making great tasting milk.
Personally I don't like strong goaty tasting milk and some breeds do produce strong taste. I prefer the sweeter, fatter milk.;)

I think diet and handling and cooling of milk makes a big difference. I can't pick a best tasting milk... by breed anyway. By individual goat yes.:)
 

frustratedearthmother

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Gotta throw out the idea of a Pygmy as a milker. One of my pygmy goat gave two quarts a day. Butterfat is high which makes the milk taste really, really good! Pygmy milk is right up there with Nigi milk on the butterfat scale (maybe even a little higher if you believe some of the charts). Also - they milk for a long time. I milked one for over a year without much of a drop in production.

And while I'm talking breeds - the Pygmy/Nubian x's (kinders) that I have are AWESOME milkers and their milk is absolutely deeeelish! I have one right now that is giving OVER a gallon a day! :ep Her Nubian mom is a real heavy milker too, but geeze louise, mom is about 185 lbs, and her (kinder) daughter is right about 100lbs.

Good luck!
 

Pearce Pastures

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We milk our Nigerians and our pygmy and usually just mix them together. The Pygmy we have is a decent milker, not the quantity of the ND but not too shabby. Nigerians have a higher butterfat content than any breed, and it results in a nice flavor. I am sre that also means it is higher in calories.

It probably all depends on how much milk you want and what you preference is in taste. You might think about size and feed costs, and also consider is that some goats can be easily bred any time of the year while others are seasonal breeders.

Nigerians: 6-10% butterfat and maybe 1/2 gallon a day. Year round breeders. Not all will be that creamy or give that much. NDs take up less room, eat less, but often have smaller teats which some people don't like in milking. Again, depends on the goat.

Pygmy: 4% but some are much higher. Milk quantity reports are all over the place, some saying 1 cup and others claiming 1/2 gallon. Not sure about that. Year round breeders.

Alpine: 3.5% and 1-3 gallons a day. Seasonal breeders. If I were going to do another breed, I think these would be the ones I picked.

Oberhaslis: Similar to the Alpine. Seasonal. The one wether we had was really really smart.

Saanen/Sable: 2-3% and 2-3 gallons a day. THAT. Is. A. Lot. Of. Milk! Seasonal

Lamancha: About 4% butterfat and 1-2 gallons a day. Seasonal. Very calm and easy to handle from what I have observed in local folks herds.

Nubian: About 4-5% and 1-2 gallons a day. Seasonal/year round. Same person that has Lamancha also keeps these. They seems a little more mischievous than those but are nice too. They are big!

Toggenburg: I would not recommend this one to anyone unless they had tried the milk first. It is a taste.

There are other breeds too but just a run through of some of the more common ones I have seen at fair.
 

Southern by choice

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Pretty much what Pearce says but this is a good article.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...hoosing-a-dairy-goat-breed.aspx#axzz30CNoE0AB

As far as milk production... I can tell you that many people over exaggerate their does output.

I saw an ad recently that said a dwarf was giving 1& 1/2 gallons a day... yeah right... I have also heard countless times.. "this is my best milker" then when asked how much daily and length of lactation they can't tell you or have no records.:rolleyes:

We will be doing DHIR testing next year and I am curious as to the amount of butterfat in my does. I don't think our Nigies give as high a butterfat as stated. :\ Their milk is great.
Good thing to know though.
 

Southern by choice

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@Pearce Pastures will do. Yeah with apending move, lots of pups and so many other projects we decided it wasn't a good year.
We are also changing out our herd so it didn't make sense to try this year ... too much pressure. Not that you know anything about that.;) Next year you will have a beautiful house done and a nice barn and it will be smooth sailing! :)
 

animalmom

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Mission dictates equipment. You have to decide how much milk you want to use each day, how much extra you want for other purposes like making cheese, feeding it to the dogs or chickens or whatever.

Once you have a handle on the milk quantity then look at what else you may want from the goat such as meat, tasty critters that they are.

Then beat those two items against your land, your finances, your preference for animal size (personally I would rather not have an animal that weighs more than I do) AND the time commitment you have available for the goats. Goaties in milk need to be milked daily or they will dry up. They don't understand "sorry darlin' but I'm going to the movies tonight."

We went with Nigerians because that breed would give us the quantity of milk we wanted, were the right physical size, and would supplement our meat requirements. We also went with Nigis because we could find breeders locally, well within 3 hours of us. At the time we got started, over 5 years ago, there weren't any mini breeders who were selling stock as most of them were still in the F1 stage. Today may be different with mini manchas or mini nubians available. I'm very happy with my little goaties and wouldn't trade them for anything else.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Goats sneak into your heart, set up housekeeping, and refuse to believe that you could ever be in a bad mood.
 
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