Which goat meets my needs

[annabelle333]

Hello all,
I have posted several questions lately and am amazed and so grateful for the awesome advice given! I am getting two goats for our land and am a first timer...so thanks for enduring all my basic questions. I wanted to get pygmy or nigerian dwarfes due to their size- we only have 5 acres and they will be half of that most of the time. I also don't want to buy a trailer if I don't have to- to transport them to the vet, home, etc; The main purpose of these goats will be to clear land, be pets and for milking. I have been told not to get smaller goats as they are much harder to milk. My concern with larger animals is they seem like they will be harder to keep in, need more room and harder to transport. Any ideas and advice would be great.

Thanks!

 

[OneFineAcre]

We have Nigerians
They are not hard to milk despite what someone said
Obviously their teats are not as large as a standard goat but with practice they are not hard to milk
They are also the most efficient in converting food to milk
My best mature does produce a little over two quarts per day of delicious milk
My herd average is about a quart and a half per day
We are milk testing this month so I will let you know as to butter fat then
I would not let someone who does not own them discourage you if they are what you want

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I have full sized Nubians, Pygmies and Kinders (which are a cross between the Nubians and Pygmies.) They all have both positive and negative attributes. I have one full-sized Nubian doe that is almost 200 lbs when in top shape. I have Kinders that run about 100 - 120 lbs. Pygmies that are 60ish. They all have delicious milk - and how do I know that - because I've milked all of them!

Pygmies have very rich milk like the Nigerians do. I milked a pygmy doe for over a year and she was a dream! Got about a half-gallon of milk a day from her. She was quite an exceptional gal, but I certainly can't promise that every pygmy would give you that much milk.

Did she have smaller teats than my Nubians or Kinders? Yep! But, as OFA noted - it's a pretty easy adjustment to learn to milk them. In fact, I learned to milk on a pygmy and I never knew it was 'supposed' to be hard until I started milking bigger goats, lol.

I've got a Kinder doe that gave a gallon of milk every day for as long as I milked her...but I've got another one that gives barely 3 quarts...but she's got big ol' easy to milk teats. Their milk is sweet and delicious too.

My Nubians are very generous. I've got a couple gallon + milkers. Again, great tasting milk.

There are a lot of choices out there!

You made good points about transporting and handling bigger goats as opposed to smaller ones. I say if you want Pygmies or Nigies - go for it! I don't think you'll be disappointed. Maybe someday your needs will change and you'll decide you want a different breed. And, when you do you'll understand goat math, lol!

 

[annabelle333]

Thanks! I think I am going to go with smaller breeds to start with! I appreciate the feedback.