# Milk goats and fiber production?



## simka2 (Sep 27, 2011)

Newbie question: Is there a good breed mix that will give good fiber and milk? Or have a just asked a goat breeding faux pas? :gaptooth:


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

lots of breeds CAN produce cashmear fiber, BUT to get decent fiber AND a good milking animal is not going to be easy, the animals that have been selectively bred as "Cashmear" goats are not made for milk production,


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

well you could milk them but dont expect to get a great deal. Also from what I have read on this forum the fiber goats tend to be a bit fragile so buyer beware.


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## andabigmac (Jan 10, 2011)

I milked my angora for giggles when I weaned her baby. She has the tiniest bag and only gave about a cup. It was super thick, almost like colostrum without the yellowness. Her teats were tiny too. She had been bred to my alpine "wether" and her daughter never grew anything but an "alpinesque" coat. There was no length to it at all. So I don't know how a cross-breed would do. That's just my experience.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I agree with the others, it is possible, but you really don't get enough milk from a fiber goat to make it worth your while. Plus, you are asking a lot from one goat to be a "do it all" animal. Besides, it is always much more fun to have several goats. lol


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## simka2 (Sep 27, 2011)

I really appreciate all the responses! Please, keep 'em coming. I love hearing about what you guys have already tried 

I have friend who has a goat dairy here in the area, so I plan on leaning on her quite a bit as I get going. Sometimes it is easier to ask my more embarressing newbie question on the internet. :typomat:

Cheers!


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I milk pygora goats, not a lot of milk but enough for the 2 of us. I make icecream, butter, cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt. Sweetie makes yarn from the fiber and knits with it. I have 3 does and most of the time we have 2 in milk....James


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## rootsandwings (Apr 20, 2004)

my friend has a milking pygora too.

low quantity, but as good as a decent (not top of the line) nigerian and delicious milk. I know nothing about fiber, but she spins, knits and sells profitably and says that goat is good.

So I would say if you are set on the idea, ask around and find some pygoras that are already milking for your start.


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## jingles (Nov 20, 2014)

I was looking into just that and came across a breed called Nigora that is being breed for fiber and milk. It's a dwarf crossbreed that is pretty new.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Nigoras have been around for a while, but there just isn't that much demand.  

Honestly, you could make a hybrid of breeds that might do both 'okay'. Would take a very large population, very strict culling and preferably on quantifiable traits. But there isn't that much demand for an animal that does that because it's generally easier and more productive just to get one or a few of each. Many dairy raisers don't want to deal with Cashmere/mohair, and many cashmere/angora raisers don't want to deal with having to milk. Then there's the different mentality on horns (Angoras are generally horned and are shown/led using horns, whereas dairies are disbudded)

Lambing/kidding also causes a break in the fiber, so you shear to avoid that occurring mid-growth (pre kidding or pre-lambing). The main product raising angora goats is the fiber, and so wethers have a good value as well... But that being said, there isn't a good industry for fiber in the US except as niche markets, really... Long haired goats bring very low amounts of money at market, so to get a good price for any slaughter culls you'd have to have a good meat breeding program and likely shear them before market (or market before growth is too long). IN angoras, you'd want to shear around kidding. Cashmeres I think naturally shed if you do not shear, so you'd probably want to kid out around normal shed out times I would think? Any sickness/fever/illness or nutritional stress can cause this fiber break as well... I wonder how extended milk production would affect this. I wonder if that fiber break in sheep is also due to lactation... it would make sense to me. Most sheep are only lactating for 8 weeks per year though, and after all the main product is meat not fiber nowadays - fiber being more of a side product that the producer hopes to break even on paying for the cost of a shearing crew to come in.


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## lovinglife (Jul 31, 2013)

I have a Nubian/Angora, she gave me over half a gallon a day as a FF. She gets fuzzy curly super soft hair in the winter and sheds out slick in the summer. Super hardy, best feet on the place and never even needs wormed.


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## Clovers_Clan (Jul 17, 2012)

If you just want a little milk and fiber, a dairy doe and a fiber wether might make good companions.


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