I've been following this board for over two years, and have only considered Nigerians all along. I am now working through the process with my town of getting them to allow chickens and goats, which will have to be small breeds. Although I hadn't considered anything but NDs up until now, I've been wondering if it is the right breed for our situation. I know all of you adore them and can probably give great reasons why we should go ahead with them, but I also wanted to know for those of you that own minis (either mini nubians or mini manchas) how they compare. Perhaps you can help me make a decision based on the following info:
We have 1 acre of land, most of which is wooded. I would probably permanently fence in about 1/4 of an acre, so browse would be limited and then quickly eliminated, I imagine. We have a couple of places nearby that we could take the goats to browse but they'll be almost entirely dependent on supplemented feed and hay because we just don't have the pasture or thick browse they need.
We will only be allowed 2-4 goats, but likely closer to 2. I have a family of five, and we are all big milk drinkers and dairy consumers. I want our goats to provide the entirety of our needs, or at least work up to that point. We won't be allowed to keep a buck. As a result, I'm very interested in the possibility of milking through from time to time. We want to dam-raise the kids.
In our area, it's hard to find registered goats of any variety, really. I have to leave the province to visit other breeders to really get a sense of what is out there and which goats would be the best investment. I don't believe there are any NDs currently being raised in PEI. I have a friend who has a wide assortment of goats of various breeds, mostly nubian, some pygmy, alpine, and myotonic, and who has a few unofficial kinders currently in utero. But I'm looking for something with proven dairy lines and sweet milk, that have been tested for CAE, CL and Johnnes.
There is a goat association judge who doesn't live too far from me and raises Lamanchas. I think they're an adorable goat and I hear good things about their milk. They're a bit big for our property, but I am hoping to cross them with NDs if possible, for at least first generation minis that would fit our town's size requirements, bring up the butterfat percentage (hopefully, I know the inheritance of different traits is a bit of a crapshoot), and produce a bit more milk than a Nigerian, as I'm not sure that two NDs would be able to provide all we need.
We have three very young children, so our biggest priorities are:
1. Sweet, gentle personality (if it could be considered "quiet", that would be awesome given the proximity of our neighbours)
2. Good milk production with a sweet taste, enough for a family of five
3. Be hardy, healthy goats that are all around good keepers.
Can any of you comment on any of this? Sorry for the lengthy intro! Thanks in advance!
Replies
Sure thing :) Maybe if I end up adding on to my land I'll have a go at creating some mini nubians myself.
Patty, thanks, I'll be on the lookout for your photos! Her goats at GG are beautiful. Marin, I didn't realize this as I hadn't looked much into the testing yet (although I did go through a list of diagnostic tests done at our local vet college and didn't see it included) so thank you for your input. So basically, I'd just have to go on the word of the owner that they hadn't had CL in the herd? Do you find that it is prevalent?
Kitty, that is great news! You're right that I'm not ready just yet for them, so I'll be excited to see how you settle in and what babies you have available in the next year or two. I just checked out the Turtlewood Farm site and it's interesting that they have nubians and lamanchas as well, maybe they'd have 1st generation minis. Keep me posted on your move! And please get in touch privately when you get set up. :)
I am heading to New Brunswick to live in a month or so and either bringing registered, health tested NDs with me, or else we'll go back to Ontario and pick them up. So, I should have babies next year. Sounds like you won't be ready for goats for a bit still anyways. We have kin on PEI so I'd imagine my brother and I wouldn't mind taking a trip there.
P.S. Turtlewood farm is where I hope to get my NDs from as long as all goes well.
Sorry about that. There is screening in Canada for Johne's, but there is no screening for CL.
Thought I'd just comment that there is no lab in Canada that screens for Johne's disease. Any screening bloodwork has to be sent to the US at great expense. If a goat gets an actual abscess it is possible to test the exudate from the abscess relatively inexpensively. So if you can't find anyone who has a herd that has tested free for Johne's don't be too horrified. Just ask about any cases of abscesses and whether they've been tested.
I'll try to post here when the little ones come, and after I start getting some milk. I sure hope I get some this summer! :) I'm sorry for you that Green Gables isn't where one would expect to find it, but quite happy for me. I very much intend to get at least one goat (a new herd sire) from her in the future. I was also quite impressed with how far she's come with the mini-Nubian and how lovely her goats are. :)
Rosalyn Abbott said:
That is why i keep leaning toward the nd
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Thank you, everyone, for your input so far. Patty, I appreciate your experience with the mini-nubians, I have looked at the Green Gables website (honestly, when I found it, I was so hopeful that it was here in PEI since this is where Anne of Green Gables was set and I thought that it might be a local farm!) and her goats are lovely. I was impressed with what I saw there. I look forward to hearing more about your own when they freshen.
Julianne, I wondered about the Oberhasli because they sound like the perfect personality and a smaller standard than the others. I wasn't sure on the flavour of the milk though, from what I've read the Swiss breeds are a bit tangier. I looked them up on the CLRC anyway, and there don't seem to be many breeders and none nearby, unfortunately, but I'll keep them in mind!
Sandra, thanks for weighing in with your Nigerians. I'm still very interested in them, and had hoped to obtain two this spring actually, from a breeder in Ontario with lovely goats so they're still very much under consideration. Maybe I'll get one of each.
Keep in mind that you have to have two goats anyway so they don't get lonely, and two NDs eat less than two larger goats.
James Tinker said:
I am following this thread as I am trying to decide between ND and MiniMancha as well. There are four of us and just dont know the production of keeping 2 nd in milk or one mini mancha.
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