In hoping to get some goats next Spring the two breeds that I am most fond of our Nigerian Dwarf and Boers. I love the small size of the Nigerian Dwarf and have found them to be friendly and great with children. On the other hand I have always loved the sweetness of the Boer goats and their endearing floppy ears at visits to the 4 h fair. I am always drawn to them.
I would love to hear from some folks who have both breeds.
Please share with me:
*Differences you see in temperment & care. Obviously I realize the Boer goats are much larger in size and also would require more food.
*How much difference in food?
*Differences in health?
*If decided to let goats have kids - have you found one breed easier to sell than the other?
*Does one breed tend to have more kids than the other?
We would be looking to get some to rotate around a very wooded property to help clear out underbrush and eat the nasty poison ivy and poison oak that are everywhere. They would be very loved and given lots of attention too!
*Would one of those breeds be better than the other for doing such or good to get both?
Thanks for any help! Greatly appreciated.
Blessings.
Momma Jo
Replies
I wouldn't have a clue. My hubby cleans them just like they are deer. Does your hubby hunt? Know how to clean a deer? or anything? We have some other discussions on here about this where I have posted a lot. There are also some nice butchering books and of course there are usually friends or family that have experience and can help. It is a doable thing to learn. I even helped a minute with one of our last ones. I tried my hand at taking the hide off. Only worked on him a minute cause there were to many hands involved as it was. But, I realized that I actually could do it if needed. I think I will actually do it one day.
Thanks again Margaret! Such a blessing to have someone willing to take the time to share their experience and help us new folks along. Happy to say my husband took enough interest to read your reply too! ;) That's progress as far as his interest in goats.
His question was do you pay someone to slaughter the goats for meat or do you do it yourself? If you pay someone else how much does this cost usually?
Blessings,
Momma Jo
I kind of thought that perhaps after what you had said about hubby's practicality/frugalness or whatever you prefer to call it, that maybe this was about where you were with things. Sounds a little like my hubby about wanting to make sure there is a good purpose and not just a money pit for those of us raising lots of children(7 here) and not rich.
I think that if you all talk it over and come up with what you feel are the herd priorities it shouldn't be to hard to decide what to get. The meat is GREAT and of course you can eat even purebred NDs. Even though they are milk goats and the milk, cheeses, ice cream etc. will be very valuable to you and a big money pay off. They are also edible. And everyone winds up with extras, especially males, so you could have some meat from your milk goats too.
I feel having at least one (in our case we are going to breed up in number to a whole second herd) which could actually be any kind you want or even several and all different breed does for experimenting with to see what you prefer is a great idea for those of us that really want them for our families meat consumption. I plan to eventually have about a dozen just for raising meat.
I had one doe (Marley)? maybe an oberhasli or spanish mix? Bought one very tiny boer mix(Karley) doe and 2 bucks. Slaughtered the 2 bucks after several months (after Marley was pregnant). Marley had doe/buck twins and so now we are back up to 4 again, only instead of 2 does and 2 bucks we now have 3does and 1 buck and already ate 2. See how it works. We will use this buck for a couple of breedings and then eat him. We will mostly use our ND bucks for this but I am trying to use these bucks a little right now to get some does that are a little bigger for meat first. Oh, and Karley may be pregnant because she stays with both of my ND bucks and has for about 3 months. I am sure she was in heat at least once after they came. Not sure if she is pregnant or maybe not coming in season right now. Another plus with NDs. They come in season almost all year and most other breeds don't. So, consider that also.
Just trying to get your thinking rolling about the possibilities
Margaret,
Thanks so much for taking the time to share all this input with me! It was very helpful! I was not aware of more people having kidding problems with Boers so I am glad you shared that with me. The Boer doe with all other goats being Nigerian Dwarf might indeed be a good plan for us (if not just having all ND) as my husband's one comment lately against ND was that he'd like to possibly be able to get meat from what goats we get. So it seems allowing a ND buck to breed to one Boer doe and also to ND like himself would allow the opportunity for for both goats for milk and meat - as you said.
Thanks again for your helpfulness! Very appreciated.
Momma Jo
I too, love the boers and would like to have some one day when I have more room. I have only had one REAL boer doeling in the past and have had some boer mix but I am quite familiar with them.
I understand that boers are very lovingmothers. They have 1-3 kids, usually 1 or 2. I would say they probably have 3 about as often as a Nd has 4 or 5.
Yes they are much larger and will cost more to keep. Cost per head is what you want to consider. Some things of course will be the same like shots. But most things will cost more. Not just food because they will eat more but also wormers and other drugs and feed supplements that will be more with higher weights per head and more product consumed. But even fencing and pens etc. will be need to be higher & bigger etc. and all that adds up to more money.
Their health is not nearly as stable as NDs. A lot of people have quit raising them because they are having varied issues like parasite problems and a lot of kidding troubles. I have been reading a lot about does dying during kidding. I realize that apparently many people are doing good with the boers. But on the other hand a great deal of people are really having problems.
To say the least, I don't believe they are a good goat for anyone who does not have quite a bit of experience with goats. If you really wanted both and are only having a small herd I would suggest that you have NO buck except NDs and either wether boer/boers to help clear your land and as pets or food or perhaps a boer doe and just let her have kids with an ND buck. Thereby avoiding her having large kids and hopefully kidding problems. If you are interested in raising your own meat this would be a good alternative. No boar buck to accidentally breed ND girls and easy to handle size meat carcasses and hopefully easy kidding with smaller babies.
We have a nice ND herd and will be raising mixed meat goats so I have thought this through and if you are wanting meat also this is a good way to have meat and milk!
As far as kids selling. NDs seem to sell just fine. The price per kid is not likely to be as high for a boer as an ND. Yet getting any GOOD boer breeding stock will most likely be quite costly.
Hope this helps a little til you get more responses.