# Myotonic/Nigerian Cross?



## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I am still indecisive on choosing a goat breed. I have been back and forth between Nigerians and Kinders and I keep throwing different thoughts around and coming up with pros and cons for each, so first before I get into some of the wild ideas I have, let me tell you my goals:
I am looking for a breed that will be dual purpose and yet small to reduce feed cost with milk probably being the higher priority.

I have shied away from mini-nubians for various reasons and so they are not an option for me. I like the idea of kinders because they seem like they are good in both areas, but my problem is I don't think that the breeders I would be buying from have as good of milk production as I would wish them to have, I'm not sure but I'm getting that feeling. So that would sound like the Nigerian is the better option, and I can get high quality Nigerians in my area, so that would sound like the better option, but what about the meat side of this?

So I have this plot, and it really might be crazy. What if I crossed Nigerians with Myotonics? Would that not give me the possibility of have dual purpose offspring? Now I know that cross breeding is dangerous, as in you may not get the traits you want, but still is there a possibility that this could work?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

As long as the larger breed are the females.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

ksalvagno said:


> As long as the larger breed are the females.


They are very close in height. Nigerians does: under 22.5 and all I could find for fainters is a genderless statistic of: 17-25. Weight is a different matter though. Nigerian does are 45-75 and Fainter does: 50- 110lbs. So do you think that is to large of a difference to breed buck fainter to Nigerian doe?


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## intrepid-dreamer (Jan 2, 2017)

MellonFriend said:


> Nigerian does are 45-75 and Fainter does: 50- 110lbs. So do you think that is to large of a difference to breed buck fainter to Nigerian doe?


Yes. I personally would choose the fainter does over nigerian does. Nigerians are prone to having very large litters, regularly kidding 3 and 4 at a time, and I have seen alot of kidding issues with them. Add larger then normal kids to that mix by breeding them to a larger buck, and I think you would be looking at alot of problems.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Also, a full sized Mytonic buck is around 200 lbs normally. The little pet ones are already crossed with Nigerian.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Okay that makes sense, I hadn't thought of that. Is there anything else I could cross a Nigerian with that would give me meatier offspring?


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## intrepid-dreamer (Jan 2, 2017)

a pygmy goat


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

intrepid-dreamer said:


> a pygmy goat


I had thought of that myself. 


goathiker said:


> Also, a full sized Mytonic buck is around 200 lbs normally. The little pet ones are already crossed with Nigerian.


...hmm what if I could find a Nigerian/Myotonic buck that would be smaller and yet have those meatier genes?


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## intrepid-dreamer (Jan 2, 2017)

MellonFriend said:


> ...hmm what if I could find a Nigerian/Myotonic buck that would be smaller and yet have those meatier genes?


You may be able to do that if the cross was a couple of generations remove from the Myotonic. The thing with large/small crosses is they retain those genetics to throw full size kids, so there can be some major inconsistencies. Now if you found a buck that was proven to throw small kids instead of buying a buckling, that would reduce your risk of buying a buck that is going to throw oversized kids with your nigerians. I would also research bloodlines and look for ones that have the least amount of kidding issues. You can also get great does at a lower price if you look for ones that are oversized for the breed. Usually they will not come with registration papers, but if you are breeding crosses it won't be as important.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I wanted to mention this for anyone who would come across this thread in the future, I did a little more research on my own and found out that it definitely would not be a good idea to cross a full Myotonic buck to a Nigerian doe because Mytonic kids average 4-6 lbs. and Nigerians average 2-4 lbs.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I like the idea of crossing NDs with Myotonics!
Last year, I saw a ND Myotonic buckling on CL and he was very meaty and nice looking. I had to convince myself that I already had a buckling for my Mini-Lamancha (though high percentage Lamancha) doe.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> I like the idea of crossing NDs with Myotonics!
> Last year, I saw a ND Myotonic buckling on CL and he was very meaty and nice looking. I had to convince myself that I already had a buckling for my Mini-Lamancha (though high percentage Lamancha) doe.


I like the idea too I think it would be a great experiment to do it if you had a Myotonic doe and a Nigerian buck or a mix of both already. I think there would be a real market for more dual purpose goats like the kinders. I think though for my purposes I really shouldn't be messing around with cross breeding when I have no experience. It's too bad though I just love the way those Myotonic bucks look! I contacted the kinder breeders in my area and they have renewed my confidence in them so I think I am just going to stick with them. In fact one of the kinder breeders messed around with cross breeding Nigerians for a while and found that overall the kinders were just better than anything she was getting.


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## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

I accidentally bought a fainter buckling to breed with my mini lamancha does and sold him back to the original seller because fainters are not a diary breed. I wanted a Nigerian buck so we bought one. I personally think if you want a good milker you should get with Nigerian. I don't think it's worth the risk to cross a meat breed with a diary breed.


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