What's a good dual-purpose breed?

[mrbstephens]

I'm interested in a breed or two or three of sheep that would be good for fiber and milk. Also a hardy, friendly and low maintenance breed.
Also interested in goats and cows for milk/cheese. Thanks.

 

[ksalvagno]

I'm not sure about sheep but many people like a Nubian/Boer cross goat if it is just for personal purposes. Also people like the Kiko goat for a dual purpose.

 

[Ariel301]

You should look into Friesian sheep. A good friend of mine raises them, and I really like hers. Out of the kinds of sheep she has, the Friesians are the only ones that will come to me for attention; the others just snort at me and run. They're a white-faced breed with white wool usually (can be black too). I am not good at judging fleece quality, but hers have very nice thick fluffy wool and she does shear them to make yarn. They usually have twins. They produce about a quart each of milk per day for my friend, but she only milks once a day and doesn't grain them heavily, so you could likely get more out of them. They are also heavy enough to be decent eating too if you are interested in raising your lambs for meat. They seem to be pretty pricey (I wanted some but could not afford them), but I think this is what you are looking for.

If you want milk goats, I recommend LaManchas. I raise them, and just love their personality. I get about a gallon a day average from each of my girls, and it has a very high butterfat, making it sweet and delicious for cheeses. It took me a while to get over their strange ears. I bought mine without seeing them or knowing what they really were, and when I went to pick them up, I thought they were so ugly! But they have really grown on me, they are like big sweet dogs. If you're looking for something smaller, there is also a miniature version of the LaMancha, only getting about 25 inches high but with the same appearance and personality. We've got a couple of those too.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

A lot of people are raising icelandics as good triple purpose sheep, meaning they're relatively good at providing milk, meat, and fiber.

 

[jhm47]

Columbias are a great dual purpose (meat-wool) breed. They always seemed to raise very nice lambs, so I would guess that they milked well, although we never tried to milk them.