# Goat Breeds.... Meat vs Milk



## TheLands (Feb 18, 2009)

So with the amazing response on my "leftover thread" I decided to ask you guys another question.

I know you all have your preference on goat breeds. Right now this is what I have:

2 Lamancha does just over a year old that I will be breeding soon. They are going to be my milkers of course.

I also have:
1 doe that is a Spanish/Nigerian cross (I believe)
1 older doe that is Spanish (not sure if I wanna breed her or not)
2 does that are 3 and never been bred that are a Spanish/Nubian cross. Sweetest girls ever I swear just love them.

So I have my milk breed of course. I love my Lamancha girls but we would like to get start butchering some also. So I need to figure out a "meat breed".

Any suggestions on a good breed that I could breed my Spanish/Nubian girls to for that purpose? They are about half the size of my Lamancha wether. Maybe around 80 lbs. I don't have a scale and haven't quit figured that out either.

My girls are finally all healthy and happy thanks to all of you. 

Yay.
~Lynda :happy:


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

Breed them to a Boer buck. Excellent meat carcass and you should be able to find a Boer buck pretty easily. If you are purchasing, look the herd over very carefully - looking for CL, especially in Texas. Also test for CAE while you are it... You don't want to bring diseases home to your herd. If you are just using buck service, find a breeder who is not only aware of CL/CAE, but who tests and does NOT have either.


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## Prismseed (Sep 14, 2009)

Slightly related to topic. What is a good dual purpose meat/milk goat? Is there a Rhode Island Red of the goat realm?


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

50% Dairy/Boer cross. Preferable a heavy milking dairy breed/line crossed on the Boer. And preferable a "milky" Boer line as well.

We bred a Saanen/Boer cross doe that we sold to a couple in Montana. She is currently giving them just under 12 lbs/day and last year her lactation lasted a full 10 months. The gal says that she just loves the taste of the milk and chooses "Tansy's" milk for the house every time.

That 50% Boer/Dairy cross bred back to a Boer should give you some really meaty kids with great growth rates. Your doe will be freshened and the offspring can go in the freezer. When you want to get a replacement doe, either go back to the breeder you got your first happy X from, or breed your X doe to a Dairy buck. The offspring will now be 75% dairy, but still going to have meatier offspring than a straight dairy/Boer cross.


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## shiandpete.1 (Aug 13, 2008)

I would even breed the Lamanchas to the boer. There is a better market for meaty goats than the dairy type. Plus as CaMille says above you can have the best of both worlds with a dairy/boer cross.


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## edmonds (Dec 19, 2008)

Since you have spanish crosses, why not a spanish buck? They are smaller than boer but were used as meat goats for years.


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## mylala (Jun 3, 2008)

I would look into Kikos for a meat breed.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

If you are crossing with dairy or dairy/spanish, a Boer buck will give you faster growing meatier kids. Buy a good meaty Boer buck, make sure you are not just being sold a name.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

If one is nigerian cross, and the others are so small how about a fainting buck? Very meaty and smaller.


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## 4piecesof8 (Apr 7, 2010)

I prefer the Kiko/Dairy cross.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

If the 'meat' does are that small, I'm not so sure I'd want to be breeding them to a Boer buck. Boer kids can be quite large -- I had 1/4 Boer X 3/4 Oberhasli triplets born here a few years ago, totaling more than 24 lbs. The doe was BIG (two hundred pounds) and had no trouble having large kids, but I don't think I'd want to see an 80 lb. doe having eight or nine pound kids! Nor even six or seven pound kids.

If I was you, I'd cross those small does with a good Pygmy buck (or a meaty Nigerian Dwarf), and breed the LaManchas to a Boer, unless you'd like to get dairy doe kids out of them.

Kathleen


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Before you decide based on what you are guessing the does weigh(80 lbs is very small for a mature full-size doe), see if you can figure a way to get a real weight on them. Most people are not good at guesstimating weights, me included.


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## CarolynRenee (Jan 30, 2008)

Interesting post copperpennykids; I've been thinking about breeding our Saanen doe (great, great milker) to a Boer so we can get meatier kids. She's my main milker now, four years old, but when I want to "replace" her, I'll breed her back to another Saanen buck to get another (hopefully) great milker.

I'd be a bit concerned about breeding a big Boer to a smaller doe also....but I think it would pay off to use a meat type goat. I actually went the "other" way last two years; bred my Saanen does to a ND......got a couple "mini-Saanens" out of it! Cute kids (we kept the female has a nice udder & kidded well), but the freezer kids take too long to get any meat on them.


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

CarolynRenee,

That 50/50 cross that you make (if it is doe) is many a homesteaders dream of the perfect milk goat. You may want to sell a doe kid and eat the boys... Boers have very high butterfat, which combined with that high production Saanen.... Ahhhh, bliss. LOL

BTW, many dairy breeders like to breed Boer to their First Fresheners because the kids have smaller heads than most dairy goats, so easier kidding actually than dairy kids (especially a whomper buck kid!)


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Here is another thought: Most of the heavy cashmere producers are meat breeds. You could get a good cashmere producer buck to breed with your girls (or find one at stud, which is probably better) and end up with kids that could be used for meat or fiber.


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## HillRunner (Jun 28, 2010)

I figured Id use this thread then create another one and was wondering what everyone would think is a good Cross between Meat and Milk? I like Ober what would be a good cross for it?


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

kiko or boer.

i think those are the main meat types. or you could use a nubian, they were first real dual-purpose goat. i would just be careful, obies ain't real big, wouldn't want o have her bred to some monster sized buck.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

HillRunner said:


> I figured Id use this thread then create another one and was wondering what everyone would think is a good Cross between Meat and Milk? I like Ober what would be a good cross for it?


Oberhaslis are not a large goat, and they are one of the very "dairy" swiss breeds, like Saanen and Alpines. I had Oberhasli/Boer does and while they were ok, they weren't the best I've ever had. If you are wanting to cross dairy with meat, I'd start with Lamancha or Nubian does and use a Boer buck over them. Thoses crosses produced my best fastest-growing meat kids. After that, the best cross was my Saanen does with a good Boer buck. But the Lamancha and Nubian crosses certainly butchered out the best of all the dairy/Boer crosses.
If you already have a dairy breed and it is full-sized, then just get a good Boer buck to cross over the dairy does.
For the meat side, a Boer buck will get you the most meat and the best growth over a dairy doe.


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## Buster (May 31, 2009)

Boer if you live in a dry area, Kiko if not, as they are apparently more parasite resistant. 

Least ways that's what I'm told.


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